Good Morning!

We're about a week removed from Suzanne getting home from Emory, which is good news across the board. As mentioned earlier, she had to stick around a few extra days after picking up pneumonia during her recovery. It's not uncommon, but does require some heavy-duty antibiotics and definitely did put her a bit behind the curve with regard to getting her strength back.

However, she got home the evening of May 2, has been set up with home health care support and is on the road to building up her strength and getting a little closer to normal.

All of the tests they've run to check out her heart following the replacement have looked good. The leak at the mitral valve, which was severe is now down to mild to moderate (with an outside chance, but still a chance, that mild to moderate leak goes away on its own through the body's healing process). This alone not only will help her literally feel better, but also puts her in a much better position than she was in heading into the hospital last fall when everything went wonky.

So, what's next? She's likely to start cardiac rehab sometime soon with an emphasis on building up her strength and stamina. Aside from that, the hope is that she can transition back to a closer version to normal with regard to diet, activity and more (and her hope is Don, now in retirement, can find a hobby).

It's been a long journey to get to this point, and her recovery will take some time too. But the good news of which we are most grateful for is Suzanne is still here and still all too eager to offer you something to eat or drink when you come visit her.

Thanks to everyone for the prayers and well wishes, the visits and meals. It's been a blessing to experience that love and compassion throughout a trying six-month stretch that the family is eager to put behind them as we all move ahead into brighter days.