Fall has arrived

So September brought a few unexpected things. Getting ready for a hernia repair that was caused by where my chest was cracked open. I cant exercise because it is very painful. The surgeon that 8s doing the repair is my heart transplant surgeons wife!

Then I have been told I need a brain shunt because I have a lot of fluid build up around my brain but I have decided to hold off on that one. Then I find out that my landlord wants to kick us out. So we have three decisions.  Stay in circleville and rent again, buy a house in Circleville or move out of state and the later I feel is the better option. I need a fresh start for my family. The are so many cobwebs here and people that I thought I trusted and now I have seen the truth. 

I have been granted 8 extra years with an lvad and a new heart and some people that i really trusted and be friended really dont and didnt get. I am done with other people that wont be honest with me and make me feel like a user. 

The sad thing is that I have been so miserable from my brain pressure issue that it changed my life. My memory became foggy, I lived in a world of either reality or not real. And if these people who i cared about didn't see that and saw my destruction, then shame on them. 

I dont have much time left so I am going to use what time I do have to explore life. 

I am fed up with worry about other people's issues as I have my own and my family needs me. I still have time to be that person I wanted to be to stand up and inspire. So although there are people that let me down, they actually made me realise that I am a good man. 

So I wont say pray for me for a while because the church right now has let me down and I have to find peace with all that's happened. 

Be safe my friends and please continue to share my website 

Three years on and I still think of my old buddy. RIP Keith. 

Blood Draw

At Berger hospital for a blood draw to make sure i am still alive! Which i think i am. Although i am in some pai , i am starting to feel so much better. After this i am going to the Y to sign up for the Live strong program. And today is this young mans heavenly birthday. Happy Birthday Jacob. As humans we nees to learn more about teenage suicide. ❤

Sunday. Day of rest!

Everyday seems like a Sunday. It's hard to focus sometimes on what's going to happen next. I am blessed to be alive but its tough. Mood swings, anxiety, who do i trust why trust anything, trying to be me and on and on. I almost need a break, a big break for me and those i have hurt along the way. I have survivors guilt, guilt of not being there for my family. Not trusting friends, being a person that worries about sins. But if i don't focus then why am i here. I am a good person on the inside to. People sometimes take me the total wrong way and that makes so sad. 

So its Sunday and tomorrow is a new day and new week. Take care and peace....

meeting flyer

Evening with my son

 So I decided to make up and be a stupid monkey and try and forget about all the crap I've been through. Easier said than done. So this evening I took my son out as he has not spent any time with me for a very long time. He seriously is my mini me. It was a well deserved hangout night. We even went to the movies and watched Fighting with the Family. Great British dialogue.
So now it's time for bed and another day starts. Still got terrible shakes all through my body which gets me down but I am alive.

March 1st. New blog, new month.

Hanging out with my son and dawg.

Great news

I just got the news that i will be back on the heart transplant list.
My cardiologist has decided that it's time considering i have have a clot and i am totally cancer free.
This doesn't mean it's all going to happen overnight but this is the best news ever.
6 years of congestive heart failure takes a toll on a person and it couldn't have come at a better time because i found myself losing hope.
So today i get extra bloodwork and the proceaa begins.
I now have to take a deep and try and get past current issues.
My miracle is becoming a realisation.
But the thought of a hero out there saving my life is yet another obstacle i have to face.
Thank you you Lord.

England play!

Today is Dash for donation which i am missing for the first time in years.
I wanna wish all the teams the very best of luck.
At 10am England play Belgium to try and get third place. Also st 10am there will be Porsche racing in circleville. So its a busy one.
Look out for my video which i haven't done for a while.

Good night and God bless.

Praise

What's crazy is for all the illnesses we seem to be struck down by, the heartache of our poor van going through the wars and all the other crazy bad stuff that seems to happen to us, tonight I realized that I am once again finding my footing. I am now a bigger part of our church, a part that fits me well and a part that I can help express my love for my extended family and the love I have for the Lord.
I know in these day of worldwide terrorism, it's not the thing to tell people that you're a Christian, but I am now proud to have this title. I have always been one but it has never really meant anything until the day my heart stopped for 8 minutes. Then it all changed and although I now have a terrible illness, I'm still here and spreading the word of many good things. With the help of my family and friends I now see a future, a future full of amazing wondrous people and smiles.
For the last couple of hours I have been working on the new church website that I am an honor to be a part of.
These are the reasons I was saved. I can't wait to be able to provide for my family again one day and take the stress off of my amazing wife. Here is one strong woman, a woman that has never once given up on me and is the best mother to my son I could have wished for.
For now and to another day, God bless, take care and as a guy in the East End of London would say, "be lucky mate".

Mark

Inspiring

So fellow LVADer, don't fret about not making a difference in life, because you are.
Today I was going through my Twitter account and came across someone that had mentioned my name. So it was a medical company in Houston Texas and the headline was, "Today's Inspiration". A photo of me at the finish line of Dash for Donation and the statement that Lifeline of Ohio wrote. What an honor, but we can all do the things that we didn't think we could do. We can also change lives and make people change their minds who aren't currently donors.
Come help me change the world.
Lifeline of Ohio Dash for Donation FB

You can even get on TV!

Feed the flock

Today has been spent at church mentoring local children. Teaching the word of God in a fun way. Playing game, walking downtown,  making crafts and being fed.
It is very rewarding to be on the same level as the kids. I am blessed to be in this situation and be able to see happiness through in the eyes of our future.

New for 2015

So in July there will be a Dash for Donation http://dashfordonation.org/ at the Arena District in downtown Columbus Ohio. I will be getting a team together in some form or another so either email me, message me on facebook or just plain old talk to me. It's going to be awesome and I will be walking in the 5K, I was thinking that 1K would be about right for me but if I am going to have a goal this year then this is it. Oh and I will also be walking for another dear charity of mine. Project H2O Uganda, so it will be named "Walk for Water". So who's with me?

Mark

Angels are everywhere.

Every good man has a even better good woman behind them. This is my good woman. She stands behind everything I do, she saved my life, literally, she guides me, protects me and loves me. She is my rock and my soul mate. Thank you Tracey Sandy for being there, for another tough but easier year. 

You hear me talk about what I have achieved but here's something that this year Tracey has achieved. She started a giving tree facebook group and came across a young girl with a child and one on the way. The child that was due was unfortunately going to have health issues. She was asking for kids clothes, so Tracey went and bought her some, even though we are financially struggling ourselves. To date, Maggie, the young girl she first helped has now got a whole bunch of baby stuff from her baby shower and she now has an apartment. All of the woman at the Circleville Nazarene, Stephanie and Allison are amazing as they have changed this young girls life. All started by my awesome wife.

October 2nd.....

The trees are turning from rich greens to oranges, reds and brown. The leaves are fluttering down to earth with such grace and the branches now are naked and exposed.

For the first time I look at every tree that God has put in front of me. The life it brings, the sounds it creates and the beauty of its presence lives amongst us in a type of silence. They are everywhere and they are part of our life. The lord as created an amazing growing organism, right here, right now. We tend to miss them, not notice them until you get to realise that all this is not promised. I find beauty in everything, especially gods creations. 

Happy Thursday and enjoy the times of changing seasons.

Sunday

Hoping that this coming week is full of energy for me. Felt sluggish and yucky today. 

So I am sitting out on my back porch watching the birds catch the last of the bugs as the sun sets at 7.56pm. It's cool, it's pretty awesome because I hear the bugs and frogs and other little creatures calling out their dusk sounds. 

So this weekend has been strange as we as a couple feel like we get judged or we do things that others don't approve of. Myself and Tracey are very hard nosed people and tend to do what we thinks right. I apologize if we offend or have offended anyone before. We don't do things annoy, upset or make arguments, it's just the way we are and I guess that's why we married each other.

On that note, be safe and love one another.

Train

I hate getting caught by the train in circleville.  Being a circle youll always get stuck

Pumpkin

You always know when you're In circleville!

Amen

The t-shirts look awesome. Now all we have to do is sell them.

Journey

My journey so far is awesome. Chapter 2 of life is very awakening.