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