Steve's Photos

Steven is home! After a slow & lovely chauffeur ride home, Steven has settled into his Lazy Boy chair to binge TV! Now begins phase 2 of his recovery. Slowly, ever so slowly he has to regain his strength! In my opinion, he is off to a stronger start than 11 years ago. He is more mobile and having less pain. That is not to say he won't have hurdles as we move forward, but his foundation is more solid. Time to buckle up and get started.... tomorrow! 😉

Unfortunately, it looks like Steven's stay will be extended until tomorrow. The doctors visited and saw that his bowels were full of air. They took another x-ray and saw that there was some blockage. He was given a variety of, what will hopefully be, remedies to this uncomfortable situation. Steven is rather disappointed about this development. He has been doing so well in his recovery and this setback kind of kicked his legs out from underneath him. He has forgotten that his recovery is not a straight line, but more of a zig zag. His competitive nature pushes him forward, but there is no winning in this scenario. You can't be "first" in recovering from open heart surgery. He has to slow down and increase his patience in preparation for the bumps in the road. It is tricky because from the outside observer he looks great! If you were just looking at his face and the pictures we have taken over the last couple of days, you would never know that he had his chest cracked open 5 days ago. What those pictures do not show are his "zipper" or the sutures of where the chest tubes were or the pic line in his left arm or the scabbed over holes in his neck where another variety of tubes were inserted. He does not REALLY see these as well. Eventually, he will see these reminders as badges of his courage, as his willingness to endure pain in order to live his life to the fullest, with joy and happiness with few physical restrictions. We have a few signs hanging in his room. Once is drawn by one of Max's buddies, Tyler W., who is a gifted artist. His art is a reminder for Steven to stay strong. Thank you, Tyler! The other sign is one given to us by our dear friend, Dena. It is a reference to Ted Lasso's "Believe" in the face of challenges. We are huge Ted Lasso fans and this keeps Steven believing and puts a smile on his face!