Dear Friends,

I’m back in PA, have been here since 1/17/23. I have many appointments to see various doctors for follow-ups after all the issues related to my hospitalization. I’m doing well; the biggest issue is that my balance is not quite right, but I’ve progressed from a walker to a cane. I still tire more easily than usual, find myself taking naps more often than in the past.

Barb and I thought when we left Michigan, we’d left behind the hospitalization and all involved with that, but we’ve found the psychological and emotional issues related to all that need to be addressed. I remember very little of the week before and the week after surgery, and Barb has been filling me in with the graphic details. I’m off antibiotics for 3 days. I look forward with some trepidation to the blood cultures that will be drawn in a week, fervently hoping they will show that the Staph Aureus bugs, the bacteria that infected my artificial heart valve, the cause of everything bad, are gone for good.

I thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. I especially thank son Joe for all he did, and Barb, who stood beside me all the way—and the wonderful wonderful care I received at the University of Michigan, starting with Dr. Romano. I count myself blessed and fortunate, especially that as far as I can tell, I am “in my right mind.” I think of so many people who are not as fortunate as me. During this ordeal I’ve never asked, “Why me?” My question instead has been, “Why have I been spared?”

Here are a couple of photos: the first a pretty bad selfie of Barb and me (but it’s the “WELCOME HOME!” that counts!), the second some photos associated with a poem I wrote about Barb and me (I’ve been able to write a few since the ordeal, I think I’m in my right mind…)

Joseph