Korrie!
Ya can't help but love life, can ya?
Whatever we have, it's great to appreciate it!
Want the whole story about Chris?
I met Chris at Cabrillo's wine class in late 2006 and we became friends on account that he and I are kindred spirits. At only 24 (his b-day was just July 5th) he is dying of severe diabetes, and an unexplained, debilitating and degenerating neuropathy that cases him extreme pain at all times (among other awful conditions relating to the diabetes, the list is long). When I met him he was 6'2" and 125 lbs. Stanford medical team has been working with him for years, and cannot explain his situation. As you might know, despite widely variable intervals between meals or the occasional consumption of meals with a substantial carbohydrate load, human blood glucose levels normally remain within a remarkably narrow range--from about 80 mg/dl to perhaps 110 mg/dl. I have seen Chris's reading (he has to take it almost hourly) range from 35 to 800!!! Just a few weeks ago it dropped to 35 when we were at Soif Restaurant, and he dripped sweat and passed out on the table after trying to get the levels up by eating massive amounts of sugar and electrolytes. Last summer he literally died in his car, alone, in the Fry's Electronics parking lot! Somehow he managed to wake up out of a coma; when he took his blood sugar reading it was ZERO, which is medically impossible. The doctors confirmed with tests later that parts of his body began the rigor mortis process and he suffered slight brain damage. He managed to revive himself with sugar, and to this day he will go on for hours and hours about how he can't understand how or why he managed to come back to life. Chris's teeth are rotting, and his bones and brittle and break easily. He also suffers from OCD, bi-polar disorder and severe depression.
I am his closest and only friend in the area (his buddies moved away, he is from Scotts Valley), as he was home schooled and then went to college at age 15 on account of a 235 IQ. He has been a champion roller skater, baseball player, rock climber, was the youngest finisher at Wharf to Wharf in 1990 at age 6, and in his late teens he became sioux chef at a few restaurants, took the sommelier course and passed, has skills in locksmithing, tailoring, and machinery, and on and on, all before he became too ill to do much. Even though he gets confused and disoriented, forgets what day it is, and sometimes who he is and where he is, in moments of clarity I learn many many things from him. We get along famously.
Last July he called me because he was about to kill himself. I was at a bar with friends in Santa Cruz, and I left immediately and went to his house and begged him not to. Mind you, he sees a psychiatrist every week, but his disease is so severe that his mood swings are incredible, as he has a lot to deal with. Since then I have done everything in my power to change his negative mindset (oh, and it WAS negative), from teaching him about nutrition (he didn't eat well because he thought there was no point) to taking him out to spend time with my friends. I spend about 4 days a week with him. Recently he has gained weight (he's about 150 lbs he told me) and seems much happier. I told him that when he gets his pancreatic transplant, I will drop everything to be there at the hospital for the whole 12 hour operation and wait until he wakes up. This touched him immensely.
Now, the operation is not officially scheduled. There are politics involved (I won't get into it) but essentially he is on-call for an organ. He's been on the waiting list for over two years, but we're hoping that the day will come soon. When it does, the doctors will call him and in 4 hours he must go to San Francisco for the procedure. The odds are grim: he has a 40% chance of surviving the 12 hour operation! But I have lots of hope--hell, he's already died and come back to life once!
, so we could probably both be braggin about our FBs... lol.
I don't believe in killing mink and foxes NOWADAYS for fur coats! 
Oh, you have to bring him flowers when you "pick him up." So cool.
He's 6'2" btw....
