I am happy to report that:
(1) I have recovered ~ 80% of my pre-surgery ‘normal’ daily life activities with a few exceptions: one of them, such as tennis playing, is still in the very early stage of ‘warming-up’ …
(2) Most exciting is that my appetite is almost totally back to normal. Thanks to Anna’s 24/7 extremely patient ‘plan, design and execution’ of multiple meals a day to my liking, I have re-gained back almost 75% of my weight lost.
(3) My doctor’s orders on (a) the 9-week Physical Therapy was completed first, and then (b) the final 12-week Cardiac Rehab is 90% finished as of today. My ‘graduation’ from the Rehab is 11/29/2021. The comments from my therapists so far have been: “You are doing fine; above average!” Not bad for an almost 83-year old man.
(4) With doctor’s blessing also, Anna and I will take our first  venture out to Houston and Austin, TX from 12/1 to 12/10/2021 to visit our dear family and friends that we have not seen since many moons ago …
Unless some unforeseeable complication occurs, I am making this my final update  on my Recovery.
And finally, I would like to share with you what I have learned:
 
<ul><li>Life is precious and fragile, but our body is much tougher than we think.</li><li>After a major surgery such as an ‘Open Heart’, recovery is a difficult challenge.  We need all the CARING we can get. Care Giving is nothing less than a 24/7 demanding job. My blessing has been that Anna has stayed physically healthy, mentally strong &amp; patient in taking care of me. She has the lion’s share of my appreciation. In addition, I am fortunate to have a team of compassionate &amp; skilled medical team to provide me with timely advice &amp; actions.</li><li>Recovery is also a Long process. Being patient is a requirement! I have learned to accept the fact that recovery takes longer than we think, and the end results may not be as satisfactory as we expect.</li><li>Most importantly, I have learned to be thankful for each and everyday that we are alive and well to sharing the love &amp; joy with our family and friends…</li></ul>
 
Your loving/caring/encouraging thoughts &amp; prayers, cards, emails, funny jokes, phone calls, Zoom meetings, etc.… have been my daily uplifting force to keep me going during this most challenging period of my life.  I am sure this feeling of being blessed will stay with me for a long time.
My heartfelt appreciation goes to you all.
Have a GREAT Thanksgiving!
From Virginia with LOVE,
Alvin

Alvin H. Tong

Update: November 24, 2021: Recovery Progress Report # 5 – by Alvin Tong