April 2, 2024 Beautiful sunset at Casini Ranch Campground   Games along the river and in the sunshine We’re home after camping three nights at Casini Ranch.  It was a great getaway. Nice weather. Very relaxing with a couple of walks, camp fire, played dominoes in the sun and watched the geese, ducks, and a few teens play in the cold river.  I skipped my warfarin blood thinner one night while camping by mistake so came home to a a low INR. That lead to needing the Lovenox injection in the belly immediately, with 2 more injections the next day, one each in mor ..read more

Today we had lunch with friends, Ed and JoAnn.  Stories, laughter, planning fun stuff -- just what the doctor ordered. Let's do it again real soon! This past Saturday we attended a beautiful Mass and Mass and Memorial for cousin Al Dallara memorial gathering for my Dad's first cousin, Al Dallara. Al was 91 years young and a wonderful man.  The service was very befitting and the setting at St Anselm's Catholic Church in San Anselmo was so beautiful. I had never been to this church before, and it is an architectural beauty.  Might I add the catered lunch was delicious ..read more

5 MONTHS!!!  Or 5.5 months today, March 6, 2024, if you count by weeks. I’ll celebrate with a glass of lemonade for lunch.    I’m thrilled to be regaining some energy and some of my old activities.  Some new steps recently: My first venture into our GE Market (or any market) to shop on my own. Felt like old times. Labs at the lab - I’ve graduated home care. Far fewer sticks since they do this all day long, but I've learned Providence is closing all their labs 3/15/24. They have sold. Hopefully a new lab will reopen in this convenient location.   Showering is becomi ..read more

Enjoying some time in the garden.   St. Valentine's Day came and went this week.  But not without me realizing the connection of hearts, love, and "the heart". I am so thankful for this extended time on our beautiful planet with my amazing family and friends.  You know this is about my 7th life, if I'm not forgetting one.  And I don't take it lightly that I am still here through it all.  But that's a story for another day, or a book titled Lucky the Horse.  Stay tuned, but don't get anxious as I haven't started writing yet, and who knows if I ever will.&n ..read more

4 months, or 18 weeks.  Time is moving on from that fateful moment when I was hanging on for dear life by a string. And I am so grateful!   Some new milestones:     I walked to our mailbox and back this week. . I made it!!! ? And for those that don't know our property, the mailbox is not across the street, or in front of our house.  It is down a long gravel, and this time of year very muddy, driveway. I forgot it was all uphill on the way back till we got started. So I huffed and puffed on the return, and took a few breaks, but I made it!   And I found ..read more

It’s 17 weeks. That’s since Betty became my sidekick.  The days and weeks keep coming and going and I keep getting stronger. This is all so good and welcome.  In my last post, I mentioned that we would be camping soon, that I was a bit anxious about doing so with the new me, and that it would be a good test for future excursions.  Well, I’m happy to say it was a huge success. One of the big challenges was me, and Betty (my LVAD). I have eight large batteries that I live with and there is a pretty good size charger that is required to keep all these batteries charged. The char ..read more

It’s mid-January and not much has changed. I do continue to progress slowly, but I think I’m being impatient. The hard part is the rainy weather, my changed mobility and lifestyle, and just wanting to sit and knit, or do whatever, most of the time.  But have I mentioned how much better my sleep is. When I returned home from the hospital, I could barely get two hours of sleep at night before my mind would start churning. It got to the point where I could sleep till maybe midnight and then I would start waking up every few minutes or half hour, feeling like I had slept for hours. But when ..read more

13 weeks on 1/3. I think that has a nice ring to it. 13 Weeks post LVAD surgery. And each week feels a bit better from the last.  Today I had a substitute caregiver and shower assistant — Sarah. She gave Mark a huge break by helping me to shower and do it safely ( it is quite an ordeal to keep me and my LVAD safe and dry), take my daily vitals and send them off to our team, and do my sterile dressing change, which is another involved task that is performed every 1-3 days based on need. She’s always a pleasure to be here and spend time with.  Since my last update we’ve had some vi ..read more

12 Weeks Post Surgery I’ve reached a new milestone. And I’m happy and very grateful to be here. Thank you all for the love and support. This is not easy and is so different than what people realize until they see me in person. But don’t we all carry something that is challenging and makes us work harder and often wonder how we got here. One step after the other, one day after another. It’s what we do! Holidays We had a lovely Christmas. Our grandson had his  winter concert. He goes to Woodland Star, which relocated this past Fall to Dunbar campus, his grandpa, mom’s and aunts Alma May ..read more

December 13th marks two months home since my LVAD implant surgery.  The Christmas tree is up and decorated. Snow globes from nearly every year of our marriage are out on display on the mantle.  The knitted gnomes have come to the living room to join us for the holidays. And a few other decorations are out. Some decorations were left back this year, but the house is festive and I’m happy. And we have big blowup gnomes in the yard, plus our large lighted wreath is back on the gate as of today.                 I saw my local cardiologis ..read more