I had what my surgeon said was the first of many meltdowns on Monday. He was correct, of course. I had many more on Tuesday. I have been in the hospital, post surgery, for nine days. The days are all very similar filled with people whose job it is to help me heal and leave. There are people on the[…]
On My Heart (A Series)… Post Surgery
Spoiler Alert! I survived my surgery. Eight days ago, I had what was supposed to be a double heart valve replacement surgery. The good news is that once the aortic valve was repaired, the mitral started behaving as it should in a last ditch effort to be compliant and save itself. It worked; my original mitral valve beats obediently inside[…]
On My Heart (A Series)… Blast Off
Out of all the pictures of “blast off” I could find, I chose this one of Apollo 7. I chose it partly because it was the first manned space ship NASA put into space, but it is also the first one I can remember. I remember watching it on television in 1968. Today is the day. In one hour, I[…]
On My Heart (A Series)… Exactly What I Needed
Saturday morning, 48 hours before my heart surgery, Charles and I had breakfast with my dear old friend, V and her husband J. They are wonderful, salt of the earth people, and breakfast was casual and unhurried. Our conversation was easy and positive. It was exactly what I needed. After breakfast, though, I was in a little bit of a[…]
On My Heart (A Series)… 72 Hours to Go.
In about 72 hours, I will be kissing the love of my life goodbye for now, and the surgical team will start prepping me for surgery. I will have checked-in at the registration desk at 6:00 a.m., but I will have been awake for hours… possibly all night. No worries, I will be able to catch up on my sleep[…]
On My Heart (A Series) … 6 Days Away
Friday, the surgeon’s nurse called with some details of my upcoming surgery. A double heart valve transplant could take 5-7 hours. Some people stay in the hospital for two days, some stay two weeks. But, the average stay is seven days. I decided to treat that like my car’s GPS and try to beat it by about 20%. She said[…]
On My Heart…. (A Series) August 25
My heart has been broken many times over my 59 years; the majority of which were not from romantic disappointments. Friends and family have broken my heart. My heart has been broken by the loss of pets. It broke when actress Bette Davis died. When I watched the tree outside the poet Robert Frost’s historical home be taken down due[…]
On Are Things Getting Better …? (Part 2).
Part II. Environment. For Part I see here: On Are Things Getting Better …? (Part I) – They Cant Eat Ya My family and I adopted the mile we live on in the “Adopt A City Street” program and named it for our mother and father, who died in 2018 and 2020, respectively. Our part of the program is cleaning[…]
On Are Things Getting Better …? (Part I)
The problem I see with most social causes is the reluctance of the organizations that support them to admit it when things are getting better.
On Another Mother’s Day…
In early March, I found myself at Tractor Supply, a chain of stores that sells things to people who have tractors or secretly want to. There is everything there from fencing to feed. In the spring, they have flowers and vegetables for sale. Charles had a coupon for a percentage off a purchase of $50, and he was short a[…]