Sherry's Journal

hI friends, family & loved ones For those of you who don\'t already know, yes! I am finally driving again. What a relief. Also began cardiac rehab 3 weeks ago. Am really enjoying this. I think this is going to help speed up my recovery from heart surgery. Although my physiologist said that women take longer to recover from heart surgery than men. My blood pressure & heart rate continue to perform super during rehab. And! I\'ve also kept the weight off. I lost 25 lbs. initially and continue to maintain that. Another concern is my appetite. It still hasn\'t returned. I have toforce myself to eat, Would like to know if any of you heart surgery patients out there have experienced this problem. I\'ve had other health problems to deal with since returning home, like vertigo & urinary tract infections. In fact, I\'ve been on 4 different kinds of antibioctics for UTI since 6 weeks ago. And I still have it. It\'s verypainful and depressing; (slows down my recovery progress. But I\'m convinced that my all soverign God is in control, and in His time I will be completely healed. Please continue to pray for me & for God\'s will to be done in my life. Blessings,prayers and my love & best wishes to all. Sherry

I guess some of you wondered if I was ever going to post again since it has been so long since my last post. I was waiting to tell you when I can start cardiac rehab. The answer to the question I asked on my last post is \"no\". I have not begun to drive. Based on the advice of my dear children and my neurologist, I reluctantly took their advice. I am still a good distance from being normal. I am so forgetful, foggy and sluggish. Carol came yesterday to transport me to my neurology appointment. He told me that I needed to continue on the Keppra (anti-seizure medicine). He did admit that it could be this medicine that is causing the symptoms I mentioned above. He ordered a new EEG. If my insurance will pay for it, I will be scheduled soon. If the test shows no signs of seizures, they MAY be willing to take me off the Keppra. After my appointment, I came back to Charlotte with Carol and plan on staying through next week, the Lord willing. Believe it or not, at bedime last night I actually walked up 17 steps with much fear and trepidation along with some assistance from Carol & Eugene! And today, I\'ve been both up and down the same stairs twice--by myself!! I can\'t wait to complete cardiac rehab so that I can return to some semblance of normalcy and stop chastising myself for not being able to do certain things which I used to do with seemingly little effort. Shame on us for taking good health for granted. I don\'t want to become a chronic complainer, because in my heart I know that I\'ve come a long way. I have improved so very much thanks be to God. Speaking of rehab, I go for orientation February 7. They will set me up with a starting date then. Can\'t wait! Please continue to pray for me that rehab will be very successful. Your prayers and continued support have been a tremendous source of encouragement. I couldn\'t have made it this far without it. God\'s grace and your prayers have been my constant anchor throughout this storm. Ticking on for the Lord, Sherry P.S. By the way, multiple thanks and heartfelt gratitude to those who have brought over wonderful food and also to those who make themselves available to chaueffer me everywhere I need to go. Thank you Ginny & Jim for bringing joy in the room each time you enter (our own little joke)!! Love all of you good.

Had an appointment with my local cardiologist Friday Jan 6. He said everything continues to look great, that I\'m healing nicely and should be able to begin cardiac rehab in about 2 weeks.He said I can do anything I feel lijke doing. I ask if I could run the vacumn cleaner. He said not to vacumn the whole house in one day, because that would be too exhausting. Just do a little at a time. He also said I could begin to drive again, butmy daughter, Phyllis, who was with me said, no, I don\'t think she is ready to drive. I explained to him that my children don\'t want me to drive because they think My judgement is somewhat impaired. Phyllis told himthat my short term memory is not yet normal. I misplace many things & forget to turn off stove burners and the coffee pot. He replied that my family would know more about that than he. He implied that maybe I should try to keep peace in the family. And to that, I say seeing as how good my children have been to me, I want to consider their concerns. However, be assured that they will see things from my perspective in 2 or 3 weeks & there will still be peace in the family. You decide; Should I or should I not drive.?

I hope all of you survived the holidays without any negative consequences. I\'m writing this with a thsnkful heart for being here at this the beginning of a new year. You know if you\'ve had heart surgery that its not for sissies. you are blessed if you survive the surgery and especially blessed if you can endure the recovery period. So instead of making new year\'s resolutions which are usually broken, I\'m in a thanksgiving mood and I want to promise my gracious heavenly father, that this new year i hope to share His amazing love with others and pass along my faith to them. I pray that your faith in the coming year will be in trusting the almighty, all loving, all faithful, God of this universe. He will never dissapoint you.

Hi all, I\'m progressing as I should-- so I am told by others who had the surgery years ago. I was talking with my nephew who had the same kind of surgery10years ago. I told him how difficult it is fo me to climb steps and that I have to do it like a toddler. one step at a time with both feet on the same step.He reminded me that he had to do the same thing after his surgery he said it was almost a year before he began to walk like a normal adult He\'s a healthy looking man so it\'s hard for me to imagine him like Iam now. There are dayswhen I feel I am moving forward and there are other days when I don\'t feel so positive Today was one of those days. When I awoke this morning it was raining & much colder. What a contrast after having had more than a month with sunshine and the temp reaching into the 70\'s I had aches &pain all over my body. even my incision hurt terribly. After taking extre strength Tylenol, I began to feel better.I\"LL have to make my nephew, my children,& my grandchildren MY motivator to heal me. What a goal for which to look forward. Being able toplay & have fun with my darling grandchildren; And preparing favorite meals for mysweet loving children. I look forward with faith to my next 10 weeks of healing. Love in Jesus...............Sherry

Got in some good walking today. Had lunch at Lone Star with a dear friend. Went to Kohl\'s\'s and walked around for a while A dear friend of mine. a member of my Sunday school class went home to be with the Lord this morning. She was only 54 years old. Can you imaging how thankful I am to be here? Please remember the Miller family in your prayers. . Love to all. Sherry

Hi everyone; Ihope none of you got so caught up in the gift giving and eating so much that you forgot the real reason we celebrate Christmas.. Praise be to God, He came down rrom heaven above to pay the penalty for our sins and give us eternal life if we will receive him. John\'s gospel chapter 1tells us that He came unto His own but His own receifved Him not. But as many as received Him , to them gave he power to become the sons of God. Even to them that believe on His name. I must confess that I tend to get so engaged in secular things during the holidays, that I sometimes forget the true meaning of Christmas. I feel so blessed for having recovered to be well enough to visit with mychildren intheir homes this Christmas. Mike and I spent today with Phyllis and family.Enjoyed the food and felloship. God is good all the time and all the time God is good! I had some difficulty getting up her back steps. Couldn\'t have done it without help. a little more physical exercise & a few more steps. One step at a time. That\'s the way healing comes: one step at a time. I\'m so thankful God\'has enabled me me to take these little steps Pray that I will go in the right direction. I wish for all of you a joyous and peaceful new year.

We are celebrating Christmas in Charlotte today (Friday) with Carol and her family. I know that you are used to reading Carol\'s blog here. But I thought this would be a perfect time for me to express my thanks to all of you personally. I\'m really thankful for Carol\'s faithfulness in keeping you informed through this blog from the beginning of my journey through this surgery and for her dedication, support and devotion to me. I am eternally thankful for all of my children--what a blessing they have been during this time. I am very slowly, but surely, gaining strength and getting better each day. My ordeal has taught me to trust God\'s faithfulness completely. His grace is truly astounding. I have learned to have more concern for others. I have learned about patience, compassion, and about the power of prayer. Never give up on God. Trust His promises. As we celebrate this season and the birth of our Lord, I also want to celebrate the gift of your friendship and give thanks for all your prayers offered up for me. I believe your answered prayers have enabled me to heal and sit here today and express my gratitude to you. Please continue to pray that I may never stop seeking God\'s will for my life and that I will never lose sight of the fact that my first priority is to be a good servant of Christ. From all of the Allen family, we wish for you and yours a joyous and God-centered Christmas. Prayerfully, Sherry

It has been 7 weeks and 2 days since Mom had surgery. Thank you for hanging with us through all these updates. This website has been such a blessing to us in getting out the word on how Mom is doing. Her visit with Dr. Blair (her Fayetteville cardiologist) went very well as did the transcranial doppler. The results from the doppler should be at the neurologist\'s office by the end of the week. Dr. Blair was very encouraged with Mom\'s progress since surgery. He reminded her of the seriousness of the surgery and the time it takes to recover from such a major procedure especially when you add the stroke on top of it all AND her age of 76. He told her to continue to take things slow and easy. She now has permission to lift her arms above her head. She should not lift anything heavier than 10 lbs. She cannot drive yet. He gave her some good news as far as medications are concerned. Since she is not experiencing atrial fibrillation and is off Amiodarone, he took her off the blood thinner, Coumadin. It should take 4-5 days for it to leave her system completely. He wants to see her in 4 weeks. They will discuss cardic rehab at that time. We are thankful for his concern and compassion toward Mom and she really appreciated it as well. Love, Carol

Hi All...just wanted to let you know that Mom is scheduled for a Transcranial Doppler this morning. The neurologist ordered this test to see how the blood flows in the brain. I think they hope to use this along with other tests to determine if she is having seizures. This afternoon she is seeing her Fayetteville cardiologist for the first time since her surgery. He will now be responsible for her care going forward instead of Duke. Some have asked if Mom has any needs or requests that would be helpful as she heals. 3 come to mind: 1. Food. She has been home from the nursing/rehab center for three weeks. One meal was brought the day she came home and that is all. She has a few friends that have taken her out, and that was helpful too. Mostly the burden is on Phyllis and Mike to prepare/bring home meals which they have been happy to do. They did not ask me to say this. I just think that if she had some items in the refrigerator that she could pull out to snack on or eat throughout the day when hungry, that would help a lot. Simple items like fruit, vegetables, soup or chicken salad. I\'m not talking about major meals (although, if you wanted to bring a meal she could eat on the leftovers for a few days). I asked her not to do any cooking/baking in the oven or on the stovetop unless someone was there with her. Her judgment is still a bit impaired with the seizure medicine, and supervision is still required. 2. Walking. She needs to be walking every day. Again, the same couple of friends who take her to eat also walk with her either in a store/mall or in her neighborhood. So I was thinking that if you want to go visit with her, suggest that you take a brief walk while visiting. It is not easy because her legs hurt, but the more consistent she is with walking the stronger she will become. 3. Christmas Programs. Mom loves seeing Christmas programs. She is a little saddened that she will miss the trip her Sunday School Class is taking to Mike\'s Farm and that she missed the singing Christmas tree. So I encouraged her to find out what churches have programs coming up and decide which one she wants to go to. If you know of one, offer to take her. Sometimes she acts like she wants to go then she says that she doesn\'t. Don\'t give up on her. Maybe a ride out to see Christmas lights at night would be nice. None of us expected the additional complications from surgery (i.e. stroke/seizure). We had hoped she would be well on her way to feeling better. I think she just needs time. Even one more month should make a huge difference in how she feels when we can hopefully get her off some of the medication that has negative side effects. Until then, I want to thank you in advance for helping us encourage her with simple acts of service. I\'ve tried to get her to come to Charlotte and spend some time with us here, but she just isn\'t ready for that yet. So we move forward praying and expecting God\'s best for her. Love to you all, Carol

Ha ha...how\'s that for a subject line? Actually, I should have used that one when Mom was in the hospital 6 weeks ago because it would have been a perfect description of that day when one of her chest tube sites started bleeding and then profusely bleeding and her ears couldn\'t hear what was going on due to them losing her hearing aid and finally ending with a slow walk around the hall. But, alas, those days are over. Wait...I should correctly say that THANKFULLY those days are over!!! Oh dear, I digress. Let me get back to the subject line for TODAY. Today Mom went to the cardiologist\'s office to have her PT/INR level checked. This shows if the blood thinner medicine is working. Her levels were fine. Then she went to LabCorp to have blood drawn to check her Keppra levels. This is the anti-seizure medicine. It will take a week to receive those results. She also had an appointment today with her audiologist to get the ball rolling for a new hearing aid. He kindly allowed her to \"check out\" a set of hearing aids for both right and left ears. These will be on loan to her until the new ear molds return close to Christmas. I am sure she is enjoying the benefit of \"new ears\"! And to round things out, a walk through the mall gave her some much needed exercise. Another full but productive day. Oh...I almost forgot...thank you for praying for her veins. They got the stick the first time--yay!! Love, Carol

In many ways it is hard to believe that it has been 6 weeks since Mom had her heart valve replaced and double bypass surgery. It has flown by...and yet is has crawled by. She is so grateful for the healing that is taking place. Did you know that she no longer has high blood pressure or needs medication for that? In fact, her blood pressure has been on the low side since surgery! For those of you who know her well, she has struggled with severe acid reflux for a long time and was on different medications for it. She was even hospitalized at one time for it. Now? No reflux problems since surgery! Granted she is still on one medication for that, but hey...no reflux is an answer to prayer. So you can see that these are immediate benefits from the open-heart surgery. The down side is that she gets discouraged from not being able to \"bounce back\" as quickly as she had hoped. She describes herself as feeling out of it, dazed, fuzzy, foggy, sleepy, tired, weak, blurry vision. This could be part of the recovery that just takes time. It could also be a side effect from some of the medication or from the stroke. Some have suggested tht is the Keppra (anti-seizure) medicine she is on. We have talked with several of her doctors and none will take her off of it. They say that a neurologist will have to determine that. So we were able to get her worked in to see a neurologist today. It was a LONG visit--4 hours of mostly waiting. She got so tired. They want to see the discs from Duke of her MRI, brain scan and EEG. They want blood drawn to test the Keppra levels. They have ordered a Transcranial Doppler. After these, they might have to do another EEG. Only then will they determine if she can be taken off the Keppra. For now, she keeps taking it twice a day and dealing with the side effects. Sometimes her speech is a little sluggish and judgment somewhat impaired. Her legs bother her too. The inner knees/thighs where the veins were taken for the bypass really bother her. They are swollen, a little warm/feverish, tender and very heavy. It makes walking, getting up and down from a chair/bed or getting in and put of a car very difficult. So you can see why the weeks are a mix of up days and down days. She wonders if she will ever get better or if she will be able to live on her own again. She feels that she is a burden. At her age, she is remarkable. She just needs time. I keep referring her back to the book that Adam Pick wrote about Heart Valve Surgery and recovery. Every patient is different and recovers on a different timetable. I share these details with you all so that you will know how better to pray for her. I have encouraged her to type a journal entry here herself. She says that she may just do that soon. Oh, one more thing...Duke has agreed to reimburse her for the lost hearing aid!! Praise the Lord! She awaits the check in the mail!! She has more appointments tomorrow. Pray for stamina and good veins for giving blood. Thanks, Carol

Mom has been home now for 6 days. Her days have been fairly quiet and uneventful. She is resting and regaining strength. She has enjoyed visits from friends. She is tired much of the time but is fairly pain free for which we are so grateful. Phyllis has been with her in the days and Mike is there at night. Mike told me that she wants to start heading to bed at night around 6:00pm!! I am glad he tells her no and to try and stretch it out until 8:00pm. I know that I have called a couple of times around 8:00 and she was already in bed--haha. Well, that\'s okay. She has been through a lot and I am thankful that she can sleep in her bed. The milestone I posted in the subject line came today. Mom\'s friend, Marilyn, took her to lunch at Arby\'s and then to Market Fair Mall to walk a little bit. Mom said that she did fine and was not too tired. It was her first official outing and it went well. Yay!! Thanks, Marilyn.

Mom achieved a milestone today. She gave herself a shower for the first time in 4 weeks! Phyllis, of course, was standing by to assist with handing her shampoo, etc. but Mom did all the rest by herself. This is another step toward her independence. I know that you all have been praying for her in these little things and we do appreciate it. Even though I share all the little things she is progressing in, make no mistake about it...she has a long road to recovery. She was a little down today. She said that she thought once she came home that things would be all better. But she is finding that she can\'t snap back from open-heart surgery and a stroke that quickly. We encouraged her to push herself as much as she is able in the physical therapy, but to also give herself a break from thinking she should be further along. We think she is amazing and that her recovery has been better than we expected. She has achieved so much in so little time. We reminded her that this will take months but that we will be here for her and that with every passing week she will get stronger and better. I encouraged her to make little goals for herself for the next weeks such as riding in the car with someone to pick up medicine, or plan to have lunch out somewhere, or plan to go to a Christmas musical at a church, or make herself walk a few steps further down the street every day. I think it is common for heart surgery patients to deal with a swing of emotions, and this may be what she will experience soon too. Even so, she is grateful to God for His provision for her thus far and she is grateful to all of you for supporting her and praying for her. I ditto that. Love to you all, Carol

It has been 4 weeks since Mom had surgery, and today she finally returned home!! She was released from Village Green Rehab at 10:00am this morning. She was home and in bed shortly thereafter (her only request was to get in her own bed!) She was actually able to take a nap and awoke to the smell of wonderful food in the kitchen. My sister has a coworker who brought Mom lunch--chicken & pastry, butter beans, rolls, watergate salad, and pound cake. You know that Mom has not been able to enjoy any food since her surgery. Well, this lunch was an answer to prayer...Mom said that it was delicious and tasted as good as if she had made it herself!!! Wow...that\'s wonderful news don\'t you think? Thank you so much, Sarah Gibbs, for the welcome home meal--you were a blessing. More later... Carol

That\'s right. The plan as of now is to release Mom Tuesday morning to return to her home! The surgeon told us that she should not be alone at home at first, so Phyllis is taking off work for a couple of days in order to be with her. Mike will be there at night. I\'ll give more details tomorrow when she is released. Carol

Please forgive me for not getting an update out the past couple of days. We have been slammed here on the homefront, and I let the days get away from me. I know that there have been several of you who have visited Mom since last Thursday. Thank you so much. She really appreciates each and every one of you who make the time to stop by and see her. She also appreciates the kind words, cards and gifts that have been given. They are bright spots in her day. We have been told that there are plans to discharge Mom this week. Hopefully, there will be more definite news on Monday. She is looking forward to that day. I am so grateful for my sister and brother who have been so faithful to be there for Mom every day. It has been hard for me to be away from them all since we were together so much of the time since October 14. But I have had demands here in Charlotte at home the last few days that require me to be here. My husband is in China for 9 days as well, so that makes getting away more difficult. But thanks to you all, I know that my mother is being checked on and taken care of. Prayer Request: They are having a hard time getting her blood PT/INR levels to the range they want. Therefore, they have to take blood more often. It is VERY difficult to find good veins on mom even on a good day. Lately it has been pitiful. Please pray that she will drink plenty of water to \"plump up\" her veins, and that the blood levels will get to a place where they won\'t have to stick her so often. Love to you all, Carol

Our visit today to Duke for Mom\'s follow-up appointment was full of positives. She did well on the ride up and back. Her blood work looked good. The chest X-ray looked good. The incision from the sternotomy is healing nicely. They don\'t think there is infection in the inner leg incision. It is looking better than when I was with her this past weekend. She has a lot of swelling in her legs and ankles, so they are starting a low dose diuretic. They discontinued one of the antibiotics that had such negative side effects. They wrote the order for her to return to a regular diet--no more chopped food--yay! They want her to see a neurologist for a cognitive evaluation. They also gave Mom some of the best news--she can now sleep on her side! As you can see, the report is full of progress and hope. Our questions were answered. Prayers have been answered. We know that Mom still has a long way to go, but we are so thankful for this encouraging news. Our God is faithful in the big and small areas of our lives, and we are witness to this every day. Thank you for continuing on this journey with us. We are grateful. Carol

We are off to Duke for mom\'s follow-up appointment with Dr. Milano. Bobby and Phyllis are driving Mom from Fayetteville, and I am driving from Charlotte to meet them. Please pray for safety while driving, comfort for Mom in the car, and a positive meeting with the doctor. Will update later. Love, Carol

This update will be for Monday since I didn\'t get to post yesterday. I am at an orthodontist appt and don\'t have my notes on who visited, but I will try and get it close. I believe the visitors were Ginny Boyle, Marilyn Price, Karen Dabbs, Eastland Gray, Bill & Catherine Julian. Bill and Catherine brought a great gift to mom: a printout of her entire heart-valve journal. Wow, that\'s a lot of paper! This is great because she can now sit and read the journal entries at her leisure. Honestly, she hasn\'t felt much like reading the entries since her surgery, but now that she can hold them in her hand it will be easier. In fact, I just talked with my brother who was with her this morning and he said he left her in a chair reading her journal and she wasn\'t having trouble with her vision this morning. Yippee! So, please know that if you leave her a message from now on she will be reading them. I know they will be an encouragement to her. Thank you so much for your support. She is having some unpleasant side effects from medications she is taking. We hope to find out tomorrow (Wed) from her surgeon how much longer she will need to be on these. In physical therapy Monday, they had her do some golf putting. Guess what? She made a hole-in-one!! Go mom!! Carol