7-17-15 - CATCHING UP ON PHOTOS FROM AUGUST 2014

 11-27-14 - Thanksgiving Dinner at Nourish with Diane & Jerry Hayman.

 

 11-29-14 - Woke up this morning to these views.  Lots of snow and so beautiful!

 

 12-25-14 - Christmas morning in Tacoma with Ted's family and their relatives.  Must have 25+ people there.

 

 12-26-14 - We had our own Christmas after we got home so TJ & Izzibell could join in the opening of the presents.  Lots of fun playing with the paper & bows and laying on new shirts.

 

 2-14-15 - Our 7th & 35th Anniversary.  We drove to Port Townsend for lunch and a movie in their unique little theatre upstairs.  Saw "Still Alice" - very powerful movie about Alzheimer's disease.

 

 3-16-15 - It snowed in the mountains last night.  So pretty I just had to get pictures this morning.

 3-16-15 - I hosted the Ladies Tea Party this month.  Above from left, Diane Hayman, Pat Johansen, Mary Jane Moore & Bonnie Marano.  Below from left, Sue Brock, JoAnne Alford & Christy Lakshas.

 

 This little bird bumped her head on a window.  I gathered her up, held her & blew on her to keep her warm for quite awhile.  Finally set her down in the sun to finish her recovery.  She flew up into the trees about 30 minutes later.

 

 5-9-15 - Beautiful Mother's Day Flowers from April.  TJ & Izzibell love to smell them and nibble on them a little.

 

 6-15-15 - Flowering Dogwood Tree finally in full bloom this year.  Neighbors Lilly & Freddie (Laghaieh & Freydun) Rezvani's house in the background.

 

 Young doe browsing on the wild daisies below the deck.

 

Took this picture of our house from Lilly's driveway.  Went up to visit with her and her 4 sisters and get a tour of her home.  They are originally from Iran.  Very nice neighbors.

Luther & Suzie Visit - County Fair - Air Show - August 2014

 

8-20-14 - Luther & Suzie arrived Wednesday afternoon.  Had dinner at home and visited.  Took them to the Oak Table for breakfast Thursday.  Played some pickle ball on Friday then they took us to dinner at Michael's in Port Angeles.  Really had a nice time visiting with them.  Suzie is delightful and fun to be around.  They left at 10 am on Saturday to catch a flight to Spokane.  Hope they both come back to visit again soon.

 

Sat. 8-16-14 - Went to the Clallam County Fair in Port Angeles.  Couldn't resist taking this picture of all the baby piglets.

 

Sat and listened to a really loud band for a bit, then walked around the fair grounds some more.  Wore me out after awhile. :-)

 

Sat. 8-30-14 - Went to the Air Show out at the airport this afternoon.  They also had lots & lots of vintage cars on display.  More walking.  I still tire easily, but I'm working on it.  I've been walking a mile or more most days and playing pickle ball once or twice a week.  Slowly but surely I'm getting my strength & energy back.



Curt & Nola Hovland Visit & Jeffrey Castle Concert, 8-8-14

 

Curt Hovland is a old school friend of Ted's and a co-worker of both of us at Boeing.  He drove over from Seattle to visit us with his wife Nola.  A very nice surprise.  After they left we met Diane & Jerry for dinner then went to a Jeffrey Castle Concert, held behind the library.

Jerry & Diane

Ted

 

You can almost see both of our houses on Bell Hill,

behind Jeffrey Castle.

 

I rescued this little guy after he banged his head against the window.



Concert & Lavender Farm Outings, 7-4 & 7-18-14

 

7-4-14 - Went out for dinner and a "Concert in the Park" with Diane and Jerry.

Nice 1st outing.

 

7-18-14 - Ted and I toured one of the lavender farms during the festival.

 

I caught one of the professional photographers taking some pictures of us, so I asked her to send me a copy.  She did an "artistic edit" on the one below.



Heart 5-Way Bypass Surgery, 5-21-14

5-21-14 - In the ICU after 6 hours on the heart/lung machine for what turned out to be a 5-Way Bypass Open Heart Surgery.  They ran into complications due to a surgery I had in my early 20's to remove a rib; apparently they also removed a large blood vessel that my heart surgeon was going to use for part of the bypass.  Since is wasn't available they had to go elsewhere to retrieve the required blood vessels.  This is a major over-simplification of everything they had to do, but it gives you an idea.  They have you up walking around the ICU a couple of days later!!

 



 

5 days later, 5-26-14, with my "Heart Pillow" (wrapped in a pillowcase) on my chest.  You hug the pillow tightly to your chest so you won't/can't use your arms.  The breathing tube has been removed and I'm much more comfortable.  Six days in the ICU and 3 days in the PCU (Progressive Care Unit).   

 

Thursday, 5-29-14 - Day 9 and I'm all bundled up in the back seat of Ted's car (with the Heart Pillow on my chest) getting set for the 1+ hour drive home.  I was so glad to be going home where I could finally get some rest -- away from the constant wakeups to check my blood pressure, take some pills, do my breathing exercises, walk around the ICU, order breakfast/lunch/dinner, more breathing exercises, more pills, get taught how to give myself a sponge bath, get taught how to shower, walk around the ICU again......  Now, don't get me wrong, the care they gave was excellent, but it was exhausting!  :-)

Now the long, slow journey to a full recovery begins.

 

5-29-14 - Arrived home and settled into the guest bedroom.  Enlarge the picture and you can see the guest bed in the picture below.  My BFF Diane had come down and hung these beautiful hanging baskets beside my hummingbird feeders.  This was my view out the windows every day and I loved it!  Diane also got together with the "Tea Party" ladies and every other day one of them brought a fully cooked dinner to the house.  It was a tremendous help to Ted (who was my only caregiver) and me during that very rough first 2 weeks. 

 

Diane also planted these beautiful flowers in the planters on my front porch.  I couldn't believe how much that meant, and how beautiful that was to come home to.

I took the pictures below on Saturday, June 21, 2014.

Angiogram - 4-28-14

Started playing pickle ball again on 4-1-14.  Noticed a tightness in my chest and was a little short of breath, but it went away.  Figured I was just out of shape from taking the winter off.  Played pb again 4-3-14; same tightness and short of breath; went away again.  On Friday 4-4-14 when I was out working in the yard my chest tightened up so hard I knew there was something seriously wrong.  Called my doctor, made appointment for next Tues.; got a resting EKG and he immediately scheduled me for an angiogram.  Met with Dr. Damron, the cardiologist who was going to perform the procedure on 4-18-14 in Bremerton, WA; procedure scheduled for 4-28-14.

 



 

4-28-14, 6:00 AM, Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton, WA.

Here we are waiting for my angiogram.  Ted's holding a pager so we'll know when it's my turn.  There were a lot of people lined up; amazing how common this is.

 

After the angiogram was completed by Dr. Damron he met with us to say he saw 2, possibly 3 blockages in the arteries of my heart and he recommended by-pass surgery.  I went in expecting a stent or two, but open heart surgery?  No way.  Kind of went into a weird 'state of shock'.  He schedule me for a post op appointment on 5-7-14; I met my heart surgeon Dr. Reed on 5-13-14, and he scheduled the surgery for Wednesday 5-21-14. 



Our Anniversary, 2-14-14 (6th & 34th)

 

Above we had dinner at the Dockside on 2-13-14.

On 2-14-14 we had dinner at Katinka & Dick Nanna's home over in Happy Valley.

Fun evening.

 

Anniversary Flowers and Cards