Quin and I are back home with Phil. Tuesday Quin and Phil went on a long walk to the face of Exit Glacier (~1.5 miles) and Quin did very well--I took a nap as I had walked earlier that morning. I have been taking each day at a time, resting and puttering around the house.

This afternoon I decided to go for a walk and at about the halfway point it decided, out of the blue, to rain. As soon as I got home the rain stopped and by early evening it was sunny and beautiful. Quin and I decided to go on another walk and would you believe it, as we walked out of the house it started to rain again!. We were troopers, though, got our umbrellas and walked anyhow.

Phil is becoming wonderfully domestic. He vacuums, cleans the litter box and does the dishes. When he isn't working he cooks dinner. He also takes Quin to and from daycare on those days when she needs to run around and I need to rest. I hope all this domesticity sticks around even after I am healed.

Less than a month now till the wedding!

Hello everyone,

I don't have a lot of energy these days, which is why I haven't written. Still, I wanted to let you all know that I am doing well on the road to recovery. It is 6-8 weeks from surgery (May 17) before I should see a significant gain in energy, decrease in pain, etc. But every day is a little better. During the surgery they crack open your sternum to get to the heart, so you have to be very careful afterward to let that bone reset & heal. It hurts when I sneeze, cough, laugh & hiccup. And what is worse, no big hugs, because the squeezing hurts--I miss that. I can't drive or lift anything over 10 pounds for those first 8 weeks and after 8 week I am still restricted to just 20 pounds for about half a year.

Quin and my mom came over to Seward after I got home from the hospital. We spent a week there and then we came over to Homer. We'll be here about a week and then Phil will come and get us. If it wasn't for my parents helping with Quin, I don't know what I would do. I can't pick her up and I need a lot of sleep, including long afternoon naps. It has been great having them to help with her. Everyday I walk, either outside, if it is nice, or just around the store. I am increasing my length of time and have a little more stamina everyday. It is getting a little easier getting in and out of bed and I am even now able to sleep on my side for a little bit.

Even after all this time I am still in shock that I actually had this surgery. I can hear the mechanical valve tick-tick-ticking away though, so I know that all is well and in the end it was good that the surgery happened when it did.

What a crazy year this has been. I am ready for the wedding and then all then no more life changing events (new child, new house, new heart) for many years to come.

~Cheers, Naomi