This morning's bike ride was only 5 miles. The six miles that I did on Saturday wore me out so much that I had to take a two-hour nap that afternoon.

Today we drove to Steigerwald Lake for our walk. It's a new nature trail just east of Washougal, along Highway 14. We only did part of the walk and we didn't see much in the way of wildlife. My chest and neck were sore during the night and this morning, so I decided not to go for a bike ride today. I was okay during the walk. Then we went to get an oil change for one car and went to the car wash with the other car--mundane errands but ones that needed to be done.

Dave and I just got back from a bike ride. We took our bikes to Marine Park in Vancouver and rode along the Renaissance Trail. We rode for over 6 miles, which isn't too bad for my second time out on my bike since my surgery. We went early to avoid the heat and the crowds.

Today's blog entry is not medically-related. Sinclair Ferguson quoted the following passage in his book A Heart for God. I find it very inspiring:

The goal is God Himself
Not joy, nor peace;
Not even blessing.
But Himself, my God.
'Tis His to lead me there,
Not mine, but His--
At any cost, dear Lord,
By any road.

I should have added that the last time I rode my bike was in February. We took our bikes to Seaside, OR for the day and tried to ride along the promenade, but I was dismayed to find that I had to stop every 100 yards to rest. That bike ride was an effort for me, but even then I didn't realize that something was physically wrong with me. I just thought that I was REALLY out of shape.

Yes! I rode my bicycle this morning. I just rode around our quadrant of houses and I only rode for 30 minutes, but it felt really good to be whizzing around. I didn't get too winded.

Another piece of good news is that I don't have to get my ProTime blood thinner level checked at the lab for another three weeks. Last time I went for two weeks, the time before that for one week and before that I had to go twice a week. This means that I am taking the correct amount of Coumadin to keep me at the level that they want me at which is 2.2 or 2.3.

8 weeks since my surgery! Today I got the official word from Kim that now I am allowed to swim and ride my bike--but not at the same time, ha ha. Seriously, I don't even care about swimming, I only wanted to do it because I wasn't allowed to do it. My bike is another story. I can't wait to get back on it and ride around. Walking is okay, but soooo sloooow. Dave is going to give my bike a quick oiling and checkup and then I will be good to go. Now if only my pedometer would work while I pedal!

Back to the routine of cardio rehab today. I skipped it on Friday so that we could get a head start on our drive to Astoria. Good thing we left when we did, because later that day Vancouver got a lot of rain in a short amount of time. My cardio routine is going well. I do a 27-minute program on the treadmill and put in 25 minutes on the Nu-Step bike. I take my iPod along and listen to Christian worship and praise music while I work out. It's prayerful and inspiring at the same time, as well as being a good physical workout. The class information today was about heart health--all good stuff to know.

Before leaving Astoria today, we walked along the Riverwalk. The World cruise ship was gone this morning. Then Dave played 9 more holes of golf. We had lunch in the RV and then headed for home.

Today was a better weather day than yesterday. Dave played golf this morning, then we drove to Cullaby Lake and walked the nature trail and toured the historic Finnish Lindgren House. We stopped by Sunset Beach to see the ocean and then drove back to Astoria to take another look at the World cruise ship. We got to the Scandinavian Midsummer Festival (held at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds in Astoria) in time to listen to a folk singer and then a yodeler. I admired all the rosemaling booths and bought an affordable tealight holder.

I think I almost made it to 10,000 steps today! Unfortunately, I hit rest by mistake on the way home from the Festival.

We arrived in Astoria around 12:45. It was a blustery day! Squalls of rain came through, along with wind. Dave didn't get a chance to play golf and I didn't get a chance to get any exercise. Instead we both took afternoon naps! Around 6 pm we decided to go out for dinner at Pig N Pancake. On the way to dinner, I saw a sign advertising that the Astoria Music Festival was beginning tonight. So we decided to exercise our minds and souls and went to the concert at the restored Liberty Theater in Astoria. We heard Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4, the "Italian" and music from Verdi's opera "La Traviata". It was an enjoyable evening. On the way to dinner, we saw a cruise ship docked in Astoria, the World cruise ship: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_(cruise_ship)

Pedometer update: I haven't made it to 10,000 steps per day yet. Tuesday I reached over 7600 and Wednesday (cardio rehab Nu-Step bike didn't register any steps) 8025. Today I only had 7026 steps and that was after a morning walk and an afternoon trip to Walmart, both of which I thought would register more steps.

This weekend we are going on a two-night RV trip to Astoria. There's a new RV park (Lewis and Clark) which has a 9-hole golf course, along with a nature trail. I plan to take many steps while I am there.

Jonathan is back in Bellingham now. I hope he enjoyed his day off today. He was pretty busy while he was home, mostly with car maintainence and upgrades. He had a chance to visit the shooting range with a sheriff friend of Dave's. It was Jonathan's first experience with shooting a gun. He had a chance to try several guns and rifles and did an excellent job shooting. That should give him some confidence about his career choice of becoming a cop.

The last two nights I have had less chest pain. Maybe things are starting to turn around in that department. I still wake up every couple of hours, but it's not from chest pain.

My chest was extra achy during the night because of using my arms during my time on the Nu-Step bike. Tylenol helped the aches.

Today I was in court all day. Both of my CASA cases were held today. It's rare for them both to fall on the same day. One was scheduled for the morning docket and one was scheduled for the afternoon docket. I am gradually getting back into the swing of things.

Jonathan gave me a pedometer and some hand weights for my birthday. I used the pedometer today for the first time. I didn't take a walk today, but I did go grocery shopping and some other errands, along with sitting in court all day. I was surprised to see that I had accumulated over 7600 steps during the day.

Jonathan is home! He's visiting here until Thursday afternoon. Last night we took him to Olive Garden and today he and I had lunch at the McMenamin's located at the Columbia River. Today his car is being worked on by our mechanic and we did a few other errands that were on his list. He checked out the new Fred Meyer store in Vancouver and compared it with the very busy store where he works. His store is very close to Canada so they get a lot of business from Canadians who cross the border to get some bargains.

My cardio rehab workout went well today. I felt energized afterwards, or was that the nice sunshine that I walked out into? I used the NuStep machine today for the first time. It's a machine that you sit on, kind of like a bike, only your feet pump pedals back and forth and arms are part of the motion. I found it much less boring to use than the recumbent bike without arms. And my time on the treadmill was fine, like always.

Today is graduation day for Jonathan, our younger son, and for Kiersten, our daughter-in-law. Jonathan is graduating from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, with a BA in Psychology. Kiersten is graduating from Marylhurst University in Portland, OR, with a MAIS, Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies. Congratulations to both of you!

Jonathan will be coming home for a visit tomorrow night. He'll be here until Thursday night and then he needs to get back to work at Fred Meyer. We are looking forward to seeing him. On Wednesday night we are going to have a family dinner here to celebrate both of the graduations.

I forgot to mention that my Coumadin levels are finally getting to be where they need to be: 2.5. At first I had to get my blood checked twice a week, then once a week, and now I am on an every two week schedule for the lab Pro-Time blood test. I don't have to get poked again until June 23!

Tonight Dave, Tim, and I participated in a focus group at Kaiser Sunnyside/Sunnybrook. Kaiser heart patients #2, #10, and #11 (me) and family members were invited to be part of the focus group. We answered questions about our whole experience of heart surgery. We were filmed and recorded while being viewed by 20 or more professionals who were in another room. The videotape will also be used for training purposes. It was a fun experience and some of the professionals commented that our insights were valuable to them.

I am starting to get busy again with CASA work. Wednesday night was the annual CASA recognition dinner, along with a training session about poverty, and this morning I attended another wraparound meeting for one of my cases. Both of my cases go to court on Tuesday, and I hope to be there but I'm not sure if I have enough stamina to sit in court all day. There's lots of work that needs to be done in both cases, and I'm trying to convince myself to jump right back into the work.

Driving is going well and it feels natural now. I'm still trying to limit my driving to local errands. I won't be taking any all day excursions for a while!

What a happy day! I now officially have permission to drive. It's been six weeks since my surgery. I met with the Kaiser dietician again and got some more questions answered. I am on a strict program of no more than 2-3 carbs (each carb is 15 grams) for each meal, along with 1-2 meat allotments and 1-2 fat allotments. Basically no food is a "bad" food, but it all has to fit into my dietary "budget". I also have to be aware to get the nutrition that I need. This program has been very workable for me and I will need to follow something similar for the rest of my life in order to have good control over my diabetes. I hope to continue to lose at least 1-2 pounds each week until I have lost what I need to lose, and then be able to maintain that weight for the rest of my life.

The next two weeks look very busy. Today's busy day started with an appointment with Dr. Williams, my primary care physician. Everything checked out okay with him and he got up-to-date with all that's going on with me. He checked out my feet as requested by the other Kaiser professionals, and nothing was numb, which was good news.

I was able to switch to the afternoon cardiac rehab program because of my morning appointment today. That went well, and since I stayed on the same programs as on Friday, both machines felt easier today. I took my iPod along and listened to Christian praise music the whole time I was exercising. The music held my attention and the time felt uplifting and prayerful instead of just tedious as usual.

Tomorrow will be my 6th week after the surgery. I am feeling better each week. Tomorrow I meet again with the dietician, Janet Hodge.

Yesterday we decided to make a one-night camping trip to Paradise Point State Park. We wanted to see how I did in the RV, and we also wanted to see how the RV did. Well, we're back home now, and I did better than the RV. I am ready to go on the next trip, but the RV needs to go in for service because it won't shift into park. Dave refereed a scrimmage at Ridgefield High School this morning, and I went for a walk around the park and watched a movie in the motorhome. We had a grand time during our one-night trip and I am eager to do more camping.

Now about my nights...When I take a Zyrtec or a Benadryl, I sleep okay, not great, but okay. I wake up every few hours. There has been no more problems with itching, thank you, God. I have a lot of chest discomfort at night, especially when I change sleeping positions. Last night I experimented by not taking a pill. I didn't have cardiac rehab, or any appointments, or any meetings this morning. At around 1:30 am this morning, I gave in and took a Tylenol, after which I was finally able to get some sleep. I still woke up every few hours. In the mornings I generally feel like someone punched me in the chest. (No, it wasn't Dave.) The more restless I am at night, the more sore I am in the morning. It takes a while for the soreness to go away but it does go away as the day goes on. As a result, I'm usually fairly slow moving and in the mornings.

Yesterday and today were both really good days--both health-wise and attitude-wise. It's been five weeks since my surgery and I feel so much better than I did at first and I can do so much more than I could at first.

This morning we read in the newspaper about the new Steigerwald Lake walking path in Washougal which has a grand opening on June 14. We decided to go see if it was already open. No, it wasn't, so we explored and walked at the fairly-new William Clark Park at Cottonwood Beach which is along the dike path in Washougal. We had a nice walk with glimpses of the Columbia River through the trees. Once I am able to ride my bicycle again, we plan to bring the bikes to the dike trail and ride from there to Steigerwald Lake. We used to go on many fun bike rides around this area and it will be great to be able to do those again. In the meantime, I still can't drive, so it was nice of Dave to drive me over to Washougal and to walk with me.

I got word yesterday that I am officially off all insulin for good now. My blood sugars have been pretty good with the exception of an occasional anomally. I still have to take metformin pills for the diabetes. As of today, I am off the Lasix and potassium and the Pepcid pills. And now I only have to do my Pro-Time (blood thinner) tests once each week. So things are progressing in the right direction. I still get chest discomfort at night, but I can sleep in a regular bed now and I haven't had any more itching as long as I take a Zyrtec or a Benadryl pill before I go to sleep.

I'm enjoying cardio rehab more than I thought I would. The lectures don't amount to much, but it's a helpful reminder of things we should know about. Today's topic was "Making Changes". It's also helpful when class members give their testimonies and opinions about what has worked or not worked for them.

The machines are a bit tedious to do, but I have a real sense of accomplishment when I am done with each of them. Today I did 20 minutes on the recumbent bike and 23 minutes on the treadmill, with a top speed of 1.8 and an elevation of 2.0 for only about 4 minutes. I also enjoy it when the classes are over at 12:30 pm each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!