Good News

Today was the day to go to the Heart Surgeon and Lung Doctor. But before my mom and I went, we had to eat breakfast, chat and then a walk. I woke up at 7ish to take my ½ perco and then at 9, I took the rest of my meds. So far, this system is working. I am sleeping a lot more and not waking up in pain either. I am feeling so much better now too. What a relief.

As usual, I woke up and Nan was next to me and Tess was with Jeff. Nan was more than happy to greet me with kisses. Tess ambled over and I was surrounded by two adoring Border Collies. I was in heaven.

But alas, all good things come to an end. Mom came to the door and they all rushed to greet her. So much for me!! Nan danced up and down and barked and Tess ran and grabbed toys for mom.

Well, the least I could do was make a fresh pot of coffee for my mom. So I did!! We had blueberry muffins and coffee and chatted. It was nice just to sit and talk and hang out. Mom and I have gotten so much closer since this has started. We have talked about life, death, growing up, caring, love and family to name a few. I see the sacrifices my mom has made for my brother and I to succeed in this life. I hope we do her proud.

Mom and decided to walk down the second driveway and down the outer driveway Tess followed us down the driveway with her ball in her mouth. Mom humored her by tossing the ball for her. We feed the sheep and the cow had taken a shine to my mom. The cow got extra bread and alfalfa from my mom.

The animals on the farm have figured out that my mom will feed them and feed them well. From the Border Collies to the sheep, they all look forward to my mom. I let me mom feed them grain, bread and alfalfa. It’s kind of cool to see she all happy feeding the animals. She really enjoys it and I enjoy seeing her have fun.

So after the walk, we went off to the two Doctor’s appointments. Our first appointment was with Dr. Joseph Austin, the heart surgeon. He is one of the top rated surgeons and I can see why.

Dr. Austin was dressed to the nines. He looked like a model for CQ. I am sure he would be *not happy* if he knew that I posted this but he was dressed well!! Of course, I had to tease him but he was wearing his black cowboy boots!! I thought my mom would be appalled but she actually told him that he looked nice too. I think he blushed. He was cool with all the teasing.

The visit went well. He was happy to see that I was much better than last time. He said I was like when I first saw him before the operation. I think he must have meant that I was sassy!!

So my progress was good and he said I could start doing more next week. For example, doing more stuff on the farm….training dogs (but being careful) and so forth. I could lift 10 lbs and start doing more exercises.

My lungs were clear, aside from a little fluid in the right lung. What was really surprising is that my heart sounded good, meaning he didn’t hear the arrhythmia. I will know for sure next week when I go to the Cardiologist. But if my arrhythmia is gone, that would be icing on the cake. I sure hope so.

So we talked about my heart. He said the right side was enlarged prior to the surgery and now it was normal sized. YEAH!! Great news.

We also talked on how the hole appeared. He didn’t know the exact location but I will get that information from Dr. Condon. We also how how/why about the hole. It could have been from the heart shrinking, the wall puckering….a lot of possibilities but no real answer. Dr. Condon might shed some light on this. But the fact that the hole 1.7 means if it stays that size, (Again depending on Dr Condon) might mean that I might not have to have another surgery. But if the hole gets bigger, then it will mean surgery. It might stay the same or might get smaller. Only time will tell. We have to wait until my heart heals to see the final ratio.

So in a nutshell, good news. My recovery is going well, and depending on the hole size, I may or may not have surgery. My lungs have some fluid but my next appointment is with the lung Dr. Freudenberger (know as Todd).

I am not ready to go back to work since I am still limited so I got a note from Dr. Austin for another month off. Out game plan is for me to be off the Oxycontin during the day and only use it at night in the next couple of weeks. During the day, I would take perco as needed (not to drive several hours after the fact). Then part time for work in October. (Assuming that I do not have the other surgery)

We got done and had lots of time until my visit with Dr. Freudenberger. Mom and I went and had lunch at the hospital deli. Surprisingly enough the Rueben and the Minestrone soup was delicious.

Then off to Dr. Freudenberger. He listened to my lungs and said there was fluid in my lungs and it probably wasn’t enough to do a draw and my body would reabsorb it. I told him that was a good idea. Given the choices, a lung tap or let the body reabsorb the blood…..hum…..

I went and got a chest x-ray to confirm and he said if there was a good amount he would call me to come back so he could tap it. I smiled and waved and said under my breath….”Hey, don’t call!!”

The two visits went well and I hope that my next Doctor visit will be good. I’ll know more then about the next surgery and arrhythmia. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

Mom and I were so excited that this day was so great. We talked about that two weeks ago, I had a hard time walking and eating and today I ate like a wolf and walked like Tess does a fetch (That would be fast and no stop for those of you that do not know about Tess’s fetch. She does remember her down about 30 feet from you!!)

On the way home we stopped at Remlinger Farms. We loaded up on fruits and veggies and bags of coffee. Their prices are just as good as the local QFC.

I snagged three peaches, 3 pounds of frozen blueberries, and bucket of sliced frozen strawberries. Mom got several bags of coffee, cabbage and some other fruit. I’ll have to go back and get some more fruit and coffee. They had 12 oz of ground coffee for $2.99.

Mom headed home after she dropped me off. She left me a bag of coffee. I’ll have to try it out tomorrow. I ate two of the three peaches. They were sweet, juicy and ripe. I haven’t had such tasty peaches in a long time. I did save one for my ice cream sundae tonight.


Janet stopped by to work Tess and Scott. I watched her for a bit and then gave her a few tips on driving. She picked it up quickly and was doing well when I went back up to the house. She is a sharp student.

I had to work Nan for a few minutes. She was going crazy when I was working Tess. She was so excited to work for me that she forgot her downs and pushed the sheep like a bulldozer. What can I say? She was so happy to work and did it a breakneck speed. I let her work at the warp speed and then called her out. She danced all around me, doing her woooooo-wooooo, and I had to tell her that she did a great job. She danced with pride and was happy that I was please. Janet noticed that she wanted to be acknowledged for her work!!

All the way back to the house, Nan danced in front of me and her smiling eyes showed the happiness she had. She just wants to please and if I am happy with her, then she is delighted. How can I not but love her so much? She has truly captured my heart.

I had taken out a top round steak last night and had soaked it in peppercorn marinade. Jeff grilled it and we had steak and green beans. The steak was huge so I cut it in half. I ate most of mine and then polished off the rest of the green beans. It was yummy.

Had the nightly call with Nelson. I was dialing his number when he called me. Talk about weird. He was happy to hear the news and then talked about our mom. She is going into to surgery herself next week. It is mouth surgery and I wanted to see if Nelson could stay with her or have her stay with me. It is our turn to take care of her.

I watched TV for a bit. What was interesting was that Tess fell asleep in the office and Nan stuck next to me. I let Nan hang out next to me on the couch. She is a good couch dog. She loves being on the couch and she can’t believe her good luck. She is very quiet on the couch and wants to make sure she doesn’t into trouble. She hasn’t gotten in trouble (aside for one time grabbing meat off the counter in the kitchen) and has been a great housedog. She never has had an accident in the house or chewed anything. Rainey should get a lesson from her.