At the end of an absolutely frustrating day, one thing remains: GOD is GOD. I am not. For that I am grateful.

I’m selling Homemade Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecakes. Made from the finest organic ingredients, this is a seasonal specality of mine I’ve decided to make available to friends and family. Cheesecakes are made as orders are placed with you speciftying your pick up date. Purchase 1 for $15.00 or 2 for $25.00. Payment can be made by cash, check or via PayPal.

E-mail me at Combs.Jamison@gmail.com for more information or to place an order.

40 needle sticks in the past 2 months. The past several months have been full of hospital visits, needle sticks and endless doctors appointments. Unforcently, there have not been a lot of answers as to what’s causing me to be sick. It’s hard to believe but a month has passed since my doctor removed my gallbladder, thinking that was the problem. Sadly it didn’t resolve the health issues that have plagued me.

So what’s next? Monday I went though another round of tests that yielded no answers. Tuesday I returned back to the surgeon only to be informed we’re about to do yet another round of tests late this week or early next week. I’ll be having an Esophageal Manometry & 24-hour pH Study. From what I’ve read it doesn’t sound very pleasant, but these tests will determine if we move forward with major surgery.

10.20.9: UPDATE: The above mentioned procedure has been rescheduled for Monday, October 26th.

Please continue to pray. Pray for wisdom for my doctors. Pray for pain to be lifted. Pray for financial provision as all of these tests and multiple hospital visits have become expensive. Thank you to all of you who have called, left Facebook messages, brought food or spent nights with me at the hospital. Your love is priceless.

I’m excited to report my new diet plan is working well. In less than 6 weeks I’ve dropped 16lbs. Amazing huh? Now you’re probably wondering “what diet plan?” Let me introduce you to the “Get Sick, Have Surgery, Get Sicker Diet Plan.”

Three weeks ago I had my gall bladder taken out. I had 7 stones. You can now purchase them on CraigsList.

I’m sicker now than when we started. To date I’ve been stuck with 36 needles. While my body is “littered with tattoos” (as my dad would say) and I have “God awful holes in my ears” (he would say that too), the truth be told, I hate needles. My friend Mikey warned me of developing track marks.  Those are going to be hard to explain one day when I’m a pastor.

I hate peeing in a cup. It’s even worse in cold bathrooms. If you ever want to decrease a man’s self-confidence simply hand him a cup and send him into a cold bathroom.

In all seriousness though, please continue to pray for my health. I should get some results later this week from 2 biopsies that were done. I’d like to avoid having another surgery, but at this point I’m willing to do whatever it takes to feel better. Thankfully I serve a God that is able to heal, that departs wisdom to doctors and can provide comfort even in a time like this.

Two Managers from Publix at Gervais dropped off a basket full of fresh fruit, apple chips, crossword puzzles, a card and a fresh carrot cake. They said they just wanted to check up on me after my surgery and thank me for shopping at their store. How is that for creating customer loyality!

It’s been one week since I had my gallbladder removed. Recovery has been slow and painful. I really didn’t know what to expect. WebMD stays 2-3 weeks with more pain in the second week of recovery than the first. Yet some people made “claims” of having their gallbladder removed on their lunch break and going back to work the same day. All I can say is those people must have had some better medication than I. (And I think mine is some of the strongest.)

A huge thank you to Michael McFadden for spending his entire day last Wednesday with me at Lexington Medical Center. He got to see the drugged, no filter, say anything side of me. Also thanks to Ashley and Travis Wright for letting me spend Wednesday though Friday with them. I really appreciate your hospitality.

Killian and Drake have been amazing companions during my recovery. Here are some new pics of them.

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Here’s a picture of Drake, the newest addition to my family. Drake is a 9 year old brown Weimaraner that’s traveled more miles across the US than most of us ever will. I adopted Drake in early August from Eric and Holly Montalvo. Eric is a Marine and recently their family was relocated. Sadly, Drake couldn’t come along. This ended Drake living with the Montalvo’s but, has started a great new life for Drake here in Columbia with Killian being his little sister.

I’ll be having surgery at 1p Wednesday to remove by gallbladder. The surgery is going to be done at Lexington Medical Center, just a few miles from my home here in downtown Columbia. The doctor is also going to do an exploratory procedure then to check and see if anything else seems out of line. The surgeon isn’t convinced that it’s my gallbladder that’s causing all the problems, but said there is no risk in removing it. It’s a step in the right direction and doing the exploratory at the same times gives them a chance to kill two birds with one (gall)stone.

I’ll be selling my gallbladder on EBay next week in hopes to raise money for my next surgery. I’ve somehow managed to average one major surgery per year since 2006. I told a friend of mine if I spent half of the money I’ve paid to doctors on liquor instead, I’d have one hell of a liquor cabinet by now.

I should be going home from the hospital that afternoon. The doctor has some concern of complications due to a previous back surgery I had a few years ago. He said worse case they may keep me in the hospital 2 or 3 days. He told me to plan on being out of work/laid up for about 3 weeks. Hopefully it won’t be that long. I would definitely appreciate your prayers not only for myself, my health and recovery, but also for my family as they will be traveling down from NC in the coming days to spend time with me during my recovery.

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