Well, this one’s really about the heart, specifically a bicuspid aortic valve whose time has come to be replaced. It will be tissue. As a vegetarian I’m not going to think too hard on that one, which, I guess, concerns the mind.
As many of you know or have heard, I’ve been having some problems with my heart and circulation. It was decided earlier this week that I will have surgery on Thursday, October 1st, at the Meijer Heart Center in Grand Rapids. The plan is that the hospital stay will be 3-5 days, and then 4-6 weeks in recovery. If all goes well, I hope to be back and and around the church towards the end of October.
I really appreciate all the support and offers of help I have been given over the last few weeks, and I look forward to taking people up on their offers. I am blessed, if I may use that word, to find myself surrounded by so many kind and compassionate people. It is also a comfort to have such a place to perform such surgeries so near to Ludington.
The diagnosis and treatment is a little disconcerting, but I am grateful that there is a treatment, and look forward to being relieved of my symptoms. I have been basking in the exceptional nice weather we have had, and enjoy sitting on my deck watching the stars now that it’s dark earlier, and not too cold yet. And on my drives back and forth to Grand Rapids, I appreciate the gradual coloring of the trees. By coincidence, I have had five up close and personal visits from Cooper’s Hawks in the last month, perching on my deck rail, or following me and perching on trees in Cartier Park—I take this as a good omen.
My office work and Sunday duties are covered, and I hope, that as my recovery progresses, I may be able to do more from home. In some ways, it will not be much different than it was in the earlier days of the Coronavirus. A zoom get together is the same whether in my office or in my dining room.
Again, I cannot begin to thank everyone enough for their kindness to me during this time. I look forward to being back in the office and watching the addition get finished. I also look forward to doing some easier walking and getting back on my bike—although that last bit may have to wait for the florescent shade of green on the trees, and the peepers.
