Good Doctor's Report

Today it has been three weeks since Leah's mitral valve repair. She went to her cardiologist for a check up and got a good report. Everything is healing nicely and her heart murmur is gone.

Leah is to be contacted by the cardiac rehab facility so she can continue her recovery back to doing normal daily activities.

Leah, like our son, Todd, can not wait to get back to driving as she has to have me drive her everywhere now. We hope that on February the 4th she can resume driving on at least a limited basis.

Mom's Funeral

We had mom's funeral to day. The services were held at our church and because it was so cold and windy, the section of the service normally performed at the grave site was also performed in the church. Mom never like to be the center of attention, but today she had no say in the matter.

After the service we invited everyone to join us is the parrish hall for a lunch and fellowship time.

The one nice thing about a funeral is getting to see family and friends that you have not seen in awhile. As we always say, "it's good to see you, but not under these conditions." We always promise to get together sometime other than a funeral, but for the most part we all know we won't.

Leah's Mother Died

Today we received a call from our minister informing us that mom was not doing very well. She has been in the hospital for the last nine days and he felt her condition was worsening.

We called Leah's doctor to see if it was alright for her to go to the hospital to visit her mother. The doctor said it was fine to do so. As soon as we go that word, we got ready and went to Carroll Hospital Center.

When we arrived, we found mom to be in very very poor condition. Our minister, Leah and I spent all afternoon with mom before going home. We left the hospital with the feeling that mom would not make it through the night. At 6:15 pm we received a call from the hospital that mom had died. Leah and I went back to the hospital and waited to meet her brother in the lobby. After he arrived we all went to her room and paid our last respects.

Mom was 91 years old. We will lay her to rest on Friday 1/16/09.

Good Day Today

When I left Leah at the hospital last night, we were fairly certain she would be allowed to come home today. On my way to Baltimore, I got a phone call from Leah letting me know that she was going to be discharged today, but she could not get dressed until I arrived.

After being messed around for several hours, Leah was released to come home. Because of the type of surgery she had, she had to ride in the back seat in case I had an accident and the airbags deployed.

The first thing Leah asked for was a soft boiled egg and toast. She said it was the best food she had eaten all week. As good as the hospital is, the food there sucked. I hope that the hospital will improve this area in the future, but my guess is they will not.

It sure is good to have Leah home again.

Happy 2009

We wish a happy and healthy 2009 to everyone that reads this blog.

I am really looking forward to putting 2008 behind me. This past two months has not been kind to my family health wise. It has been tough to see the two people you love most in this world laying in a hospital bed, intubated and with all sorts of IV lines and monitor leads attached to them. The good thing is our son is well on his way back to normal and Leah is on the mend. It will take about three months for her to heal from surgery, but it will be over before we know it.

Leah's mother appears to be getting along at the rehab facility recovering from a broken hip, but a 91 there is only so far she can come back to normal. We still don't know what is going to happen with her for the long term, but we can not worry about that right now as Leah is our first priority.

Once again, everyone have a great 2009.