Update 9pm Thursday by Dave

Carol rested for over an hour after her big walk today. Then she ordered dinner and then was in for a surprise. Our dear friends Warren and Sandy joined Tim, Kiersten and I as we had a little surprise burthday celebration. The food folks added a small special birthday dessert to her tray and the on duty staff (as many as could be spared , 6 or 7) joined us in singing "Happy Birthday" to Carol. Then she opened up her cards and gifts.

Wasn't the birthday we had originally hoped to celebrate, but it was a good one none the less. We also noticed that the monitors which had her name and age still showed her as being a year younger. Tim thinks that's because she is going to have to now repeat that year.

When I was getting ready to leave for the evening, her heartbeat took off and suddenly ran up to about 125. The nurses noticed this and came into find out what the cause was. She had an atrial fibrillation which is supposedly normal, but scary to us. They ordered an EKG and the EKG person was there like 60 seconds later to do it. Once they printed that out, they confirmed it was AF and called Dr. Shin at home. He ordered some medication to take care of it. It will take some time for it to work but all should be well soon with that. Also, her fever is back up slightly.

Hopefully she will get a good night's rest.

Update 3:45pm Thursday by Dave

Carol just got back from her first walk. They told us during her consult that she would only go 15-20 feet for the first walk. Would you believe she circled the entire ward - a distance of 300+ feet!!! That has made her tired and so we will defer the trip outside for now. She was up for 3 hours and will probably sleep a bit now. Also her fever is gone.

Update 3:00pm Thursday by Dave

Carol is doing great. Dr.Shin stopped by just now and removed the last chest tube. That should make her feel even better. He also presented her with a birthday present on behalf of the staff. It is a little angel statue with a red heart. Dr. Shin also said she can go outside in a wheel chair now so we will do that when he is done. She was excited to hear that!

Update Thursday noon by Dave

Carol is doing much better now. The fever is under control and she was in her chair for 3 hours before I was here. She slept for an hour while I was here and that refreshed her. Only 2 IV lines out of the original 30 remain plus the chest tube which comes out later today.

She also heard that the current target for her to go home is Monday.

Lunch just arrived and she said it "was huge."

Update 8:30am Thursday by Dave

I just spoke with Carol. She didn't have a great night. She actually had gotten tangled and could not reach the call button to summon help. She could reach the phone and called me but by the time I talked with her, she had already received assistance. To make matters worse, she didn't sleep well and woke up with a fever this morning. Let's keep the prayers coming so that things will settle down for her.

Special Note - Dave

When I posted Tuesday night's update, all was posted OK. When I posted again Wednesday morning early, I received an error message but it appeared to work. Now I see that it overlayed the Tuesday night post. Unfortunately, I don't have the contents or I would repost it. But I had earlier saved all comments to share with Carol so even if your comment is not there, she will see it.

Update 9pm Wednesday by Dave

When I left Carol this evening she was still doing quite well overall. She was very uncomfortable sitting up in the chair, but not because of her chest, but because her tailbone was hurting. This caused some angst on her part, but overall did quite well in the chair.

I didn't get a chance to post this earlier because it is hard to type much on the Blackberry, but the move from ICU was interesting.....They decided to do the move using the "patient chair" from her room. This is a special chair for her to sit in (yup, the same one that is so uncomfortable) and it has castering wheels on all four points so it can be easily moved in any direction. In fact, too easily moved.....For short moves, the wheels are great, for anything over 5-6 feet you would have thought we were slipping and sliding on ice out of control. We went the 350 feet or so careening from side to side down the hall, barely avoiding strategically placed obstacles. One nurse had the IV stand and chest tube collector, the other tried to steer using the handle on the middle back of the chair and held a portable monitor (much like a TV). I was carrying 2 bags of personal belongings. After we slipped and slid a bit and ran over the chest tube hose and wrapped it around the wheel (that was real fun getting undone without causing any pain), I took over steering and used the back of the chair instead of the narrow handle. Since I weighed over twice what the petite nurse did, I had, shall we say, a little more mass to control things with and we did the last 250 feet or so without hitting anything or anybody.

Needless to say, none of us would have been awarded a license if we drove like that for the DMV.

Carol was a bit frustrated with the incentive spirometer as it turns out she wasn't doing as well as she thought.....but it was still much better than expected. I'll bet tomorrow she will be getting even better with it.

6:00pm Update by Dave

Well, she finally moved out of ICU. She was actually approved to move much earlier but other patient needs took priority. She is feeling dramatically better this afternoon and actually notices the improvement.

Update - Wed. 11:30am by Dave

I arrived about 9:30 this morning. Everyone says Carol is doing great except Carol. She doesn't feel like she is doing well at all, but she is. A few minutes ago they got her up into a chair but she is tired. She has about a third of the monitors and tubes still connected compared to yesterday.

We also had a visit from the chief administrator who doing a customer service type of check.

She also just had her first food - strawberry sugar free Jello.

Next update when she moves out of ICU.

Update Wednesday 6:30am by Dave

I just spoke with the ICU folks and Carol had a very good night. She was up early this morning and spent 90 minutes sitting up in a chair!. Originally, they plan was that she would sit for very brief periods on the end of the bed and yet she is already in a chair for a fairly decent amount of time! They expect to move her out of the ICU today (sometime midday) and into the normal care unit. So as yesterday, all is looking great so far. My bride continues to astound us and her medical team by exceeding expectations.

A couple of other items to pass on (I was too tired yesterday to add these):

Carol has an external pacemaker. This is totally normal and we were told that everyone has one right after surgery. The purpose of it is to get the heart back to functioning at a consistent level. (Remember, it was stopped for a good length of time in the surgery). When she went to the ICU the pacemaker was set at 22 milli-volts which is apparently a normal voltage for the heart. (Any medicos reading all this can let me know where I have it wrong!). Anyway, the plan is that over the next 24 hours they decrease the voltage down to where the pacemaker is just barely assisting (3mv or so). Well, before we left her at about 3 yesterday afternoon, she was already down to 5mv. Another sign of great progress.

Also she has special leg cuffs that cover her lower legs. These will inflate and deflate to simulate exercising the leg muscles so that she can begin walking sooner and to promote circulation. They look sort of like large blood pressure cuffs for the legs.

We know that while we have seen fantastic progress so far, there is still some ways to go. It is obvious the Lord has heard the prayers of the multitudes in her progress to date and we are so grateful to Him that it is going so well.

I'm printing out all the blog comments to take to her this morning (and will do so every morning). She is really into the blog and it is a great way for us to notify you on what is happening and for her to hear from you.

BTW, tomorrow (Thursday) is her birthday. Not exactly where we had been planning to celebrate it (We had planned a trip to North Central Washington), but it will still be, how would one say, a memorable birthday! Expect next update middday today.

Update 6pm by Dave

I just checked in with the ICU folks to get an update and so far everything is going just great. Her condition is already described as "very stable" which is really good. She has been sleeping quite a bit and wakes up every hour or so to cough and then goes back to sleep. There will be a nurse in her room 100% of the time (if not 2 nurses) until she leaves the ICU.

I will probably have one more update tonight about 8:30 or 9:00. Stay tuned and we thank all of you for your thoughts and especially, the prayers! (but don't stop the praying!)

Question answered

One of the comments to an earlier update asked why a mechanical valve was chosen over a tissue one. Carol made that choice because the mechanical valve could last her entire lifetime while a tissue one would likely last 10-15 years tops. She will have to be on blood thinners for the rest of her lifte, but preferred that to facing this all over again. Dr. Shin said at her age, the mechanical made much more sense too.

Also, when you do comment to the blog, please put your last initial too. We have several friends who are reading the blog and commenting that share the same first names, so a last initial would be great.

-D

Update 3pm. By Dave

This is a little late but is as of 3pm. Tim and I were able to visit with Carol about 1.5 hours, though for the first 45 minutes or so, I don't think she knew we were even there. There were a bunch of nurses going in and out of the room and someone was always with her. She's also hooked up to more monitors, pumps, connections, etc. than you can imagine.

Overall, the medical staff is really happy with her progress so far. All signs are really exceeding their expectations. (Of course, they don't know that Carol is such an overachiever!). They predicted that it would be somewhere between 6 and 9 hours when they could take out the breathing tube in her throat and disconnect the ventelator. The breathing tube is the most uncomfortable thing that they do. They have to wait until you wake up and then have enough stability in various monitors (they are monitoring over 20 different chemicals alone) and then show that you can breath on your own for 15 mintues before they will even consider removing the tube.

Well, wouldn't you know it, but next time you meet Carol, you will be looking at the Kaiser record holder for quickest tube removal. Just a little over 2 hours!

So far evertyhing is great, the new valve is doing splendid, and Dr. Shin (who still seems to be hanging around) is really pleased.

After they got that out of the way,we were able to visit for a few minutes more, then they wanted her to rest for the remainder of the evening. So Tim and I left.

Update 1:00pm by Dave

Surgery has been completed and everything went great. We just met with the head surgeon of the team and he was very positive. Carol came off the heart-lung nachine very easily and did not require any additional blood at all which is a great sign, She is now in the ICU area getting hooked up to a million tubes and cables. Also. He said when they got the old valve out, he could that she actually had this condition from birth and that the back pressure which should have been close to zero, was actually 84 and that for her heart to get a normal blood pressure of 120/80, it was actually pumping at something over 200!

In your prayers for Carol and the successful surgery, please include a thanks for Dr. Shin and his OR team of 11. God has truly blessed them with a great skill and made it available to Carol.

Update - noon by Dave

Just got a call from the OR that the new valve is in place and Carol is off the heart-lung machine. They are now beginning to close her up and that will take another 40 minutes or so. Everything has gone great so far and the new valve is working great!

Praise the Lord for the great news. Soon begins the recovery phase.

Update - 10:00am by Dave

Just got another update from the team, Carol is on the heart-lung machine and doing well with it. They are just about done removing the old valve abd the will start prepping for the new mechanical one.

update - 8:00am by Dave

Just got first call from OR and the operation has begun and the incision made. Estimating completion around 1-2pm or so.

update 6:45am - Dave

Carol did't get much sleep because of all the activities for her. A chaplain was supposed to come at 6:15 but didn't get the word. Just before she left for surgery, we shared some bible versus with her - Sandy and Warren had sent one, Tim and Kiersten each had one, and I had one. We did our own "home church" version of a chaplain visit!

Then the entire surgery team came to take her to the OR. As we were walking, Dr. Shin mentioned that the Lord would be with them in the OR.

So now we wait for news. The team will update us at least every two hours. Stay tuned.

Update 8pm Tuesday by Dave

Carol is going to be busy for the next hour or so working with the nurses getting some more things connected to her and IVs going. Also she gets a special shower and uses special soap. They moved things up a bit and now she has to get up at 4am for more connections at the last minute. Time and I will be seeing her from 6am to about 6:30. She has also asked for a chaplain to visit and so we should get a chance to pray with her too.

The good news is that she is not very anxious about this at all. She is amazingly calm - and after 30 years of marriage, I would have not predicted that! She truly amazes me every day.

More news tomorrow!

update Tuesday 2:15 by Dave

We have arrived at the Cardio vascular progressive care unit (cvpcu) where Carol will stay tonight and after she gets out of the ICU unit. They said she will be getting progressively busier as the night goes on. Now she is being connected to telemetry monitors, just like an astronaut. She received a personal handmade heart pillow that has special meaning just for Carol. I'm not going to describe it because I know she will want to show it to you.

Heads up on Schedule - Dave

Hello Everyone!

It has been great seeing all your comments on the blog. I know they have warmed Carol's heart.

I want to take a minute and update you on the schedule for the next few days. I will be taking Carol down to the hospital this afternoon around 2pm to be admitted. At 4pm, we will get a tour of the entire facility by the staff. Then tonight she rests up for the big day tomorrow.

Tuesday begins early for her - at 6:15 she will visit with Tim and me. As most of you know, Jonathan is up at Western Washington University (6-7 hours away) in his last quarter before graduation and also works a part time job up there. Carol and I talked about this and thought it best that he not give up the class and work time needed to sit around during the operation. Carol would much rather see him when she is feeling better and able to enjoy his visit. (Plus his store has diet cherry 7up!)

At 6:45, she leaves us for the operating room (OR). The operation could take anywhere from 4 to 8 hours. Longer is not necessarily bad, it just means they are doing a good job. Everyone's body is somewhat different in the little things and of course, the devil is in the details. (actually, he better not be in these details!!!) The surgical team will be keeping Tim and I updated on progress throughout the surgery and I will post updates to the blog here as soon as we have news.

Once out of surgery, she will be in the Cardiac ICU ward and pretty much out of it. Tim and I will be allowed to do what they call a "drive by" where we can see that she is OK but she probably won't even know we are there.

In a day or two after that, they will move her to the patient care room, which is still part of the new cardiovascular unit where she will be constantly monitored until her release in some 4-10 days.

Her visitors will be limited, so please don't make the treck all the way to the hospital without checking with me first. As soon as she can handle visitors, I know she will enjoy having them. Also, flowers and balloons are not permitted in the cardiac care unit.

Also, as blog readers, you will know what is happening. But there may be some of her friends and colleagues who are not so computer savy. If you know of them, please either assist them in accessing the blog or pass the news to them. I'm not going to be able to make phone calls to everyone that might want updates. The blog is the place to get news.

Last but not least by any means, please keep the prayers coming. We have a great cardiac team ready to go and with the Holy Spirit's blessing, we are confident that God's glory will shine through.

Blessings to all!

I am VERY sleepy today. We drove to Kalama to sit in the car by the Columbia River, and I enjoyed it, but we didn't stay too long because I am so tired. So I'm going to take a nap right now!

Just added another "journey" to my blog description--the journey of books. How could I forget that! I picked up two books at Borders so that I don't have to take a library book to the hospital. I may not be able to read while I am there, but I will be prepared, just in case. The books that I bought were The Wednesday Letters and Astrid and Veronika. While I was there I saw many books that I have read and enjoyed. Among those are Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner and The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. As to spiritual books, the author that I am currently reading is Jerry Bridges who wrote, among other books, Pursuit of Holiness and Respectable Sins. OK, that's it for booktalk today.

I had a bit of a low day yesterday until Kim called with the news that the tests came out fine. Today I am looking forward to a relaxing day with no medical appointments. Dave is out playing golf and I am happy that he has one more chance to do that. I am going to do a couple of easy errands. Tomorrow we are looking forward to meeting Tim and Kiersten for dinner at Corbett Fish House in Portland.

Does anyone know where to buy Diet Cherry 7-Up in the Vancouver/Portland area? The only place we've seen it is at Fred Meyer in Bellingham. It's a good way for me to satisfy my sweet tooth. Yes, I know, Jonathan, that I shouldn't drink diet soda, but how about if I limit it to one per day?

Just got a call from Kim, the RN. My carotid ultrasound came out fine, showing "minimal" risk of stroke. So it's a go for the surgery on Tuesday, April 28. I will be admitted to the hospital on Monday afternoon at 2 pm. At 4 pm there is a tour of the cardiac unit for friends and family. The Tuesday morning visit time before surgery will be from 6:15 am until 6:40am. The surgery will begin at 7 am and should take from 4-8 hours. So I guess it's really happening!

At the ENT appointment, my left nostril was cauterized and we found out that it will not cause the surgery to be delayed. Then on to the ultrasound appointment, which we were late getting to but luckily it got rescheduled for an hour later. The ultrasound was to look for plaque in the carotid arteries. Dr. Shin should get those results later today. That's the only thing that might hold up the surgery. Kim, the RN, tracked us down at the ultrasound and gave me a notebook full of information pertaining to the surgery and the pre-op and post-op.

It's been very therapeutic for me to write this blog. Thanks for reading it!

Here's another interesting (to me) tidbit: Dr. Shin said that my aortic valve is so narrow and so calcified that it's like I have been carrying a 200-pound person on my back all this time. That, in addition to the extra weight that I already carry, makes it not surprising that I have had to stop taking walks and riding my bike. I didn't realize that things were medically so bad. I just blamed myself for being lazy and out-of-shape.

Just got a phone call from Kim Carlson, the cardiac surgery RN coordinator. I have an ENT appointment tomorrow at 11 am at Sunnybrook. I'll go from there to get the carotid ultrasound at Sunnyside and then back to the lab. It turns out that since I'm an open heart surgery patient, they should have done the labs as requested and not waited for the 72-hr before surgery rule. The Sunnybrook Clinic and the Sunnyside Medical Center (the hospital) are located next to each other, along with Mt. Talbert and Mt. Scott clinics. The only one I haven't been to is Mt. Scott. Sunnybrook is brand new and has all the latest equipment.

One other wonderful thing is that both Kim and Dr. Shin are Christians. I noticed she was wearing a cross necklace, and when she commented on the phone that things are lining up like it's meant to happen this way, I asked if she was a Christian. Not that non-Christians can't be wonderful medical professionals, but it's great to be in the hands of fellow believers.

If the surgery happens as scheduled on Tuesday, I will be admitted to the hospital at 2 pm on Monday. We will go on a family tour of the facility that afternoon and I will stay in the hospital overnight. The surgery will begin around 6:15 am on Tuesday.

Today we went to Kaiser Mt. Talbert to meet with the surgical team: Kimberly, the RN who is the "glue" of the team, Dr. Shin, the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, and one of the PAs, Allison. Everyone was very nice and very informative. We got a lot more details about the surgery, risks, etc. Patients generally feel better immediately after this surgery. However, the recovery process takes a good 6-8 weeks. The surgery itself will take 4-8 hours and I will be on a heart-lung machine while they replace the valve. I'm leaning toward having a mechanical replacement instead of a tissue replacement, which means that I will have to be on blood thinners the rest of my life.

Surgery is tentatively set for Tuesday, April 28. However, it was decided that I need to have an ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) appointment before the surgery due to an ongoing issue of blood in my nose, which is a concern for surgery and afterwards because of being on blood thinners. They also need to get an okay from my dentist, so it's good that I went to the appointment with my hygienist last Friday. Now I'm anxiously awaiting the ENT appointment and hope that it won't cause a delay in the surgery--better safe than sorry, though.

I had a chest xray today (had to go to Kaiser Sunnybrook for that since it was digital). Tomorrow I have to go back to Kaiser Sunnyside for a carotid ultrasound. I tried to do the labs that are required, but found out that those have to be done within 72 hours of the surgery. Did you know that your blood type can change along with your medical condition? I didn't know that. If they have to order blood for you during your surgery, they need to know that they are ordering the right kind of blood.

Update - Tuesday noom by Dave

Surgery tentatively scheduled for next Tuesday, April 28. Depends if we can get ENT consult before then. Check in would be Monday afternoon. Details later today when Carol gets home.

-Dave

Tomorrow's appointment is with Yong Shin, head of the new cardiology unit at Kaiser Sunnyside. Dr. Angel highly recommended Dr. Shin and said he is a down-to-earth "people" person, unlike some of the cardiac surgeons from the past. The surgery date will depend upon when Dr. Shin has an opening. I just want to get it over with.

Thanks, Dave, for updating the blog today. Also, thanks to all those that wrote comments. I just read them and it really lifted my spirits. I can't type much because it's my right hand that's in the splint. All in all, today's procedure was much easier than I expected. The best news is that I don't have any signs of coronary artery disease.

Home at last - 3:30pm by Dave

OK, we arrived home a short while ago. Carol is very tired from the stress of the procedure and because she didn't sleep all that well last night. So she went right to bed. Her wrist hurts a bit where they put the catheter in and it is in a splint type of imobilizer. She has to wear that for the next day or so. Other than that, there should be no other effects from the procedure.

Kaiser has just opened up a coronary care unit at Sunnyside hospital. In the past, they sent all their heart patients to St. Vincent's out in Beaverton. They are not fully operational yet and are being selective on the cases they accept to operate on at Sunnyside. One of the medical staff said that Carol will be able to have her surgery done in the unit because her's is a very low risk case and exceeds the criteria they are using currently. That is really good news because St. Vincents is quite a bit further and on the other side of Portland. We won't have near the traffic nor time spent on the road while she is in their care.

-Dave

update @2:50 by Dave

We are heading home!!!!

Update as of 2:15pm by Dave

We are still waiting for Carol to see the doc one more time. Earlier they tried to remove the O2 feed but had to put it back on because her O2 level went too low. Hopefuly it will stablize soon and we can go home. She is very tired and can't wait to leave.

While I was typing this, the doc called and said she could leave shortly! Yippee!

-Dave

Update as of noon - by Dave

The doctor just stopped by and said Carol is doing well. She has an appointment with the head of the surgical unit on Wed.to go over the planned operation which will take place here at Sunnyside which we were hoping for. We don't know the date for that yet.

-Dave

Procedure completed @11:30am by Dave

Carol is back and doing well. They went in through her arm instead of her leg which is good. We don't know the length of the recovery yet. They also checked her arteries which are clear and that is good news! Now we are just waiting to hear when and where the surgery will be.

-D

Procedure begins -10:30am - by Dave

Finally Carol was taken from the prep area to the cath lab. Depending on who you talk to, she will be there anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes. Then anywhere fron 2 to 6 hours in recovery. She will need to be almost motionless during that time.
-D

status @9:15am -from Dave

We arrived @7:30 and Carol was admitted. She is connected to a bunch of monitors. She should be going into the lab for the procedure in the next 30 minutes. It will take about an hour for the test and soon after that we will get a firm diagnosis. We may not hear the surgery schedule today though. More as I hear it.
-Dave

A note from Dave.....

Hi everyone!

When Carol is unable to post to this blog, I will be taking over for her. When I post from home, the posts will be much like hers. But if I post anything from the hospital, those posts will likely be relatively short and may contain spelling and grammatical errors. I will be using my Blackberry to post from the hospital and the keyboard has small keys and is somewhat limited and the screen is also very small. But in the interest of getting any updates out on the blog, I will post them and then maybe correct and expand them when I am home in front of a real computer!

I may post some of these abbreviated updates tomorrow during the angiogram to see how it all works.

Blessings to all!
Dave

Today is a gorgeous day here in Vancouver. Dave and I went on an excursion to the Woodland Tulip Festival. Dave is out planting some hyacinths in our front yeard right now. I had to take it slow, but totally enjoyed myself at the festival. We ate a late breakfast at Oak Tree Restaurant in Woodland--yum!

Dave reminded me that some blog readers haven't heard the full story of why I need an aortic valve replacement. A few years ago, my primary care doctor at Kaiser told me that I have a heart murmur. It has probably been there since birth, but I've been pretty healthy except for my bout of diabetic nerve damage in 2001, so maybe that's why it wasn't previously detected. He sent me for annual echocardiograms. Last year's echo showed a little blockage. This year's echo, which I had done on April 8 (Jonathan's 20th birthday), showed severe aortic stenosis, which is a hardening and blockage in the valve. I didn't realize that I had also been experiencing shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness, and some other symptoms. I had thought that I was just severely out of shape! It was like boiling a frog slowly--the frog doesn't realize it's happening and then all of a sudden he's cooked.

The echo technician didn't tell me that anything was wrong. He said that my doctor would get the results in a week in two. But by the next day, the doctor had the results and sent me an email telling me about the problem and telling me that the cardiology department would be contacting me for an appointment. That phone call happened the next day. The cardiology appointment with Dr. Angel was set for Thursday, April 16. I was on pins and needles waiting for that appointment. In the meantime, I researched aortic valve stenosis online and thoroughly scared myself when I read that the only cure is surgery. By the time I had the appointment with Dr. Angel, and he told me the same thing, I was totally used to and accepting of the fact that surgery was needed. A big thank you to my good friend, Sandy Harwood, who accompanied me to that appointment since Dave was out-of-town working with a client in Sacramento.

Dr. Angel set up the angiogram and talked to me about the surgery. He was very kind and patient and didn't rush the appointment. I also had an EKG that day in preparation for the angiogram which will happen tomorrow, May 20. He said they like to wait a few days after that to have the surgery. So this has all come up very fast, which I guess is good. It is by the grace of God that I am able to accept this challenge that I am facing. The prognosis is good, which helps tremendously, too.

Okay, I fixed the comment setting so that anyone can leave a comment. You do not need to have a google account. Instead, just pick "anonymous." Please be sure to leave your name if you use that option. Everyone will have do type in the random word for verification. That is to cut down on spam.

Saturday morning. I got a decent night's sleep last night, although I still wake up every couple of hours. Dave is marshaling a golf tournament at Green Mountain this morning. I hope that his golf and football activities won't have to be interrupted too much after I get out of the hospital. This afternoon Kevin, a friend from football and church, is going to help Dave dig our hospital bed out of the rafters. I may not need it when I get home, but better safe than sorry. Other than that, we are trying to get things organized, but it's hard to know exactly what needs to be done. I've never really been in the hospital nor had surgery, so this will be a new experience for me.

I think we will give Molly Maids a try next week. They come in and clean for two hours which should be a short enough time to not be intrusive. I haven't had the energy to clean the house properly for a while now, so it will be good for the house to get the cleaning that it needs. If they come and clean every week or two while I am recuperating, it will be a big relief to me. Dave would rather use his time working from home than cleaning and I don't blame him. And then when I get visitors in a few weeks (hint, hint!) I won't have to be embarrassed about a dirty house.

I've noticed for a while that my eyes have been red. Is that related to the faulty heart valve? Or is it perhaps because I've begun wearing a eyemask during the night to help keep the room darker so that I sleep better?

I hope that people will dialogue with me on this blog, not just read it for information. It will be my tool for communication and you know how important that is to me. Phone calls would be exhausting, but using the internet will allow me to log on when and if I feel up to it.

We had a nice dinner with Tim and Kiersten last night and they and Dave convinced me to use a blog for communication rather than relying on email. For one thing, it will be easier for Dave to update while I am in the hospital. I was concerned that writing a blog seemed too egotistical, so I hope it's not. I just signed up for Facebook, but I can already tell that I won't have the energy to figure all that out until after I am recuperated. So please correspond with me via the blog or email. If you know others that might be interested in my blog, feel free to pass the URL on to them. And always, keep praying for me!

I'm setting up a blog to write about this new journey that I'm on. It's not a journey that I would have chosen, but the path has been chosen for me. I know that God is guiding this journey and my job is to depend on Him for strength to complete the journey.

Here's what is amusing to me. According to my Kaiser cardiologist, Dr. A. Angel (isn't that a great name?) my case is considered a pediatric case since I am under 65. I expect to see bright and cheery paint colors and murals on the walls. Maybe stuffed animals and other toys around.

Today I cancelled the reservations for the upcoming RV trips that we had planned to take. Bellingham and Chelan the week after next, and Mount Rushmore, Cody, and Yellowstone beginning on May 18. I'm already anticipating going next year instead, and then maybe I can actually get out of the car and RV and take some hikes to see the sites!