from long lost me

I haven't posted for ages, so it's time!

I am doing very very well. I still have occasional aches in my chest, but other than that, I feel totally recovered. As of October 16, I am now able to lift Jacob again. Yay!! It feels like that was the last step in my recovery. You don't realize how much strength you lose in 3 months! He feels like he has doubled in weight! When I do day to day activities, I don't feel weak. But when I lift him up, it's a strong reminder of the muscle I lost.

Derrick starts a new job on Monday. I can't remember if I posted the he had lost his job as of mid-June. Major restructuring...his position was eliminated. He got a severance package, was able to look after me post surgery, and ended up with a job that pays more starting than the one he left after being there 9 years...and it starts at over 4 weeks of holidays. God is good, very very good!!! Jacob and I will really, really miss him during the day...it will be an adjustment for us!

We are now cleared to have another baby. We are praying that God will continue to bless us and I will be pregnant soon!

Happy All Saints Day!!!! There must be a huge party in heaven today!!!

the latest

I haven't posted for awhile, so I should let everyone know what's up.

Let's see...I have officially passed the 6 week my-breastbone-is-healed mark! It has been 8 weeks as of today. How time flies!! Even though I am all healed up, my chest is still a bit achy. All is going very well still.

Last week I went for my first bike ride since surgery, and have been on one more since. It feels great, and is very comfortable. Yay! I will try to squeeze in many rides before the snow flies!!

I have been working on stretching and some core strength building. It is going well, and feels so good to have some flexibility back again!

Sara started grade 1 this year. Wow. She is enjoying it very much. I think she is tired at the end of the day, although she would never admit it!! The kids will be starting fall activities soon...swimming, and Sara will be starting tap dancing. Should be cute...

and my cardiologist says...

...that all is well!

I had an appointment with Dr. Akhtar yesterday. I had an echocardiogram also. Blood is flowing down the newly moved coronary artery, which is great! There was a bit of abnormality on my ECG, so they want me to come back in 3 months to check it out again. Dr. Akhtar thinks the abnormality is only there because it is so soon after surgery, and it will correct itself.

A list of great things Dr. Akhtar had to say:

• I can drive again

• we can try to get pregnant in October

• blood is flowing down the moved artery

• I have massive coronary arteries. This is good. The chance of ever developing heart disease (which runs in my family) is very small. They usually measure these the main coronary arteries in mm. Mine is 1cm!!

• random days of fogginess are normal. I have been having random foggy days. This is a result of being on the heart and lung machine, and will improve over time.

• the echo tech, the ECG tech and Dr. Akhtar all said that my incision looks great, and will heal very well. The ECG tech said that she sees patients whose incisions look like mine, but they had surgery a year ago!

After going for an ECG in 3 months, I will see Dr. Akhtar every year for an echo and check up, to monitor the moved artery. It may narrow over time (unlikely), which is fine, but they want to monitor it anyway.

I am back working already. The magazine I design each month is ready to go to press for the September issue. So, work I must!! I have lots of help here, so working hasn't been too bad...

here we are...

...we are home.

We drove home yesterday. The kids were great, which was super. They usually travel really well, but I was a bit worried since I wasn't even able to reach around and grab toys after Jacob chucked them. But it all went very well! Yay!

Now, we are slowly unpacking. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all, but we are slowly chipping away. I just want everything done at once...everything unpacked and organized!

I am still feeling very well overall. I am feeling a bit more stiff in my upper chest/collarbone area. I don't know why. It's not terrible, just a bit more uncomfortable.

So, another chapter in this adventure is over. We will have a lot of help the next couple of weeks as I continue to recover at home.

strong and clear

As each day passes, my body becomes stronger, and my head less foggy. I am still healing at a great pace!

I have to make myself walk slower...I feel up to walking quickly, but I know my recovery is supposed to be gradual...so I will work up to a quicker pace. I'm not shuffling along...my Mom is thankful because I am now walking at her pace...but I have had open heart surgery! Pre-surgery I had to slow my pace a bit when walking with her...I am just a naturally fast walker. I think she will be sad when my pace increases again!

We took the kids to the Legislature grounds yesterday. They have beautiful pool and fountains to play in. I love taking the kids there in the summer. It is so much fun! And it's not stressful...a great place to go while in recovery! We went on a Saturday, so there were lots of weddings to check out (a lot of people go there for photos). My sister is getting married next spring, so we were looking at dresses and hairdos. Sara is going to be a flower girl, so she had fun looking at all the little flower girl dresses. The day went very well. I wasn't tired at all. My Mom is now saying that I have made the transition from recovering patient to tourist....I want to plan all these fun things to do. Back to my old self, I guess..I like to get out, see and do things. Don't worry, I won't push myself too hard...

one week ago...

...about this time, I was waking up after surgery. I'm amazed at how far God has brought me in my healing process, and how much I have been blessed with a swift recovery. I'm sure that a big part of this has to do with the many prayers that have been offered up for me from all of you. Again...thank you so much. The Body of Christ is so connected, and so powerful!

I'm supposed to be sleeping...

...but I'm just not tired...so I thought I would write a quick update.

Then I thought...hmmm...maybe I should post a photo of what I look like now...the new and improved me...then I thought, well, that might be too eeew for some people...then I remembered that our laptop has a built in camera...so then I thought I would just try and take a picture and see how it looks...then I remembered that the camera software has all these cool effects...so I had to play with those...I had so much fun that now it would be a shame to not share the photos...

And after all is said and done I will probably get in trouble for not napping...