Tracy's Posts

Well it's been 4 weeks since we last posted a journal entry. I guess the reason why entries become fewer and farther apart is that as progress continues the "issue" or "circumstance" you are overcoming becomes less prevalent. This fact has led to a new understanding of what "normal" is. When everything is "normal", there is no one-thing that is consuming all of your thought energy. You become focused again on more trivial things like "Do I need to pick up milk on the way home?", "What should we have for dinner tonight?", "Did the kids get their chores done?", "What's the weather going to be like this weekend?", …..Yes, when everything is "normal" you begin to sweat the little things again. You also begin to think about things in the future again, which is hard to do when you are completely fixated on just making it through the day. On our road back to normal some wonderful things have happened. Tracy has gone back to work and seems to have no problem making it through a full day, and we have started working out together at the gym 3 times a week (interesting observation — we see very few 'couples' working out together — what is that an indication of? — sorry, Wally sometimes get lost in pondering these types of things, besides what else does he have to think about while on the rowing machine for 20 solid minutes!?). It is amazing that Tracy can give 60 minutes of solid effort on the elliptical machine, bike, treadmill, and rowing machine when just three short months ago we would have to shuffle along at a very slow pace so that she would not become short of breath. She now uses the words "exercise" and "fun" in the same sentence! We are overcome when we think about what the medical community AND God has done for our family. Clearly, our Christmas came early this year. It is our hope and prayer for each and every one of you to have a very dear and blessed Christmas. May the Lord bless you and keep you and your loved ones close to Him. God bless and happy holidays! Wally and Tracy

Got the results from my recent echocardiogram today. Both the new aortic valve (which was my pulmonic valve) and the donor valve (which is now my new pulmonic valve) are functioning very well. Blood pressure and heart rate were both within normal limits. No more appointments for 6 months! Doc says everything is going great! Amen!

First of all I apologize to anyone who was really looking forward to an entry last week and didn't find one. It was a very busy week that ended with a trip North to visit family (and hunt) so I wasn't able to get an entry written. As life is about to get much busier, this will be my last weekly entry. Wally or I will write an occasional entry in the coming months to note the continuing progress though in case you're interested. :) When I reflect on all that we've been through, from the time we found out I needed this procedure until now, I realize what an emotional roller coaster it has been! I spent so much time before the surgery wishing I was on the recovery end, and now that recovery is here it feels a little surreal….well, except for the minor reminders that it was all very real. At this point I feel pretty normal physically, although I still have some soreness in my ribs which only becomes an issue when I need to shift sleeping positions. There is still some healing happening in my ribs and torso muscles and I also have some pain in my left shoulder, which is most likely due to the positioning of my arms during surgery. This however, has been improving in the last few weeks and I'm told it should completely heal in time. The only other reminder of what I've been through is my decreased energy level. For the most part I can keep up pretty well, and next week will be a big test as I will be returning to work. I'm excited to be getting back to work and a more familiar normalcy. Thinking of going back to work reminds me of the last time I sat in my office before the surgery and all the emotional upheaval that we were experiencing at the time. Anxiousness, nervousness, hopefulness and a multitude of other emotions came in waves then. Sitting in my office on Monday morning will probably still be filled with some anxiousness but overshadowing that will be a feeling of excitement and enthusiasm as we begin to put all of this behind us. We've said it many times before but it bears repeating….we have been so blessed in so many ways. We want to thank everyone for their prayers which have carried us through and will not be forgotten. God bless you. Tracy