Sorry I didn't get this done last night. I was pooped! It's been a crazy week, ending better than it started.

Bill is doing fine, woke up with leg cramps early yesterday morning. I had told him he was "dry" but he still wouldn't drink and he paid for it during the night! He thinks that if he doesn't feel thirsty he doesn't need to drink. But, he and Ron went to the gym 3 days last week and then Bill ran some errands so that I didn't have to.

Family crises (is that the plural for crisis? Oh well, you know what I mean) cropped up this week. My mother was hospitalized with an intestinal infection. She responded well to the meds and is home now which makes us all feel better.

My son's girlfriend decided that since she didn't want to get married there was no reason to continue the relationship. This was completely out of the blue. So, he's moved out and is looking for his own place. His children were extremely happy to see him this week-end and his daughter is thrilled that daddy is getting his OWN house!

We're heading to Oklahoma Weds. for little William's 1st birthday. It's going to be a quick trip, coming back Saturday. We're going to make plans for a trip to Illinois to see family and before we know it, it will be time to go back to Florida.

I hope everyone has a good week and that spring will finally get here! I'm ready for warm weather!

Early post today. It's spitting snow and cloudy, just like yesterday. And we thought it was supposed to be getting warmer. I'm ready to put the Christmas tree up!

This has been a week of milestones and worry. My former boss, would have still been my boss this year, had been complaining of chest pains for a couple of weeks. So his wife finally made him an appointment and he was put directly into the hospital. Had a heart cath Weds. and 2 arteries were 100% blocked, another 99% and another 70%. This is a non-smoking 49 year old. The doctor, who is one of Bill's former drs., said he saw no sign of heart attack damage and the heart muscle was working well with some "feeder" veins taking over for the blocked ones. Yesterday a quadruple bypass was done and thankfully everything went well. As of this morning, he is off the vent and sitting in a chair! Will probably be in ICU for another day and then moved to step-down. We were there for the cath, but haven't been back. Jalena has a good support system with family so I felt comfortable not being there for her. She's holding up well, had a bad moment when the dr. said he was looking at surgery, but she's been resting well. Her other worry has been the office, but the staff is running it with no problem. I'm meeting one of the office managers tomorrow after church to run payroll. She's going to print the checks and I'm going to sign them since I haven't been taken off the account yet.

So that's the worry part. Yesterday was 1 year since Bill was placed at the top of the transplant list and today is 1 year from getting the first call and having our dry run. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better to deal with the fungus that heart had and avoiding all of the other complications that have occurred. But, it doesn't do any good to dwell on what ifs!

I'm still dealing with the sinus problem and will probably go to the dr. this week. My left ear and left side of my nose are so sore and today my throat hurts, but that is more from sinus drainage, I think! I don't know what they will be able to do. The treatment of choice is Augmentin and I can't take that. So, we'll have to see. I would like to get one of the mega shots that knock out everything and be done with it!

We're considering going to Oklahoma for William's 1st birthday on the 14th. We haven't completely decided if we are going or not and weather will play a part in it. Hopefully in a couple of weeks it will finally start warming up some. We still need to go to Illinois to visit my mother and family and before we know it, it will be time to head back to Florida!

All for this week from snowy Arkansas! Have a good week-end!

I almost forgot that this was Saturday! Sorry it's so late!

Bill had a good week, me not so much. My sinus infection has come back with a vengence along with a stomach upset. I think I just ate too much since Bill wasn't bothered and hasn't gotten anything, but it was a rough end of week for me.

The weather also didn't help much with the sinus infection. Started in the 50s then had another front come through. Had freezing rain/sleet/snow/rain and temps only around freezing, then 30's and now back to 50s with ANOTHER front set to come through Monday. I haven't heard what we are supposed to get. Memphis is supposed to get rain but who knows here.

Today was a momentous day...Bill's 70th birthday. This was the birthday many thought he wouldn't see. We didn't do much. I fixed a big breakfast and then we headed to Jonesboro. I needed to go to the jewelry store to have a ring inspected and we had planned to eat a nice lunch/dinner since they have so many more choices. But, because of the big breakfast we spent $1.50 on some coffee at the mall and came home and ate peanut butter sandwiches! We did go out to eat tonight and both of us brought half of our steaks home. At least I know what we will have after church tomorrow. Our neighbor Ron also brought over a German Chocolate cake Thursday. His wife Maria's birthday was Thursday and he made her one too.

So, that's our week. I'm so ready for spring! I think Bill is too...or Florida!

This has been a week of firsts and a week of letting go.

Since Bill has been given the go-ahead to drive he's ventured off a couple of times. As a friend of mine put it, it was like watching your teenager driving off for the first time. He did drive to church the other night and should not have driven home. The evaluator told him not to drive at night but he assured me he could do it. However, he nearly missed the exit of the parking lot and he did miss the turn for home. I think he realized that she was right. He hasn't attempted to drive after dark again, but we also haven't gone out after dark.

While at church he was thrown an impromptu birthday party! Our church has a fellowship each month for birthdays and anniversaries. Last year they called Bill and sang to him. This year it was the Sunday we were coming home and the time was changed from after the evening service to after morning service. Some people felt bad when they realized that it was Bill's month...so cupcakes and ice cream Wednesday night. I told a couple of people we could just celebrate his new birthday in May, but Emily pointed out that we would miss that one too, since that is when we will be back at Mayo for another biopsy!

He also has gone out to the apartment to use the treadmill alone. I make sure he has his cellphone with him and leave him to it, which gives me about an hour alone. After being with him at the fitness center at the condo every time (I was told not to let him go alone) this has seemed very strange.

We're getting into a new routine as far as his medication goes. I take each day out of the case (we keep it sorted) and just tell him to take his medicine when it is time. I was administering it before. I still fill it for him, but at least he's figuring out which one to take when.

I also left him for an afternoon to make a run to Memphis to the dr. with Emily. The dr. was running almost 2 hours behind so we got home much later than expected. But everything went well on both ends.

His mental state has been much better this week. He hasn't repeatedly asked the same question and has cracked several jokes or made quick comebacks to comments. That is like the old Bill!

Letting go was hard to do. After being in control of things for so long it's hard to let someone else (Bill) do it. I must admit that I was a bit nervous sitting in the passenger seat of the car after doing all the driving for almost 2 years.

As we were leaving Florida last week, Don told me to keep the faith as he gave me a hug. I started to think about that and realized that, through everything that has happened in the last 2 years, I have never lost my faith. I have never questioned why it had to happen to us. Because, it has happened to US. Yes, at times I have wished he had opted to keep the LVAD and not get the transplant, but that only happens when I'm frustrated when he's having a bad day.

I also realized one day that I don't have to worry about a heart attack as much as I did before. Of course he can still have a heart attack, and won't have any warning signs such as chest pain because the nerves were severed for the transplant. But basically, as far as the heart goes, he's healthy as a horse! The main worry in the night is the risk for falls if he gets up for the bathroom. Since this realization, I slept almost all night for 3 nights in a row, something I haven't done for at least 15 years. The first night I was amazed, and even more so when it happened the next 2 nights. I woke up later in the morning feeling rested and with lots of energy! I'm only hoping it will last!

I've gotten another sinus infection and the weather has been so wacky that my allergies are really acting up. But, I've got meds on board so hopefully it won't last long.

That's about it as far as our week goes. It seems like there was another insight into something but I can't remember what it was now. I'll have to jot it down for next week if I remember it! Hope everyone has a good week!

We are a little more than halfway home. We had a good visit with Bill's sister and her husband. Also got to see a niece for lunch which was an extra bonus.

As far as the driving evaluation went, he did very well on all of the tests. She did several cognitive tests and gave him different situations and had him tell her what should be done. They went for a drive and she said the only time he had a problem was when they were pulling into the parking lot. He was a little fast but she could see that he was tired. So, she recommends now that he drive only short distances in areas that he is familiar with so that he won't overdo. This will benefit both of us since he can now go to the store on his own if I'm busy.

That's basically it for this week since I updated through the week. We'll get home tomorrow afternoon or evening. We're not going to be in a big hurry to get going in the morning and the weather is supposed to be wretched the entire trip...heavy rain with a chance of severe storms. So, we'll just take our time and hunker down somewhere if we need to.

This will be short and sweet and sweet since I'm doing this on my phone and fading fast. Bill has been cleared to drive for short distances. The therapist said he did very well but she could tell when he got tired. We are in Clearwater now and will head home Saturday so will update you more then.

We were blessed again with no rejection! Dr Yip was also pleased with his ejection fraction and bloodwork. The only change made was with a minor med (as compared to the anti-rejection "major meds) and it is now as needed instead of daily.

We went to the support group meeting and it was good to see everyone there. One of our social workers is VERY pregnant and will be out on maternity leave when we come back in May. There were 2 LVAD patients and the caregiver of another LVAD that was just implanted yesterday. One of the other guys is having a lot of external problems that add more stress to both of them so we did some extra praying for them. So we talked a lot about coping with things beyond our control.

We ran into the first ICU nurse to have Bill after surgery and she could not believe how he looked. He mentioned that the drs. didn't think he would walk again and I told him that at the beginning Nikki didn't even think he would survive. He's fortunate that he doesn't remember most of his time in the hospital. Maybe one of these days, if he asks, I'll tell him a little more and show him a picture of the Centrimag machine that kept him alive. Nikki was actually the nurse who saw the blips on the monitor when the heart started to beat on its own. We saw some other nurses too and it's always nice to see them. They also like seeing their patients come back. They have said it makes their jobs more worthwhile to know they have really helped someone.

Tomorrow we're having lunch with some other friends and getting some new tires put on my car. We got the tires for about $100 less than we could get them at home, and that's per tire! That's what I get for buying a vehicle with an odd size tire! Doesn't seem possible that we've put that many miles on the car in 3 years, but since one has already been repaired it seemed best to go ahead and replace all of them. As I say often, it's only money!

Thursday is the driving evaluation and then heading to Don & Shirley's for a couple of days. Won't update until we get there to give the results of the evaluation. So until Thursday night...enjoy your day tomorrow!