Agony Of Defeat And The Thrill Of Victory Of Starting Anew (I'M A BROWN BELT NOW!!!!)

Getting The Happy Drugs

Dr. Jerry About To Work
Steve About To sleep

The CRNA And Recovery Nurse
Great Folks!

The New Belt
Faixa Marrom

Me And The Lil One
(She's Due For A new Belt Next Month!)

Marcus and Me
GREAT Friend, Brother, Coach, Champion

Coach Hicks and Coach Allen
(I Am Where I Am B/C Of Them)

Coach Allen And Me
(Great Friend And Coach!)

Hoping To Be A Champion At Brown One Day Soon

BE SURE TO SEE BOTH THE SLIDE SHOWS IN THE BODY OF THE POST FOR MORE PICTURES!

Today started off not so well...though I woke up at 206.2 which I was happy about, I was off to the job for a few....Short time I was there got on my last nerve, but I don't think it was solely b/c of the job, but more worry about what was to come....

Today I had another procedure on my neck...Epidural Cortico-Steroid Injections into the C5 and C6 disks (they found problems with the C5 they didn't find before, and needed to try to rectify my arm problems which I still have with the C6)...
Well, the people at the surgical center are all great. They make me feel at home and are great at what they do...They keep things light and fun actually...Dr. Jerry really has gotten rid of about 90% of the pain I was having....Hopefully this works, because fusing my vertebrae is something I honestly don't want to think about....He also said that if this set of injections didn't work for the arms there was one other thing he could try with the nerves in the arms and shoulders, so keeping my fingers crossed...The pain killers are wearing off now finally, and the injection sites are hurting but I am hopeful and feeling OK...See The Pics Below:

Well I get home and lay down, and almost fall asleep, but had to get the lil one from school so I couldn't just pass out liek I wanted to. (Note to Self: Walking while high on whatever they shoot into you for anesthesia is NOT fun!)...Well I get her home and get her fed...And have just enough time to get her to jiu-jitsu class...Forgot, that I am in charge of referees and scoring etc at the No-GI tournament being held at the American Airlines Center tomorrow, and that the weigh-ins are at my gym from 7pm-9pm, so, looks like I will be there....anyways, long story short, Coach Allen asks me to run warm-ups and drills/techniques with class while he helps out with weigh-ins and some new sign ups for the school...So I get into my Gi (I ALWAYS have one in the car with me ;) )and do so gingerly so as not to aggravate anything as I am not supposed to be doing anything....Around the time we get to the rolling part of class, one of my good friends and TOUGH AS HELL training partners - Al, walks in...Hadn't seen him in a while so I went to greet him just as Marcus walked in...At that time, Coach Allen tells everyone to line up against the wall for some announcements...He tells everyone that he is proud of me, and the time it took for me to get my belt, and complimented my character, work ethic, performance and technique (That one made me smile huge as I was about to crack up before) and honestly made me feel really good to be thought of as highly as he spoke...then, Marcus spoke, and said how it was unusual as far as time but as far as technique and my performances that I was overdue, and complimented me...MAN...If you knew Marcus you would know how big that is not just to me but period...Marcus is a man of few words in public...well period..but even rarer is Marcus complimenting people on their game etc...I almost lost it then...but they called me out after everyone clapped and Let me speak a bit...If you know me, I am quite verbose at times, but I could only muster a few things and to let Marcus and Coach Allen know as well as the school that I will work hard to exceed the thoughts they have of me and left it at that...From then, I got my new belt...Once again, this is something that as I type has me really emotional...Marcus gave me HIS Brown Belt!!!With the work that dude puts in, and his extremely high standards, I have a lot to fill as far as holding a brown belt as it is, but with it being his, that all is like ten steps above...Means a lot he thinks that much of me to do that...Dude is like my brother....anyways...I go on to walk the gauntlet...Instead of three passes, as the space was small for the amount of people, I had to receive from each person at least three strikes...Man, honestly, my but and back are STILL sore...got some nice lil ole bruises from it ....But it was ALL worth it...(and I'mma have to pay some folks back soon too! LOL)...took some pictures with my daughter and friends and now I'm home...wish I could sleep till Sunday, but have to be up to be at the Tournament...hope to get some rest after that!....As far as the Belt Promotion..I am floating, b/c it means a lot more than you know...Well now, I have NAGA here in dallas and the BJJ Americas Cup in CA in May as Tune ups, for Mundials in June...I am looking to shock a few people there definitely...With the fokls I have in my corner, there's no way it won't happen...Hope to settle in to the Marrom for a few years, and work to be the best Black Belt I can be sometime down the road...the journey begins....I fight on...
Here are the pictures from tonight...