525,600 minutes ago (or a year from today) marks the first day of my new life. I was in surgery for 6 hours a year ago today for the first of three surgeries. I spent the next 6 months healing, recovering, and getting used to a new life. If you saw me today, you’d never believe I was the same weak, sick guy that spent months in 4 different hospitals. It took two guys and 20 minutes to get me up a set of stairs to bed. I’m running at least a mile every day now. I am back to lifting 5 days a week. I am eating everything I want to be, with little to no side effects. I’m playing golf and going out with friends. It’s crazy to think that I was doing all I could to postpone the surgery. If that ended up happening, I’d probably just now be recovering from my third surgery.  Life is good. I’m not sick. It’s hard to imagine why everyone dealing with this awful disease doesn’t opt to have this surgery. For all of you that kept up with the blog, you know that some days were tough. I was sad more days than I was happy. I was lonely. It certainly was not easy but there’s comfort in knowing that I made it through quite possibly the hardest part of my life. It’s over. A few months back I had a touch of pouchitis. A little more pain than usual and going to the bathroom a bit more than I would have liked. After only one day of antibiotics I was completely fine. I wake up 1-2 times a night, every night. That is the only down side. I’ve gotten used to it. It’s really a small price to pay if you really think about it. It’s really as simple as that. I started this blog in April and have had over 15,000 views thus far. I’ve gotten tons of emails and comments asking questions or just reaching out to show support. It makes me glad I decided to do this. If it helps convince just one person that this is the right decision, then I’d say it was a success. Half a year of misery to  live a healthy life for the rest of my life, seems like a no brainer. Thanks for all the support!