Life throws a curve ball!

Well, life is always good for a curve ball isn't it.  Our journey is going to take a small detour now!

This week we got some not so great news about Dad's health.  He went in Tuesday this week to Fairview Southdale for an angiogram and a probable angioplasty for what they believed was a blockage in his coronary arteries.  What they found was that his arteries in general are very calcified and too calcified it turns out for stents.  So, there are more test to be run, but it looks like he will be having open heart surgery in the next 2-3 weeks with a triple or possibly quadruple bypass and possibly some other work on his carotid arteries with a slight chance they may have to do something with his aorta.  We don't have a firm plan of attack yet - he is currently waiting for all the dye they shot into his system to be processed out so they can do a cat scan on his carotid arteries and his aorta.  Once we have all that, then he will decide where and when he wants this done.  We will be there with him and Mom as they face this and we will help anyway we can.

Keep Dad and Mom in your thoughts and prayers and we will update you as we have more info.

Jon & Deb

A "Heartfelt" Poem by Deb for Jon

Second Chances and Restarts

For Jon

by Deb Spence

Two years ago we were told, if not surgery, Jon wouldn't have the chance to grow old.

So we headed to California to give Stanford a try.

We were scared shitless, Dad, Mom, and I.

Dr. Miller was our angel in white; it was comforting talking to him that last night.

Nothing from Guidant per Jon's request. Doc put in a Carbomedics Sorin, For Jon it was the best.

Huddled together just us three, we hung out in the waiting room, Dad, Mom, and me.

Waiting for the nurse to come and give us news, we hung on every word, sometimes worried and sometimes confused.

When Jon went off the heart lung machine, Dad knew that Jon had been through the toughest thing.

His chest was open and he needed a shock or two, but he came through as always like good Jon's do.

It's been two years since this fateful day, Jon is home and healthy, eating whatever he wants, come what may!

Jon, my love I cherish you, for you are my heart and that is for true. Please love and care for that heart, cuz going forward we don't want another restart!

Two year "anniversary"

Two years ago today, at just about this time of the day, I was on my way to surgery to have my heart's aortic valve and a good piece of my aorta replaced and repaired. I'm doing very well physically and mentally (some might argue that point :-) today due in no small part to the efforts of a very dedicated and skilled surgical team under the direction of Dr. D. Craig Miller from the Stanford School of Medicine at Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, California. I spent 10 hours that day in surgery. During about 4 of those hours Medtronic equipment and tubing circulated and oxygenated my blood while my heart was stopped for the repair procedure. I have a nice zipper scar down the center of my chest. Surgery, recovery, and recuperation were all routine and without complication. This year my cardiologist said he doesn't need to see me for two years! I take the anti-coagulant coumadin every day (for life) to reduce the chance of blood clots forming on the valve. My coumadin dose has been stable since shortly after surgery with no complications or side-effects to date.

You can read all about what happened two years ago in this blog if you care to. I refreshed my memory of the events as Deb so carefully recorded them and I am very happy to be here looking back instead of where I was two years ago! This is one memory I don't ever want to repeat!

I have been extremely thankful throughout this entire chapter of my life. I am thankful this congenital problem was found before it made my heart very sick. Dr. Miller told my family when we met with him before surgery that, without correction, the chances were not good that I could have survived more than two years. I'm beyond that point now, so I've got a new lease on life today! I am thankful to have a connection with Dr. Stephen Oesterle, Medtronic's Senior VP of Medicine and Technology, who connected me with Dr. Miller. I am thankful to have the support of my wonderful family, friends, and colleagues. Most of all, I am very thankful to have my wonderful partner and wife, Deb, watching my back all the way. All in all, I'm a very thankful (and lucky) guy -- no doubt about it!

Dad, mom, Deb, and I spent Friday night celebrating. We started this journey together two years ago and it was fitting that we celebrate together all we've been through then and since. I thank all three of them for the support, care, and love they have shown me during this side-trip. Deb even wrote me a poem to mark the occasion. I have posted it separately here - it choked me up Friday night at dinner when she read it to us. She continues to amaze me every day!

Thanks to everyone who supported mom, dad, Deb, and I during this roller coaster detour through our lives. We felt your presence in so many ways and it truly helped us all get through it with smiles, laughs, and comfort!

Jon

One year "anniversary"

Three hundred and sixty four days ago I spent 10 hours in an operating room with my chest cracked open so that my congenitally defective aortic valve and several inches of aorta connected to my heart could be removed and replaced by Dr. Craig Miller at Stanford University Hospital with an "after market" upgrade. My heart was cooled to 50 degrees F, and if I'm reading the paperwork correctly my body or parts of it anyway were cooled to 70 degrees F! I was on cardiopulmonary bypass for 228 minutes. I now have a mechanical valve ticking away in my chest and I get to be on blood thinners for the rest of my life. I have an impressive scar down the middle of my chest and a fully healed sternum. But, I'm still here, I'm back to full health, and I've had no complications at all. I am thankful to be here looking back and seeing how well things went. Standing on the other side 365 nights ago was just a little intimidating! Tomorrow will be a much better day than September 18, 2009 was. I'm looking forward to having a celebration dinner with my amazing wife and my incredible parents tomorrow night. Last year I just wasn't up for dinner :-)

Jon

Deb Comes Home!

Finally, Deb comes home from the hospital. She is very happy to be back in her home and surrounded by familiar things. The cats are happy she is home as well.

Health wise, she is still experiencing high levels of pain and her mobility is pretty limited at present. She can get around once she gets on her feet, but the pain levels in transitions from sitting or laying to standing and vice versa are pretty high impact activities. She had a shower this evening and that helped her to feel a whole bunch better. Nothing like cleaning up to put a new spring in your step.

Barb, Dave, and Kevin Karsky stopped by to say hi and welcome us back home. Barb even ran to the grocery store for us -- very nice of her! Mom and Dad stopped by as well. We are all worried about the pain levels, but there doesn't seem to be much we can do except administer pain meds.

Since we just got home today and due to the continued pain levels and mobility issues, I will be working from home tomorrow so that we can get all settled into a routine and make sure Deb is settled. Depending on how it goes tomorrow, we may have Mom and Dad stay with Deb or at least stop by in the morning to check on her. We shall see how tomorrow goes.

Thanks for all the support and good wishes you've sent Deb -- she needed them and they helped. Keep 'em coming for a bit longer so we can get this pain knocked down and get her healing moving in the right direction.

Jon

Deb's Surgery - Day 4

Another no fun day for Deb. She was more alert today, but not much more. During last evening, she had a pretty high temperature and they ran the full gamut of tests on her to find out why. They checked for pneumonia with blood tests and a chest x-ray. They tested her blood for other infections. Turns out she had a urinary tract infection. They gave her some antibiotics and that seems to have taken care of it. She was up early this morning and called me to fill me on what she could remember. Another tough evening.

I arrived around 8:30 and she was somewhat awake, though still too groggy. Pain seemed to be under control, until she moved. She slept most of the morning until about lunch time. Just before lunch the occupational and physical therapy folks were by to see her. She took a very long walk down the hall the the physical therapy room to try out the stair climbing. We did it together to simulate her getting into the house at home and we passed with flying colors (we've done this before). She sat in the chair and we took another little walk before lunch. She had her food and then back to bed. Unless she is active and doing something, she is asleep. Even when doing something you have to watch her every minute so she doesn't nod off on you.

She received a beautiful flower arrangement from her group at work today -- that really brightened her day. Everyone has been commenting on how pretty it is.

Her nurse stopped in at around 2:30 to tell me that she wouldn't be going home today (which I pretty much knew anyway). She is just too out of it when she doesn't have pain and her pain is so high that it would hard for her to function at home. They will check her at rounds tomorrow and we will see if we can get sprung.

Dinner was uneventful, but she hasn't had much pain med today, so it is catching up with her again. The nurses are working carefully to ease her pain without knocking her out, but she is back to sleep again and still complaining of pain when she is awake. Wow, this is not going to be fun for her at all.

I need to head home for the evening, but I will be back in the morning. Hopefully we will be heading home sometime tomorrow.

Keep the good vibes flowing her way -- she really needs them!

Jon

Deb's Surgery - Day 3

Today was definitely NOT a good day for Deb. She called this morning early and wanted me to come and get her because they weren't doing anything for her pain at the hospital. I then called down to the floor at the hospital and suggested that it was time to get the pain specialists involved in this case because so far nothing was working. They assured me they would do that and by the time I got down the hospital (about noon), they had gotten involved. They had Deb on Oxycodone, Valium, morphine, vistaril, and gabapenten. Since they had already had her on Oxycodone and Valium before, I guess they must have upped the dosage this time. They had put an IV catheter in so they could give her morphine. They only gave her anything by IV once while I was there today, and then they realized the IV needed to be replaced! Anyway, once they got her medicated, she basically slept the entire day, and did she ever sleep hard. Since surgery, she thinks she has gotten only a few hours of sleep, so she was way overdue for a good snooze.

She had several visitors today. Our favorite barista from the Caribou Coffee in our Medtronic Mounds View campus, Tiffany, stopped to see her. And, Deb's niece Chane stopped to see her as well. They were both there around noon, when Deb was still awake so they all had a nice visit.

I went to lunch around 1:30 and Deb was sleeping deeply when I came back. She was due for pain meds at 2:30, but we couldn't wake her enough to give them to her, so we decided to wait until a little later. She finally got something around 5:00 again. She ate her dinner at the same time. She would put her fork in something and fall asleep. Then I would wake her and she would take the bite. Then I would wake her and she would chew. And so on, and so on.

Nikki, Jacob, Jessi, Luke, and Henry stopped by to visit, but I am sure that Deb has no idea they were even there. She opened her eyes a few times and smiled big every time she saw the grandsons and kids, but then right back to sleep. We all kept up a pretty active conversation and Jacob and Henry were very active and vocal as well, and she just didn't wake up for any of it. She was out. The kids and grandkids left around 7:30.

I decided to go home around 8:00 and discussed it with Deb's nurse. Then, we went to the room to see how she was doing. Her O2 saturation numbers were very low, so the nurse put her on oxygen. I tried to wake her enough for her to register that I was leaving, but I don't think I was successful. She doesn't seem to have any pain in this state, which is good, but she isn't actually there in this state either! Damned if you do, damned if you don't I guess.

Anyway, I'll go back down tomorrow morning sometime and see how things are going. Hopefully they can begin to wean her down without the pain getting ahead of her this time and we can get to the business of healing and getting her home. Right now it is possible that she may not even get home before Monday unless some things turn around real quickly.

Good night everyone, more updates tomorrow.

Jon

Deb's Back Surgery - Day 2

Well, Deb won't be getting out of the hospital today. She is really having a lot of pain and has a ways to go yet before they will green light her to blow this pop stand.

She has been sitting up in a chair and she did go for a walk earlier. However, she went a bit too far and almost passed out getting back to the room. The PT tech had to check her blood pressure and everything to see what happened. We think she just had too much pain and her body decided to start shutting down unnecessary functions, like standing and walking, to save itself. Anyway, we got her back to bed and she took a little siesta. So did I.

She is sitting in the spine chair again and just finished dinner. Now, she is waiting to go for another walk - not so long perhaps and not without a nurse or aide in tow. After that she will be back to bed and I'll be heading home for the evening so we can both get some sleep.

Tomorrow she has to work on climbing a few stairs and more walking. She bet Dad five dollars that she would be out of here tomorrow -- so she is worried about the $5. I told her I'd cover her losses :-) She will either be heading home tomorrow or Saturday. Hard to tell at this point.

Keep wishing her the best and send her good vibes for resolving this nerve pain she continues to have!

Jon

Deb's Day in Surgery

Here is a rundown of Deb's day in surgery:

• Woken at 3:45 AM by the alarm clock.
• Arrived at Fairview Riverside Hospital in Minneapolis at 5:15 AM.
• Checked in for surgery at 5:40.
• Deb went back for pre-op prep at 6:00.
• Deb is nervous and her pain has been stronger lately. It is probably time to have had this done. We are hoping for some real relief.
• I got to go back to the pre-op room Deb was in at 6:30. She had acquired some new wrist bands and a snazzy new gown with built-in heating bladders heated by blown hot air -- very cozy and comfy for her.
• Surgery is scheduled from 7:30-9:40.
• Dr. Schwender stopped to see Deb at 7:20. He says the actual surgery takes about an hour or so.
• Deb leaves for the operating room at 7:30, right on time.
• At 9:16, I spoke to Dr. Schwender. Surgery is over, everything went well. Rods and screws came out without complication. We have them in the room. You need to see the size of these screws sometime when you are visiting -- I suspect you will be surprised at how large they are! Dr. says the nerve was being pressured and he was able to relieve the pressure. I hope this helps relieve her pain.
• Deb went to recovery and then on to her room on the 10th floor of the East building.
• Mom and Dad arrived at about 10:30.
• We all got to visit Deb in her new room at about 11:30. She was in a lot of pain when we arrived and they were trying to get her pain pump adjusted and get caught up with the pain.
• Mom, Dad, and I went to lunch at Davanni's. Deb had lunch delivered to her while we were away and she actually ate a fair amount of it. Goulash and peas and a chocolate chip cookie -- yum, yum! No nausea, just pain so far.
• Mom and Dad headed home, Deb trying to nap and relax -- she didn't get much sleep last night for some reason :-)
• Deb is scheduled to dangle her legs over the bed tonight and hopefully stand up by the bed for a while. Pain is blocking her from doing it right now, but hopefully later. I'm sure the nurses will keep after her.

All in all, in spite of the pain, Deb had a pretty good surgical outcome and is well on her way to recovery. She has some significant hurdles to get over, but she is motivated to get out of here as soon as she can -- no offense to the hospital or the staff!

Deb says "Hi everybody and my back hurts like heck."

More later,

Jon

Deb's Turn In The Surgery Barrel :-(

Here we are preparing for another surgery in the family - this time it is Deb's turn. Not fun for either of us, but definitely harder on her than on me this time (maybe last time as well!)

Deb is having back surgery tomorrow (June 2) at Fairview Riverside in Minneapolis. She is having a nerve coming from her L5 vertebrae area decompressed to hopefully relieve some serious and unrelenting pain she has been living with. While he is in there, Dr. Schwender will also remove the rods and screws from her fusion which is fully healed and looks like a total success, structurally. Recovery is expected to be much easier than the fusion -- we sure hope so! Her doctor's current plan is for her to be off work for six weeks this time (it was 3 hard months last time).

I will be posting periodic updates here and links to them on Facebook so that you can keep up with what is happening.

Wish Deb the best - she needs it! She already has one pain in her posterior (me!) and I think one ought to be more than enough for anyone, don't you :-)

Jon

Six Months Post Surgery

March 18, marks sixth months since I had open-heart surgery to replace a congenitally defective bicuspid aortic valve and a portion of defective and bulging aorta. I wanted to update everyone on how I am doing. Executive summary is that I don’t know how I could be doing any better. I have more energy today than I had before I was diagnosed last July. My color is so good that I can’t count the number of people who have commented on it - enthusiastically (I wonder just how pale I looked before surgery!). I continue to exercise, more than I have in a long time. Ia primarily walk outdoors when weather permits. I am surprised by how much my condition affected me and amazed at how much better I feel these days!

Medically, I’m on beta blockers twice a day to control blood pressure (was once a day prior to surgery). I’m also on Coumadin (Warfarin) permanently. My Coumadin dosage stabilized very rapidly after returning to Minnesota after surgery. I think I’ve been on the same dose since mid-October and my INR is typically in the 2.1-2.3 range (my goal is 1.5-2.5). I have to go to the clinic about every six weeks for a 10 minute blood test. My sternum healed without complication and I’m able to do anything I need to without significant pain or deficit. I do occasionally feel a slight twinge or pull when I overdo things.

Now, a few more “frequently asked questions” and their answers.

Where did you go for your surgery? Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California.

Why did you go to Stanford? Long-story short, Medtronic’s senior vice president of Medicine and Technology, Dr. Stephen Oesterle, M.D., became aware of my diagnosis and offered to help us find the right surgeon for the job. He highly recommended Dr. D. Craig Miller at Stanford. I talked to Dr. Miller by phone and read excellent reviews of his work. With Dr. Oesterle’s high recommendation how could I go wrong so Stanford became the place to go. Dr. Miller made all of us, including my mom and dad, feel at home in his office at Stanford. Our confidence in Dr. Miller was high going in, higher after meeting with him before surgery, and my outcome has cemented our confidence in his skills and the care he took with my case. Dr. Miller is an outstanding surgeon and a genuinely caring human being. We clearly made the right choice for our situation!

How long were you out of work? I returned to work 3/4 time 8 weeks after surgery and returned full-time just after Thanksgiving (10 weeks).

What type of valve did you pick? Going into surgery, I was torn between tissue or mechanical valve. Medtronic does not have a competitive mechanical valve offering and tissue valves were only expected to last from 8-12 years in someone of my age and activity level. In the end, I picked a mechanical valve so there would be a low likelihood of future open heart surgery. I expected to wake up with a St. Jude valve, but due to anatomy and other factors, Dr. Miller selected a Carbomedics TopHat for my case.

Can you hear your mechanical valve? Yes, I can when it is quiet around me. There is an interesting combination of a higher pitched tick and a lower pitched thunk. It does not disturb my sleep or keep me from falling to sleep, nor does it disturb Deb’s sleep. The clicking provides me a built-in audible bio-feedback mechanism I use to tell if my heart rate is slowing or speeding up.

Are you on a restricted diet? I was on a modified salt diet after surgery and I have to be careful with certain green vegetables (they can interfere with Coumadin). The problem is not so much green vegetables as an inconsistent diet of them. I’ve never added much salt to my meals, so my daily salt intake didn’t really require much modification. Otherwise, my diet is essentially the same as it was pre-surgery. My condition was not diet or lifestyle related and, while I am taking better care of myself post-surgery, that is simply a bonus outcome not dictated by my disease -- thank goodness.

How much younger do you feel now than before surgery (Dr. Miller asked me to answer this question for him)? I’d have to say for sure I feel at least five years younger than I did on September 17 (probably at least 10 years younger than I felt on Sept 19th :-) We moved into our current house in July 2005 and I’m probably feeling as good as I did then, if not even better. It is surprising just how poorly I was feeling.

I am thankful to have discovered this heart defect and found a wonderful surgeon who could so skillfully correct the defect and put me not just back on my feet, but back on my feet much improved. I am thankful to all of you who sent your good thoughts and prayers our way as we went through everything. I am thankful to my mom and dad who travelled to Stanford with us and who made sure Deb had a support system while I was down and out. And, of course, my wife Deb is simply the best -- she kept all of you up to date on what I was going through, she kept me positive and sane, and she handled much of our household load for the eight weeks when I couldn’t lift anything, drive, or work. She made recovery as pleasant an experience as it possibly could have been. There is a special place in heaven, and my heart for my wonderful wife!

Thank you everyone!

Jon

Christmas 2009

I've posted several photos from the Christmas 2009 celebration with our children and grandchildren. We had a marvelous time. Deb outdid herself on everything and she made sure we all had just a wonderful day, especially me! We all received many gifts, not the least of which was the time we spent together enjoying each other's company.

Here is a link to the photos on my Facebook page: Christmas 2009

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas 2009 and a Happy New Year 2010!

Jon

Merry Christmas from the Spence's!

As we get older and older the years seem to speed by faster and faster; 2009 is no exception. This year has been a year of strengthening for Jon and me. This past Summer Jon found that he was born with a birth defect in his heart. His aortic valve which when normal is tricuspid (3 flaps), Jon's was bicuspid, only having 2 flaps and they were extremely calcified. So in September we (along with Jon's parents), flew to Stanford University in Palo Alto California and Jon underwent open heart surgery. Jon's recovery has gone extremely well. He does tend to get tired more easily but that in time should pass. I think for the rest of my life I will be watchful over Jon as he is my life and sole mate. I don't ever think I can thank Jon's parents for coming California to help Jon and I through this wrenching time in our lives. On the day of surgery, Mom, Dad and I sat together in the ICU waiting room. I drew strength from the both of them and cannot imagine what it would have been like if they had not been there. I also want to mention how touched are to have the family, friends, co-workers and neighbors we have. During Jon's surgery and recovery, everyone in our neighborhood and all of our friends, family and co-workers reached out in one way or another to help. We both feel very blessed.

We are bursting at the seams with pride as another grandson has joined the family. Henry Heiken was born 2:01 am on June 26, 2009 to his proud mom and dad, Jessi and Luke. I've said it before and I will say it again, grandkids are the best gig in the world. Henry has this incredible full body smile and when he smiles at me I am overjoyed. Jacob continues to bring joy to our lives as well and seems to be growing like a weed and smarter every time we see him. A few weeks ago Jon and I, Jessi, Luke and Henry, and Nikki and Jacob went to the annual Medtronic Children's Christmas party. What a great day it was. So much fun and we were so proud when familiar co-workers passed by to point out to them that these two fine boys were our grandsons. I really do believe that we have the cutest and smartest grandsons in the world.

Out yearly home improvement project this year was to put in a bar in the game room. A shout out to Kelly for her hand in this endeavor. In April we broke in the bar with a bar christening. What a great time was had by all. The bar is something Jon and I both wanted and we think that it adds some fun to our home. We love to have our friends over for cocktails and to chat.

This past year we lost our dear pet Sophie. She was a beautiful cat with a sweet disposition. She is dearly missed. We have added a new member to our family and have adopted Nikki and Jacob's cat Dakota. We love him very much; he is all male and brings a lot of love and laughter to our home.

Mom and Dad went back to Marco Island Florida in October and will be coming back to Minnesota in May. I find it very strange that the time between May and October goes so quickly and the time between October to May goes so slowly. We both miss Mom and Dad when they are in Florida. This year however, Jon and I will be visiting them in January which will make the time till May much shorter this year.

I have spent many, many hours this year working on canning and crafting and managed to make all of our christmas gifts for our family this year. Jon himself has taken up a new hobby or at least he's giving it a try. Last week he took his first electric guitar lesson. I always knew Jon was a rocker but I didn't know he wanted to learn how to play until a long car ride several months ago to Iowa. Searching my mind for something to say and keep a conversation going during the long ride, I asked Jon if he could do any profession in the world what would it be. He said, he wanted to be a guitar player in a rock and roll band. So, he's taking lessons. Good for him. Never stop learning and using your brain muscle.

As I draw this letter to a close, I am in my craft room looking out on the lake where a snowmobile is racing across the lake. I can't help be in wonder as I know that in about 3 1/2 months we will be putting the pontoon back in the water.

In closing, Jon and I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!

Jon and Deb Spence

Back to Work in the Ninth Week of Recovery

I started back to work on Monday of this week for the first time since Sep 14. I'm working six hour days until Thanksgiving, and then I'll start full time work again on Nov 30. I worked Mon-Thu this week, took Friday as a vacation day, and felt pretty good all week. However, as the week wore on, I wore down a bit and by Thursday afternoon I was feeling the burn. Guess I'm not quite back to full speed yet, but nobody (except maybe me :-) expected me to be.

It was sure good to see old friends I haven't seen in so long and to reconnect with colleagues again. I'm slowly catching up with where my work team has gone since I left. Several changes and many new plans to absorb. I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of things again, but a lot has happened in the two months I've been on the sidelines.

I've fallen off the wagon a bit with my walking, but I got back on track with a 45 minute walk this morning. It felt good to be walking again with some of my aches and pains healed up.

Yesterday was a rough day for me. For some reason I woke up with a nasty pain in my back and my left arm. Don't know if I slept on my side wrong or what, but I was feeling pretty crappy. Spent some time on the heating pad and by mid-afternoon the pain was pretty much gone. Since I can't take aspirin or ibuprofen any more, I've had to find new and creative ways to deal with aches and pains. Tylenol has never been an effective pain reliever for me, so I can't really count on that for much. After the pain was gone, I was feeling pretty tired so I spent the rest of the day horizontal on the couch watching college football.

Deb made up a dinner for a friend of ours from the lake who had surgery this week. We delivered it to Charlie and his wife at around dinner time. Charlie looks like he is doing pretty well, though he and I both recognize that feel of being "lost" during our recovery. We were his third group of visitors for the day, so we didn't stay long, but we are glad to see him doing well.

I wanted to do some Christmas decorating and maybe even get the monster Christmas tree up in the great room this weekend because the weather was so nice. However, didn't turn out to be a good idea, so I'll have to do it later when I'm feeling up to it a bit more.

I did get out for one event this weekend. Deb and I and Matt and Theresa P. had planned to attend a meat raffle at the Stacy Bar the week I started back to work, so we lived up to our plan this week. We were joined by our friend John E. and we all had a good time. Matt and Theresa won three times, and Deb and I won twice. Before we left, Gene H. from work stopped by and we found out he lives near Stacy, so we consider him one of our neighbors as well. We plan to all get together and do this again soon. On the way home, we stopped at Dave's and Barb's house to say hi and visit for a short time. After that it was home, some supper, and then to bed.

Looking forward to the short work week ahead and then Thanksgiving. We are having our Thanksgiving with our daughters and their families on Saturday. Looking forward to the full house, playing with grandsons, and the good food everyone is bringing!

Working to return to full speed.

Jon

Eighth Week of Recovery

This eighth week since surgery marks my last one away from work! On Monday, Nov. 16 I am returning to work. My doctor cleared me to return with no restrictions or limitations. I will be easing back into the swing of things with shortened work days until the Thanksgiving holiday. This will be my next big transition in returning to 100%. My new 100% should be well above my old pre-surgery 100%. So far, I feel like I've past that old high water mark, but we'll see how it goes once workdays are back in the mix.

I finally finished writing all my thank you cards. Now I just have to distribute them. Many will be coming to work with me next week, some go to our neighbors, and some need stamps. It feels good to have this job behind me!

I've continued my walking and my doctor has let me know that just because I'm back at work is no excuse to give up on the walking and healthy diet habits. Looks like I'll have to dust off the old elliptical machine for those bone chilling winter days ahead!

My blood clotting ratio (INR) is holding steady at 2.3, which is within my acceptable range, so they've moved my next check out a full month and my warfarin dosage remains the same at 8 mg per day.

Deb and I made an unplanned trip to my old home town in Iowa this past Tuesday and Wednesday to attend a funeral. My dear friends from high school (and two of Deb's new dear friends), Brian and Claudia, lost Claudia's mom to brain cancer last week. We went down to lend whatever support we could and to help them mourn and celebrate Norma's wonderful life. We were glad we were able to be there for them! As a nice side benefit, Deb and I were able to catch up a bit with another of my dear friends from high school, Kurt. He had some great stories for us about his sons and their journeys through life -- it was great to connect again even if for just a short time. The trip involved 8 hrs of driving in just over one full day and while we were tired last night when we got back, we both survived the trip. I feel like I passed another hurdle toward full health. I drove both ways and experienced no ill effects from it.

Next update should be with some work experience under my belt. We shall see how that transition goes!

Jon

Seventh Week of Recovery

This seventh week of recovery since my surgery has been pretty uneventful. I've stepped up my daily walks to 45 minutes for the first walk of the day and then 25 minutes for a second walk when I can get it in. I've continued to walk at a pretty brisk pace and I've started tracking my heart rate during the walk. I've been maintaining about a 110-120 beats per minute rate during my walks. According to what I've read, for cardiac rehabilitation I should be keeping my heart rate between 100 and 117, so I'm operating in the right range. I've had no real issues with this level of effort (except for the usual aches and pains of a 53 year old couch potato :-).

We did get some bad news this week. We just found out that my best friend from high school lost his mother-in-law to cancer. I went to high school and junior high with my best friend and his wife and we've stayed in contact throughout our lives after high school. We will be traveling back to my old hometown in Iowa for the funeral this week. Deb and I will be leaving Tuesday afternoon and returning Wednesday evening. We are extremely sad for Brian and Claudia and we really hope that we can help them some little bit just by being there for them.

This trip to Iowa should be a pretty good test of my endurance! I'm going to share the driving duties on this trip, but don't expect any complications. I'll be rescheduling my doctor appointment to sometime just after we get back from Iowa so that my doctor and I can factor my level of fatigue from this trip into our decision about my coming back to work on Nov. 16. I still feel like I'm on track and ready to start with somewhat shortened days to get back in the swing of things. We will have to see what my doctor thinks about that idea.

I also have another checkup on my coumadin and anti-coagulation levels this week. I will be moving my anti-coag appointment to sometime before we leave for Iowa so that I can adjust my prescription before we travel if necessary.

Saturday this weekend was another busy day. I accomplished several tasks around the house that need to get done before winter. Our youngest daughter, Nikki, and our oldest grandson, Jacob, came to visit on Saturday. Jacob helped me with some of my tasks and he also helped grandma pick apples at the neighbors house. He even chowed down on a couple of the apples he picked! We watched the Alvin and the Chipmunks DVD and we played some. Then grandma and grandpa needed to have some downtime so we could rest up for an evening of fun with friends. We met at our house and then went to dinner in Forest Lake and then back to our house. We had good conversation with good company. I was pretty tired at the end of Saturday, but it was a very good day in every regard!

I've failed in my efforts to catch up on my thank yous, so this next week will require me to focus on this task. I know I can get this done - wish me luck :-)

This next week will see me preparing myself mentally to get back to work. I'm looking forward to getting back in the swing of things, but this is the longest I've been out of work since I was about 16 years old. I'm just not sure how rusty I'm going to feel when I start back. I have a feeling next weekend will be a pretty quiet weekend for me as I pre-charge by batteries.

Last week away from work (probably) coming up!

Jon

Deb's Halloween Costume

Here are some photos of Deb's Halloween costume. She put this together this year for a contest at Grand Casino in Hinkley. She didn't win a prize, but I think she should have!

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Jon

Sixth Week of Recovery

Wow, six weeks since surgery already! I can't believe how fast the time has passed and I'm very happy for how uneventfully it has passed -- I couldn't have asked for a less stressful recovery.

This week I resolved my issues with disability leave and salary continuation. I am now cleared to be out of work until Nov. 29. Based on the way I feel and how well I'm recovering, my current plan is to return to work on Nov. 16 if I am cleared by my doctor next week. I don't expect any issues with getting clearance, but I won't know until I meet with him. I plan to see him on Wednesday, Nov 11 if he is available. I expect to start back for some short days (6 hours) and for only Mon-Thu the first week. The next week is Thanksgiving week, so only a 3 day week there. Then back to full time, full week the week of Nov 30. That is the plan at this point.

I have maintained at least one 30 minute walk a day for most days this past week. The weather was pretty nasty one day, so I only managed one 20 minute walk between downpours that day, and I believe I missed walking completely one day. My walks are pretty brisk and it is nice to get out for some fresh air every day. My endurance seems to be coming back pretty well, but I still need some "breaks" during the day to gather my steam back up.

I made very little progress on my thank you notes this past week, but I did get a couple done. I'll have to put some focus on this soon as I run out of time to get it done.

Deb and I had a very "full" weekend. Friday, Deb attended a Halloween costume contest at Grand Casino in Hinkley. She spent a lot of time on her costume and it was great. She went as a flapper from the 1920s. She was all decked out in purple from her head to her toes. She didn't win, but she had a fun time and she was happy with her costume. On Saturday, we had our friends Dave and Barb over during trick-or-treat time. After that, we all went out for dinner -- my first time out for dinner in quite a while. On Sunday we had a visit from my oldest daughter, Jessica, and our newest grandson, "little" Henry. Henry is only four months old, but he is the size of a sixth month old (or older). He is one cute kid and even though he seems to be working on his first tooth, he was in pretty good spirits and he sure helped my spirits as well! Then we were invited to our neighbor, Mary Joe's, house for the Vikings-Packers game. We had a pot luck there and enjoyed the company of our neighbors and the success of the Vikings. Deb and I stayed until just after half-time and then it was time for me to calm down and take it easy for the rest of the game. We left at just about the time the Pack started to get the momentum back, but once we arrived back at home I was eerily calm about the Vikings chances to get everything back under control and it played out that way. There is just something calming about having Brett Favre on your side of the ball!

That's about it for this week. The upcoming week will be more of the same -- walking, thank yous, stretching myself to gain more endurance, and starting to catch up on work in preparation for getting back in the flow of things.

Counting down the days until I get back to work,

Jon

Fifth Week of Recovery

Last week I said I had some goals for this week. They were "catch up on my thank you notes, call Stanford to discuss my return to work plan, work up to three walks per day, and to continue to recover as best I can. I'm also trying very hard to avoid the H1N1 flu bug and hopefully I can get a shot from my clinic as soon as they have the virus injections on hand."

I made some progress on my thank you notes. Still have a long list to work through, which I will continue this week.

I did call Stanford and the Hartford to discuss my return to work plan and to try to confirm Hartford's understanding of my leave time and disability salary continuation. I understand that Stanford submits everyone who has the sort of surgery I had for twelve weeks of time to recover, but the Hartford somehow had me shown for only six. Looks like we have some work to do and Stanford is working with the Hartford to get me an extension. I will not be ready to return to work one week from tomorrow (Monday, Nov 2). I have been recovering well and there are no major obstacles in the way other than building my endurance back up, which is coming along well. I will be getting this resolved this coming week and make sure all the "paperwork" is in order so I can continue to get better.

I did work up to three 20-minute walks this week and then I shifted to one 30-minute walk for a couple of days when the weather cooperated and then today I made it to two 30-minute walks. As long as the weather cooperates, I expect to stay at this level for a while.

I am continuing to recover pretty well. No real setback days this week. Sleeping is getting a bit better, but is still not as sound as I'd like. Hopefully increased activity this week will help that. My anti-coagulation check went well this week. At 8 mg Warfarin per day, I reached an INR level of 2.1 (my goal is 1.5 - 2.5). One more weekly checkup at 8 mg and if we are in the right range we will stay there and they will bump me out to a check every two weeks instead of every week. I'm starting to spend more time reading again and other diversions that aren't on the television. Daytime TV is just bad, and watching news channels all day is really depressing me :-) My appetite continues to improve and my digestive system seems to be returning to normal. I still have a ways to go, but I'm snacking more during the day, so it looks like things are definitely getting better.

So far I've managed to avoid the H1N1 virus and I am trying very hard to continue avoiding it. No virus shot for me, so I'll just stay away from people as much as I can.

My youngest daughter and her son, my oldest grandson, came to visit us yesterday. Jacob simply wore me out, though we all had a lot of fun playing pirates and swords and reading books and decorating a halloween gingerbread house and just generally doing "papa", Grandma, and Jacob stuff. Even though it wore me out, I wouldn't have had the day go any other way -- what great therapy it was!

So for this week, I need to continue to work on thank you notes, my return to work plan with Stanford and the Hartford, my walking, my reading, and my continued recovery by raising my activity level and endurance. Surprisingly the days are passing by quickly and my daily to do lists are getting longer and more difficult.

Looking forward to another week of good progress,

Jon

Fourth Week of Recovery

Not much new to report this week, except more good progress and no significant setbacks.

I'm up to two 20 minute walks per day now, weather permitting (and sometimes this week NOT!). Saturday and Sunday allowed me to get two good walks in each day. My goal this week is to reach three 20 minute walks per day at least once or twice.

I continue to work with my local anti-coagulation clinic to titrate my warfarin levels. My INR (the ratio of my clotting time to an average person's) is supposed to be in the range of 1.5 - 2.5. Last week I dropped to 1.8 and this week it dropped further to 1.6 in spite of an uplift in dosage. The pharmacist says this is normal as activity levels go up and as I've stopped taking pain medicine. This week we up it to 8 mg per day and we will check it again on Wednesday. Based on the pharmacist's calculation, moving up to 8 mg per day should boost my INR by about 1 point, but my activity level continues to climb so I expect to be somewhere over 2.0 at my next check. Diet is also a potential contributor.

Speaking of diet, my appetite does seem to be coming back. I've also started taking Activia and other yogurts with bifidus regularus to see if I can re-prime my digestive system to start working better and to reduce constipation. So far I think it is working and that part of my recovery seems to be improving well. My food intake is up a bit, but my weight is still down a bit more. I'm now registering below 195 pounds some days.

I'm still not sleeping extremely soundly, but I am getting adequate sleep for my activity level it seems. I've got several books to get through, and some puzzle books, and some DVDs to watch, so I've got plenty to distract me. This week I should start putting a dent in the pile. I've also got a raft of thank yous to write and I've been very poor about getting this done.

Today, our good friends on the lake, Dave Karsky and his son Kevin, came by to pull our dock out of the lake. We managed to get enough pulling power with my SUV and once we got everything arranged and tow straps in place, we had it out of the water in about 10 minutes. It took 30-45 minutes of preparation, but it is very nice to have this fall chore out of the way. I think we can handle any kind of weather mother nature throws at us now!

We had several visits from friends and coworkers this week and another of our neighbors delivered lasagna dinner to us on Thursday evening. On a down note, we had our last dinner out at the Log Cabin restaurant with Mom and Dad. They leave on Tuesday morning to drive back to their winter home on Marco Island in Florida. We will miss having them so close by -- they have been a great source of comfort and help to both Deb and I during this journey. We wish them a safe and uneventful trip home. We plan to visit them in January or February and we look forward to their return in the spring! I passed my cane on to my Mom who is having some knee problems that she will have looked at in Florida. I'm doing well enough that I no longer need a cane to get around.

My goals this week are to catch up on my thank you notes, call Stanford to discuss my return to work plan, work up to three walks per day, and to continue to recover as best I can. I'm also trying very hard to avoid the H1N1 flu bug and hopefully I can get a shot from my clinic as soon as they have the virus injections on hand.

The cats are getting very used to having me around all the time and I think I'm becoming one of their favorite napping spots during the afternoons :-)

The recovery continues,

Jon