Mopar1973Man

So my trips back and forth to medical appointments are coming to a end. I'm attempting to get my disability fired up but I've got to play ball with all the different agencies and play by their rules. Social Security limits me on the amount of hours I'm allowed to work my website currently. Then Welfare limits me on how much income I'm allowed to have as well. As for information, I'm still helping guys with different truck issues. I have to do it where I'm not in public view sadly. Like I got to run and get a plumbing part today. I'm trying to build my strength up and return to my old self. Sadly I'm still very weak and have issues just holding my 1/2" impact gun in my hand it too heavy to do much work with it yet. My belly I've lost most of my muscles through my abdomen and gained more fat more so. Ugh! Yeah I still weigh the same old 235 pounds but my body fat content is higher. Ugh. I took a break and went camping for 3 days at Smokey Boulder Rd. Yeah, it was great, the simple task of hitching the RV will wear me down and get me huffing and puffing to catch my breathe at times. Not having the endurance I used to have... But I didn't get here overnight it was 8 months of cancer treatments and surgeries that did this and will take me time to recover my strength. I'm working at smaller and lighter jobs like picking up the loose stones in the yard and cleaning up the yard carefully and slowly. I'm a high-risk hernia patient now. I'm no longer capable of heavy lifting of anything now. Like doing a transmission or clutch job is out of my range of work forever sadly. My endurance last about 4 to 5 hours on average before I'm too tired to work anymore. I still have to monitor my blood pressure since I can't feel pain internally in my back or around my kidneys. When my blood pressure rises I've got to go lay down and let my pain levels back down to get my blood pressure back to normal realm. You have no idea how much not being able to handle my business and work on truck affects me mentally. It absolutely sucks and very depressing. Then not looking forward to more medical visits all the time you are doing this. 3.5 hour drive to Boise to be poked at by a doctor for one reason or another. Running across town to handle Norco Inc for my Ostomy supplies I'll be using forever. How about sitting on my riding lawn mower (zero turn) and have your ostomy bag blow out and soak you in your own urine? Yup this happened twice now. I've even have to be careful standing up if my bag is nearing full. I can catch it between my thigh and squeeze the bag and blow it out over my lap. I've done that too. I'm still learning and still trying to get all this figured out. My fun stuff... I still enjoying making smiles as I travel back and forth to places.

I'm still here its just been very busy running back and forth with my medical appointments. I'm also on another leash issue. I've got to be careful how much I'm working on my website since the different government agencies know that my website is still here and producing income so it has been reported. Now if I'm working too many hours on my website it could disqualify me from getting any benefits from these agencies. I'm very limited on what I can do. I'm sorry if I'm not here in the lime light as usual...

The only system the clutch safety switch controls is the starter solenoid in the PDC. There is no connection to the PCM in this circuit.

Imagine and doing good. I'm cancer free but also learning how to live with my new body being I no longer have a bladder or prostate. Then between @Tractorman and @IBMobile are correct. I would check that fuse in the PDC at #9. Then swap relays just to check that too.

Now to show you some of my daily life. I'm still limited in what I can do. I had Mark grab my arc welder and put it on the ground near my lawn mower. I broke a steel brace for the deck. Now I lay on the ground and managed to weld the brace back up. Yeah, don't judge it was a dirty bird chit weld. Then Mark suggested pulling the 3 blades and sharpening them all. Then by the time I got to mowing. I was noticing my belly getting wet. Sweating? Wet Grass? Nope, I blew my gasket a day early and weeping out my water pump weep hole which is my belly button now. I wasn't leaking bad but I'll hold up for a bit longer if I'm careful. So here I am mowing the lawn and blotting my belly button with my shirt to finish up so I could change my wafer or as I call it my "mount" or "gasket". Now this is why I pushed because I was covered in grass clippings and dirt so now I can wash up once and get my hands clean and around my belly. I don't want infections from being dirty or introducing anything to my ostomy by accident. I always wipe down my bathroom counter with a wash rag with a splash of rubbing alcohol. I know my work surface is clean. Now I'm pulling my next wafer out and have to measure a 1-1/8" hole and mark it with a black sharpie. Now with my small scissors and cut just barely on the outside of the marker line. Now peel the backing off. Get my wax ring and place it centered over the wafer hole. Now using my clean fingers mold the wax to the opening of the hole cut in the wafer. Now we put that all aside for the new wafer and sealant. Now get the solvent to release my adhesive on my old wafer pour any liquid on the top and wipe down the right side knowing the left side is blown out. This time it was a single try pulling off the entire wafer in a single pull carefully over the top of my stoma. I took my second pack of solvent and washed all the old sealant off my belly around my stoma. I've got to be super careful the stoma is very delicate and just barely touching the stoma with the solvent wipe will leech just a little bit of blood this is normal and just be slow and careful. Then grab a second washcloth and wash my belly and shave any belly hair around my stoma. Now keep in mind the entire time my bag and wafer are not on me I'm watching my stoma continue leaking urine as my kidneys are still doing their job. This whole process is done over the bathroom sink. Once I'm all clean I will grab my hair dryer and low heat setting holding away from my belly I attempt to dry all my skin and blot up any urine. When I feel I can do the mounting of the wafer it's a quick line up in the mirror so my stoma is centered in the hole. As it is placed the top and bottom are pulled taunt and applied to my skin. For the wings on the left and right of the wafer, I peel the backing and do the same. Now flat palm push fairly firmly and push the wafer against my belly to make the wax ring ooze past my wafer edge and my stoma so my skin is protected from the urine which will give me like a diaper rash. Now take my bag and snap it onto my wafer or mount. The sad part tomorrow is change day and it failed a day early so now I need to make this bag go 5 days to get back to schedule (Monday & Thursday) for my change days. This is all done in about 10 to 15 minutes now. This is why I'm not far from home or I pack my backpack with at least 2 changes of ostomy bags. Like Mark, he's getting used to me cussing and saying "I blew a head gasket". This is now my life I'm getting used to the idea of this little bag hanging on my right side of my belly button barely. I'm constantly patting the right side of my belly checking my bag fill level. When I'm at home I tend to run around with my bag hanging on my belly. Not tucked into my pants since it tends to limit the capacity of my bag since the waist of my pants or shorts will compress on my bag. Now I got to find some lunch today and eat. Then I gotta hitch up the RV and turn it around to dump my holding tanks and do some cleanup up I wanna go camping! This is the tough part of this new life and new body. I'm so tired of keeping an eye on my body functions some days I need to just throw caution into the wind and live life a bit more free for a few days without medical measurements and worry about my ostomy all the time. This is the other part of healing is getting comfortable with what I have going on.

I've got a story for all of you to hear. I've got a trick I can only do once in my life and can't do it again. Then I can claim I'm the only male that has managed to do this trick. Back up the train to about the 3rd day after surgery, I was starting to heal up and walk the hospital floor and doing all the little things like PT and OT. My doctor shows up and I'm in the middle of doing my makeup that morning. I asked my doctor to see about removing the tubes from my kidneys. I was tired of sleeping on Lego bricks (the connector). My PT doctor came in and asked me if I had stairs in my house I said yes. We took a walk to the staircase and up and down I went. No problems. The PT doctor saw me in my different wigs and makeup already too. He suggested to switch over to my black and blue wig and do my black and blue makeup. I quickly tweak everything sitting on the edge of the bed. PT doctor sent for my transport downstairs so I could get my tubes pulled out of my kidneys. I got down there the surgeons loved the makeup and the style heck of a conversation piece. My surgeon asked what I wanted to have for anesthetic for the removal of my tubes. I told him I was going to "Raw Dog" them out, meaning no pain meds or anesthetic. The surgeon started on my left side and cut the stitches holding my tubing in place in my back. In one pull it came out quickly and I asked did you get it out and he showed it to me. Never felt a thing, remember no drugs were used. Surgeon move to the right side and stops notifying me that he's got to contact my other surgeon about my stent on the right side. Remember I'm laying on my stoma in the front of my belly as I'm belly down. After about 15 minutes the surgeon returns says it's fine and pulls my right side out. I felt a warm and wet feeling and wasn't sure if I just felt blood. I asked the surgeon, "What was that doc was that blood?" The surgeon replies, "Nope. You just urinated out your back on the right side!" Yup, I was able to urinate out my back because laying on my stoma allowed my kidney to build up a bit of pressure and as the tubing came out the urine just followed the tunnels in my back to the surface. So... I can say I'm one of the few people if not the only person that can say he could pee out his back and only do it once in my life.

Well, I'm completed with chemo and all surgeries... This all comes at a cost to me of 8 months of cancer treatment has weakened me quite a bit. I'm slowly working with my body giving myself a chance of pushing a bit and working muscles that haven't worked in 8 months. I'm off all my Big Pharma drugs and my blood pressure is back to normal. No pain meds or anything. I'm back to using my herbs are supplements and managed to keep normal blood pressure now. I'm now without a bladder or prostate I will never have bladder cancer again. This is a weird one I know people have phantom limb and experience pain and a sense of feeling. How about having a phantom moment thinking I have to urinate? Yup, I had a moment in the morning thinking I needed to pee and get to the bathroom looking down at the bag. Face palm moment knowing that my body doesn't work like that anymore. Yeah, I've had 5 different times feeling like I had to take a leak but nothing there. Try calling to open the bladder and urinate. I more or less get a message back "Printer not available" I've had one ER visit having a bleed on my stoma and wound up spending the day in the ER. It was my blood thinners and of course, my body just wouldn't heal up with anti-clotting pills and blood thinners. That was a bit scary to wake up and find the tubing full of bloody urine and about a full liter overnight. By the time I was done with the ER my backup mount started to fail because of the wipes they used to clean me up so I had my shirt plugging the hole and drove home to change my mount and bag again. Argh! Be aware most hospitals do NOT supply any ostomy supplies because of how rare it is to see one of us. I've been learning how to live again. For a while, it was here at home sore from the pain I could feel and then my blood pressure would reflect the other pains I couldn't feel. It's not too bad being the way I am and I can see how people get along with life but I had to build my confidence in handling my bag changes and doing the mounts quickly. Now I'm showering without any appliance on my body just me and my little red stoma poking out on my belly. I shower normally and wash all the sealants off around my stoma. Yup, I'm currently fighting a minor yeast infection around my stoma. The bad part is having an itch under the base mount. Oh, talk about crazy trying to rub or scratch close to the base to stop the itch. As for my mental state, I'm still a crazy Cummins owner. Seriously, my makeup work and cosplay are getting better as time goes on. It has been a wild ride working with many medical people and at the same time dealing with all the depression that you could be faced with and finding a way to always pull it together and do something wild and make people laugh and smile at what I do. For a very short time, I'm capable of enjoying life with all the medical devices I've had on my body between the pair of bags hooked to my kidneys and now the ostomy and stoma on my body. Something else to throw in there... I met a gal in one of my appointments. On my last ostomy appointment, I was 2 hours early because of worry about road construction but made it early. I was waiting in the hallway by the elevators and started talking to older gal that was waiting for her appointment you have to remember I'm in full makeup and with my spiked collar and concert shirt on. Suzanna came off the elevator and points at me and said, "I remember you from the last visit!". I was very curious what she had to say. Suzanna was the first of anyone to ask me for my phone number because she was truly interested in me for my wild nature and makeup work. We talk every evening and phone calls last for hours talking about all kinds of topics and being very open with each other. We both come from abusive past so neither one of us wants to hurt the other. The crazy part is I wouldn't have met her unless I had my ostomy surgery and went to my appointments in full dress mode with makeup. So my limitation now is I'm a high hernia risk for life so I cannot lift anything heavy at this point because my belly has a lot of scars where the doctor was pulling my bladder and prostate out then a larger scar under my belly button where he reached in a cut about 9 inches of small intestine where my small and large intestine met. This is brought forward to hook both my kidneys to the right side of my belly. All this healed up well and no issues. Good news! I'M CANCER FREE !!!! Now keep in mind I just cheated death TWICE. I will survive this but I'm pretty sure it took a bit out of my lifespan. So I'll admit my life has been forever changed by the two runs of cancer. Its very frustrating to attempt to do some of my old tasks and have issues with the ostomy being in my way or limiting what I can do because currently I have to still be careful of my kidney till I hear bac on my labs if my kidney are improving.

I cut the lead off and used it all again. I've got the connector between the battery and gear case for an added connection and plug allows for disconnect.

Pull the alternator and have it tested for AC ripple. Have your batteries removed and tested too. Weak batteries can bring a bad alternator way high in AC noise because extra load and trying to charge batteries with bad cells.

Yeah sadly all these trucks at some point will require some attention to the master grounds for the VP44 and ECM and then separating the alternator charge lead from the path of the negative or ground for the ECM.

As long as I keep my engine load below 20% I'm on super high timing (25° to 27° BTDC @ 65 MPH) and there are no real expanding gases and EGT's are less than 450℉ to provide to the turbo but yes during acceleration yes it will eventually build some boost to move the needle but nothing really more than 5 PSI climbing rolling hills. This is all due to the ability to get high timing with little to zero boost. The head gasket will hold up to the cylinder pressure at 5 PSI (suggested) no problem above that you're playing with fire ring material. Flat ground will drop to zero boost pressure at 55 MPH. Now travel the canyon from New Meadows ID and Council ID there is a canyon road at 55 MPH it's a blast to haul through.

Simple Hotrod pump gains are partial from timing advancement. Now if you want to SPOOL that turbo up you need a rather deep RETARD. Then if Pop pressure on your injectors are below 310 bar then for every -10 bar is about 1 degree advanced again making it hard to spool. One reason Beast spools easy 320 bar injectors are 1 degree retarded and make up on the Quadzilla tune. SO pump so no mechanical mods to fight. Then running the 200°F thermostat to provide more heat for ignition quality I now don't need turbo most times up to about 55 MPH is all zero boost.

It takes a health retard to push enough expanding gases through the turbo to spool. Then you can hop back on advance timing. I'm still 27 degrees at 2 k RPM.

Even with the set backs I still clomb out of bed and pull it together for my fans that enjoy my Goth look.

Sucks to be right. Sadly I've seen too much in 22 years of working on Cummins diesels. Injectors are typically a very slow gradual climb in oil amounts. Front seal is from the lift pump and the VP44 intermediate pump and could fill a crankcase quickly.

Without a boost fooler. The fuel rate would be cut above 20 PSI because it's a known error in the stock system which should toss a P0234 code.

Fuel is entering the crankcase. I'm going to bet the front pump seal gave up. Injectors maybe but rare. Worth checking them out still I would have them pulled and tested.

Set back. Few days ago I had my stents removed. The doctor nicked my stoma trying to cut the string holding my stents in place. I healed up. Do remember I'm on blood thinners. Sadly that nick started bleeding last night as I slept. Woke to a bag with bloody urine. Hoping it would stop but it didn't. I made the run to mccall hospital and been here since 9am. Bleeding is stopped and I'm covered in my own blood. My ostomy base failed and I started just bleeding down the front of my shirt and shorts. Ugh. I'm OK. I'm getting IV fluids and going to be sent home. I've got to stay off my blood thinners for about 3 days.

This is the first time in 6 months I've been able to sit at my true computer and work at my desk. Yeah, my desk is an absolute trainwreck with paperwork and medical stuff everywhere. I'm going to slowly come out of my shell. I still hurt off and on but I'm starting to get trying of the being sick and laying in bed crap its time to get shaking and grooving the best I can. If it mean only working a short day and getting a few things done OK. Mark asked me to diagnose Thor yesterday. I ordered a tapped banjo bolt to diagnose the lift pump pressure and performance from the fuel tank to find out its at ZERO pressure. You can hear the pump but no pressure. If felt good to just get my hands dirty for a moment and hook up a fuel pressure gauge. It's not easy to deal with the intestinal pain and issues at times. Gas pains can be serious business which are capable of dropping me to my knees or on the floor pretty quick yet. Eventually, the healing section of my bowels will quit this and should happen about 4 to 5 weeks after surgery I'm just heading to my 3 weeks but still struggling to keep going. As for me I'm doing what I can and taking breaks as needed to keep moving forward. Yesterday I got my shower and came out to the kitchen and cleaned it all up. I can handle about 2 to 3 hours with breaks to allow my abdominal muscles a chance to relax once in a while. You'll never know how much you take it for granted that your core muscle group really does a lot for you and your standing posture. Like I've always remember that I'm a high risk for a hernia being I've got a hole in my abdominal wall where my stoma comes through now. Other than that I want to gain my life back now that I'm cancer-free and feeling my strength slowly returning back to me. Still I have lots of doctor's appointments yet to do. Yesterday I slept in really good and spaced off my appointment that morning. Yeah my 2L night bag I really do enjoy being able to sleep all night long without having to get up to pee like in the beginning setting my alarm for 9pm, 12 midnight, 3am, 6am and 9am. Yeah I did that every night for 6 months. Now I it the bed and couple up to my night bag and SLEEP like a ROCK. Your command and chief it returning to what he's used to doing slowly.

I've gotta ask does the gauge appear like it is showing good values? You know I'm kind of shy to glowshift gauges.

I'm healing slowly. Struggling with my ostomy bag off on on. Somedays are easy others just suck. Like this morning I woke up and started my morning getting coffee made and wondered why my shirt is wet and my pants. My ostomy separated from my belly and leaked into my belly button. Kind of like a weep hole on a water pump. I learning you really have to keep your skin dry so the base adhesives can continue to stick to me solid. After changing my bag quickly I got dressed in shorts and a tee shirt. Put my make up on and wear my black wig today. 3.5 hours or driving I find that leaving my ostomy bag freely hang is way more comfortable than tucked in which diminish the capacity and requires more stops to drain. I've also learned my pain tolerance is much higher than I thought. Now my medical team uses my blood pressure now to gauge my pain levels. I'll admit it's been a huge change of life for me. Finally have a 2L bag for night time and wonderful to sleep all night through. Another wonderful tidbit is finally be able to have a shower and get my body wet and enjoy hot water on my back. I have to blow dry the base after my shower. Hopefully soon I'll be able to shower without my bag. Currently just sitting I'm still very sore and takes quite a bit out of me. I'm most happiest laying flat on my bed and my pain and blood pressure falls shortly after laying down. Yeah I know it's just a matter of time till I heal and this should fade too.

Also best ways to test what works and dont work. Friends are trying so hard to make every thing like super tasty or trying bring more normal food. I paid the price twice in a day. AJ brought me a half of BLT sandwich. Oh that was so good but the lettuce made me gassy and painful. Ouch. Then Einar made a creamy type of hamburger helper looked good but just a but strong on black pepper oh that hurt again. Now that I'm attempting to get things right and such yeah I've gotta be careful on foods I eat even though it looks good smells good no high fiber oh my Gwad that chit hurts. Today I've got to change my bag day. MON and WED. Right now my belly is sore from a few food mishaps. No high fiber foods I ate a leaf of lettuce OMG that hurt. Then Einar made a home brew hamburger helper for me but there was black pepper mixed in tasted awesome but OMG that hurts. You know I'm enjoying my 2L night bag I can couple up and pass out for entire night. I could change to MON and THU being I'm a bit sore right now. We will see how morning goes and if im showing any signs of leaking or skin problems. Might be nice to shower after my woulds on my back and belly are tended to first this morning. Other than that the old Michael Nelson is changing before peoples eyes and my not putting up with bullchit from anyone but taking care of me first. I seriously thinking going to Urgent Care and getting my wounds looked at and see how much I can get removed. Grab a few bottles of alcohol for sanitizing my work space. This way on bag change days I can get a shower without bag and clean up really good. Afterwards I do have to dry my skin very well to ensure the base sticks to my belly like putting on a bandaid on a wet finger. Don't work. Second night with my night bag is awesome and sleep the full time of the night without the mental call to wake up and drain my bladder or old bag systems. Even all my time in the hospital I was just enjoying to be different. This part of my life I don't care. I still continue to do my make up daily and my hair. Just like my body I'm forever changed I'll never be the same. With my stoma I can get hernias easy being those muscles have been cut. I've got a bag hanging off the front of my belly. Now ive got to learn my new life and how to do things carefully and being able to get the bag change down to a science. It not quite peel and stick on. The is steps to remove, clean, prep the new bag and base with sealant, and apply. Only like 15 minutes but I'll admit I'm nervous first time solo today. I'm more or less looking for the most bang for the buck today. Note to self I need razor blade I need to shave.

Oh I know I'm just excited to be home just laying in my own bed. Already talked to Mark and he know to grab the baseball bat and whack me when I attempt to do anything. I'll admit I'm got up and wake and bake today. Way better than the big pharma pain drugs. Nice day and about 73°F outside and just nice to lay here looking my big bay window at the yard and birds doing their thing. I might get up soon and figure out breakfast I need some munchies. Lol.

I've only seen one case of the sparking dampner but never had figured out the cause. I always thought it was magnetic and capacitance that the spinning engine and possible magnet field from electrical flow (negative through the block) and the rubber of the dampner created a capacitor of sorts. Just a theory...