Ron finally met his permanent cardiologist this morning.  She was great, and as every MHI doctor has been, very patient and thorough.

Of most important note is Ron doesn't have to see a heart doctor again at this point for a year.  He will have another echo next spring, and a follow up with her at that time.  She likes where his heart function is on his new echo, and thinks his scar is healing normally.

Ron is OFF blood thinners!!!  If he ever gets stuck in afib he can pop one since we have them.  He has another ~7 weeks of amiodarone (heart rate med).  After that, he will continue for some time on a blood pressure med and a low dose of aspirin likely forever.

In terms of activity, as we have been told all along, at 12 weeks Ron will be healed and free to go about his life.  He is free to exercise as hard as he feels good doing with no concerns about the valve or other aspects of his heart.  IF intense exercise returns him to afib at some point, then both cardiologists have said that is just something they will have to deal with / figure out.  But it is not an expectation, and it is not something for Ron to worry about or even try to monitor.  His doctor gave him permission to "live your life."

For now, Ron continues to feel good more than he feels bad (!) and has steadily increasing the amount he is working, and the amount of activity he is adding back to daily life.  For those who didn't see my Father's Day post, he even smoked ribs yesterday (and returned to the grill at night to grill his kids steak).  I think feeling up for that was his Father's Day gift to his self.

It is good to feel optimistic about the future, even if it is still another month or two in the distance.  We will take it.

Hopefully this will be the last update in a while. 

Love,

Michael