April 22, 2003
Had a painful night last night. Went to the doctor yesterday and he gave me some acid pills and I got three X-Rays and came home, took a nap. Felt great. Came out to studio and finished a painting for Paul Hutton on Custer being shot in the side.

But after a dinner of chicken noodle soup and toast I started to get the same severe pains in my lower stomach. Really bad. Had trouble sleeping. Couldn’t find a comfortable position. Finally slept on my stomach and that seemed to be the least painful position. Thought about Custer being shot in the side and how that would have to be less painful than this.

Got a second opinion from a faithful blogger reader this morning: “Did you consider the possibility your stomach pains may be related to gallstones? Sounds real familiar - eat rich or greasy type foods (Easter brunch) and have a severe attack that lasts for hours - and not much relieves the misery. If it happens again, you may want to ask your doctor to do an ultrasound and check for stones. I've seen it happen to a number of patients in the healthcare facility I work at and experienced it myself. It took 3 different doctors before they nailed my symptoms down, mostly because the attacks come and go. Good Luck!”—j.rae

I feel better this morning and went for a walk. As bad as my problems are it could be worse:

Evidently Glenn Boyer’s (author of “I Married Wyatt Earp”) step-son shot his live-in girlfriend’s sister in the face over the weekend. It’s not clear if he thought she was an intruder, or what. The police report says that they were partying and then had some sort of altercation earlier in the evening, near Rodeo, NM, then Danny Coleman (he’s Jane Candia Coleman’s son) and his wife went home to Portal and went to bed. His girlfriend’s sister drove over to their house, and while the kids and her husband waited in the car, she went inside. That’s when the shooting took place. Awful. I feel bad for them all.

“A good writer of history is a guy who is suspicious. Suspicion marks the real difference between the man who wants to write honest history and the one who'd rather write a good story.”
—Jim Bishop