Greetings Everyone from the trenches of heart surgery recovery!

First of all, I want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all the INCREDIBLE support you have offered to me and my family during the past couple of weeks.   I cannot put into words how encouraging it has been to have so many people pulling for me. 

In the interest of transparency, I will say that this entire journey has not been easy.  And it has come with a lot of frustration, highlighting the general "impatient" trait that resides in me ;)

Call me naieve, but I kind of had a vision that, once leaving the hospital, it would be a quite swift, steady climb towards "normal."  It is quickly becoming clear, though, that "normal" will be a significantly longer, slower ways off than I want.

It is hard coming from being able to jog on the treadmill  for 30-45 mins and strength train regularly to finding it challenging to undertake 5 minutes of slooowww walking.  Not to mention going from living alone to needing substantial assistance with all activities of daily living (who knew taking a shower could be so tiring!)

The good news, though?  Every day genuinely does get better.  Even if marginally.  Walking increases by 1 minute every day.  I am able to undertake more and more daily living activities myself.  Even my sleep schedule is gradually returning to a more normal schedule.

Every small, but undoubtedly significant, improvement reinforces that, as long and arduous as this journey might feel right now, it WILL get better.  There will come a day when this becomes a mark in my personal history.  Rather than an ever-present, overwhelming reality.  

The well-wishes and encouragement you all have offered has been instrumental in getting me as far as have come already.  The gratitude I have is beyond measure.

I am one lucky girl!

Love you all so much,

Bri