Jon's Journal

11 weeks since my surgery. I am trying to limit the weight I lift, but there doesn\'t seem to be anything that I can\'t do now that I used to do before. I seem to still be getting stronger every day. I am still on blood pressure medication. I have been able to especially notice the improvement at cardiac rehab where progress can be easily measured. We finished our wheat harvest and didn\'t get stuck although it was close a few times.

6 weeks since my surgery. I have had follow-up tests and everything looks very good. I still have some fluid around my heart that they are going to keep checking on. It shouldn\'t get any worse and should only get better and will eventually go away. I can tell the difference each time I go to cardiac rehab as my heart gets stronger. I am sleeping much better now as I can finally sleep some on my sides. We are still waiting for our wheat crop to dry down so I have had more time to recover. The ground has also had a chance to dry so hopefully we won\'t get stuck.

4 weeks since my surgery. I have attended cardiac rehab twice and it has gone very good. My heart sounds good with no problems and I was able to do everything that they asked me to do without difficulty. I did feel a little dizzy after being on the treadmill, but after a short sit down rest I was fine. After 3 inches of rain on Friday on top of already wet fields harvesting is on hold for a while so I have more time for recovery.

On Monday August 8th I had a followup appointment at Sanford in Fargo, ND with my heart surgeon, Roxanne Newman. It has now been 3 weeks since my surgery. She said I was doing well. She liked the sound of my heart and my lungs. My incision has healed nicely and I have no pain from my healing breastbone. I was being overmedicated on my blood pressure medicine so she cut that in half and said she may be able to take it away completely on my next visit I liked that news because now I can see that there is going to be more improvement and that my heart medication has been holding me back. My INR test was 3.02 yesterday so I won\'t have to have that tested for a week. I have been very happy with my care at Sanford and Roxanne Newman is the best.

Thank you everybody for your prayers and concerns during my surgery and recovery. Today I passed my INR in the safe range. We drove on to GF for lunch. I have stil been having trouble with salty tasting food. We warmed up a piece of Papa Murphys pepperoni pizza and it was like licking on a salt block for me. So today we passed on a favorite stopping place Happy Joes for pepperoni or taco pizza and went to Golden Corral. The food was very good and I think I have now stopped my weight loss at about 10 pounds. I am feeling very good and am getting a little anxious to do more. I am going to wait until I am properly healed thought as I don\'t want to slow my recovery by hurting myself. My goal is going to be able to run with my granddaughter this winter when we go to Florida. This will not be easy as she is very speedy and takes after her uncle Alex who is a great runner. I don\'t have to win I just don\'t want to lose.

Thank You everyone for your prayers and concerns during my surgery and recovery. Today we made a trip into Northwood for my blood test. My number was 1.89. Falling a little bit. I will not have to have shots. but more pills. Carol drove me on to Grand Forks where we had lunch at my favorite place, Paradiso. \"Where the chips are free and the dinner extra\". I am having trouble with food tasting very salty and the salsa that I love was just too salty for me today. The plain chips were good though. This being the case I decided to order a mini beef buritto instead of my usual beef buritto. It did seem more salty than usual for me, but I did finish it and it was all that I wanted. I did finish the chips in the basket though. I have lost about 9 pounds since the surgery which is a good thing.

Thank You everyone for your prayers and concerns during my surgery and recovery. Today we made another trip to Northwood to get my blood checked and it was 1.97. They said that was close enough so I didn\'t need to get more shots. I will rely on pills for now and test again Fri. Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time outside watching Carol mow the lawn. Today we had a visit from insurance adjusters that found some minor damage to our corn and wheat from the storm on July 23rd.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and concerns during my recent surgery and recovery. Today we made a trip into Northwood and got my blood checked. My INR test was 1.89 and it needs to be between 2 and 3 target range. So I get to have some more shots and we will have it rechecked on Wed. I am getting stronger every day and people were surprised to see me doing so well so soon in Northwood. I have very little pain and am able to sleep on my back in my own bed. With longer sleep times every day.

I talked to Mom and Dad this morning and they are doing well. Dad is still not feeling quite up to posting the journals himself, so he asked me (Carrie) to do another update. Dad has been able to get up and down the stairs OK and has been sleeping in his bed, instead of the recliner. He has finished the shots he was required to take, and will have his coumadin level checked tomorrow. He was hoping to get outside for a few short walks today, as yesterday was not a good weather day for being outside. He will be starting his cardiac rehab program soon at the clinic. I think that\'s all of the updates I know of right now! He is enjoying reading all of the guestbook entries.

Great news! Mom and Dad got home from the hospital this evening!! Dad said the ride was rough and he was exhausted when they got home, but they are both very glad to be home. God is good! We are very blessed. They are still working on getting his coumadin regulated and will have to take some shots in the meantime, but hopefully his levels will straighten out soon. Dad might be feeling up to posting the next journal entry... I\'m sure he is looking forward to getting back on his computer and checking his e-mails! Thanks again for all of the thoughts and prayers.

Dad had a pretty good day today. Overnight last night, his heart got out of rhythm a little bit, but they got it straightened out. He was battling some nausea earlier in the day today, so he had to take it easy on the solid foods a little but was able to have a good supper tonight. He got up and walked four times today, took a shower, sat in his chair for his meals, and did his breathing exercises - so he accomplished all of his goals today! He is on track with the recovery as expected, so he\'s looking forward to tentatively heading home on Friday. I had to fly back home today, but I\'ll continue to post updates as I hear them. Mom is holding up very well, and I know Dad is in very good hands. We\'ve been so pleased with all of the doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff. We are thankful for that, and thankful for all of your thoughts and prayers, too.

Good evening! Dad got transferred out of ICU and into a regular room around 5:30pm today. The rooms were a good distance apart, but he walked the whole way, steadying himself by pushing a wheelchair, with the nurses on either side. Mom and I didn\'t expect that he could walk that far, but he\'s a real trooper! He\'s been up sitting in the chair since then and is currently eating a good supper. Everything is going great so far. He\'s started some cardiac rehab and they will get him up and walking about 4 times a day. He was glad to hear all of your well wishes!

Dad is doing great. Yesterday afternoon they were able to remove his ventilator tube so he was breathing on his own around 5pm. He was groggy and sleepy all day yesterday, but once the tube came out he was able to talk to us. In true Dad style, one of the first things he asked us was, \"What did you eat for lunch?\" They also removed the wires that were pacing his heart yesterday, so he\'s now doing everything on his own. During the night, they got him up to stand next to the bed a couple of times, and the third time they had him stand up and sit in a chair next to the bed. His blood pressure dropped a bit when he did that, so they are keeping an eye on that. He should get moved from the ICU to a regular room sometime today. So everything is on schedule and he\'s doing great! I\'ll update again this afternoon. Thanks for all the comments in the guestbook! We plan on reading them to him today.

Hi, this is Carrie, Jon\'s daughter. I\'ll be keeping up this journal for the next few days. Dad\'s surgery went great this morning. They started at 8:30am and Dr. Newman came and spoke with us around 10:20am and she was already done! He is currently in recovery in the ICU and will be there overnight. His vitals are good and the surgery went very smoothly with no surprises. Mom and I got to see him very briefly around 11:45am but he was still waking up so we weren\'t able to talk with him just yet. More updates to come. Thanks so much for all of your thoughts and prayers! I know Dad really appreciates it.