Improvement

Al is getting better each day. His incisions are already healed in some spots . . . he'll only have a small line down his chest when all is said and done.

He's suffering with back pain and some occasional pain in his collar bone. I read the other day that the sternum is sewn together with wire. I guess that makes sense, otherwise how is it possible to keep the sternum together?!

Al is moving around more. He's walking around the house and sitting up for longer periods. He's almost able to sleep normally, which is a blessing because he really does need a full night's sleep. We've resorted to an over-the-counter sleep aid, but it works. He gets almost a 8 hours but he tends to wake up about the time the pain meds wear off.

We're charting (per Stanford's requirements) the blood pressure, pulse, temp., weight, and breathing exercises daily. The blood pressure seems to be good, although Dr. Fischbein wanted the numbers at 110/70. We're getting 120/68 on a regular basis. I believe that the bottom number (the resting heart rate) is the one that is most important. Five years ago his BP was 210/190!!

Al seems to be melting weight each day. He's lost 10 pounds since Tuesday. Of course he was training for the Big Sur Half Marathon (Nov. 14) and may be losing a lot of muscle right now.

We're meeting with a new cardiologist on Tuesday for a follow-up. He's with Salinas' Heart Hospital, which is associated with Stanford. It'll give us greater peace of mind to be with SVMH for his routine care. And next month we'll follow-up with our hero, Dr. Fischbein.

Al is trying to be a little more hands on with the girls each day. Alyssa's been very needy and wants me to hold her a lot. She obviously misses their playtime and visits to the park. Al was daycare two days a week before this happened and Alyssa just loved it.

Samantha is a very good helper for both me and Al. She's so happy to help Daddy.

As for me . . . I'm hanging in there. It's exhausting taking care of Al and the kids by myself. I crash as soon as the kids go to bed every night. I was able to go out for a few hours (kids in tow) today and it felt good. Al and I are hoping he will feel well enought to shuffle to and sit up for Harry Potter tomorrow. We're dying to go see it.