Buckeye Mike

It was the summer of 1991, and I had just graduated high school. I could do what I wanted, when I wanted, how I wanted. I was free. Well sort of. That 11 pm curfew at my parents put a damper on my social life. So did the lack of a car. And while I wasn't ready to move out just yet, I did drop some cold hard cash on a set of wheels. A 1967 Ford Falcon, I named my car Excalibur. Why? Because I was 18, and a rebel without a clue. She was primer black.  Everyday I had to pump up the tires. The headlights only worked on bright. The heat had to be turned from behind the dash. And I had to press the gearshift up as I turned the key to get it to start. But that rust bucket was mine. All mine. About a week after I bought it, I was on my way to work. It was raining, and I hit a mud puddle. It was then I realized that, under the shag carpet floor mats, there were big holes in the floor board. I got an unplanned shower, and my lifetime of stories about bizarre things happening to me and my...

I have been posting entries on this blog for a long time. March 28th, 2010, in a small hotel room on the 4th floor of the Hotel Panamericano in Santiago, Chile, Buckeye Mike Blog was born. It was a very difficult time in my life, and I knew I wanted to find a way to begin journaling (and hopefully understanding) the jumble of thoughts dancing in my head at the time. Through the years I have published 331 posts, and kept another 55 for my own personal reflection. I have written many times about my Mother, who was my best friend and we lost a few years ago. She was a big part of the inspiration for this blog, as my life is a reflection of who she was. She was a storyteller, just like me. I go back and re-read from time to time. It is cathartic to see where I have been, see the struggles and the victories. And now, to look back and see where God was working in my life even when i was running from him. I have written about the restoration of a sewage treatment plant. I have talked ab...

Padiddle. Yesterday, Tiffany had an appointment with the surgical oncologist at the Stephanie Spielman Center. After last week's good but confusing news concerning the biopsy of a mass in her left breast, we had been looking forward to getting clarification and, more importantly, finding out if there were going to be more obstacles to jump through before Little Red could actually be listed in the Heart Transplant List. Of course, we are talking about my wife. So obstacles are par for the course. Dr. Farrar told us that the issue with the biopsy is a few abnormalities in the sample. While the tissue was completely benign, there were a few anomalies that could have been evidence of pre-cancerous cells. And, before we are put on the list, we have to know if these cells could present an issue further down the line. So what's next? Well we first have to go speak to Ohio State Preoperative Assessment Clinic to make sure that they can use anesthesia on Tiffany. I would assume ...

Good afternoon everyone. I wanted to take a few minutes this afternoon to bring you all up to speed on what is going on with the effort to get Tiffany on the heart transplant list. When I last wrote, we were waiting on Tiffany to have a biopsy on her left breast. that occurred Monday morning. Early today, the results came back. Benign*. Good news, right? Except, the asterisk is not a mistype. While there is no cancer present, the cells they looked at were "pre-cancerous" and she is considered high risk for developing breast cancer in the future. So what does that mean? A heart (or any organ) transplant recipient has to be immunosuppressed for the rest of their life to limit the risk of rejection of the donated organ. If Tiffany is immunosuppressed and the cancer develops, it would spread quickly and lead to the worst possible outcome. So whats next? Well on Tuesday, November 1st, 2016, Tiffany will see a surgical oncologist. He will explain what the concerns are, and li...

Good afternoon everyone! If it is your first time here, welcome to my blog. In the past this has been a place for me to share thoughts and stories about everyday life. And while I haven't written in awhile, I decided today was the day to jump back in, as this is probably going to be the easiest way to keep everyone updated as we hopefully get a heart transplant in the near future. To catch you all up, my wife Tiffany suffered her 8th and most severe heart attack on October 1. It was a scary day in which we almost lost her. She spent the next 2 weeks at the Ohio State University -  Ross Heart Hospital, where the doctors determined that she would need a heart transplant. They put her through every test you can possibly imagine, and ultimately recommended her to the State of Ohio Solid Organ Transplantation Consortium for a heart transplant, who approved her almost immediately. All we had to do was wait for one more test to clear, and Emily (her amazing transplant coordinator at OSU...

I never had a daughter. I don't know what it's like to buy a Barbie Doll. Or dress up as Cinderella for your little girl's princess party. Or meet some zit faced teenage boy at the front door to instill the fear of God in him . And while I genuinely miss not having those experiences, I also will never have to meet that acne covered kid, which lessens my chances of ever going to prison. And I never have to pay for a wedding. So I suppose that, while I never had a Daddy's Little Girl, best not to second guess the man upstairs. He knew what he was doing. Instead, he gave me 3 awesome gifts. My guys. I will never forget that moment. It was 11:30 pm or so on August 26, 1998. The nurse's name was Ava. She turned to me, with him wrapped up in his little blanket, and said "Would you like to hold your son?" I took him from her, a little hesitantly, and said these words to him for the first time: "Hello, John-Michael David Slusher. I am your Dad" ...

Huge even from the outside John and Tanner Tanner is eager to get inside From the luxury suite See the Buckeye helmet? This screen is 160 feet long and 71 feet high O-H-I-O Me and the guys Man I outkicked my coverage Tiffany and Susie Look familiar? Hanging in a large storage room Cowboy Cheerleaders locker room Umm yeah, ya know Cowboys locker room In front of Zeke's locker Susie in front of Zeke's locker Tanner at the podium John at the podium Tiffany and Susie on the Star at the 50 yard line The boys and I on the star Tanner scored. What an awesome time! I think I am now not going to hate the Cowboys as much as I have in the past!