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Just keeping up with the fam. A couple kids in college. Three still younger, but one starting to look at colleges in a year or so. My wife and I did our Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hike this summer. I’ve been running and biking a lot lately. Working of course. Turning the big 5-0 this week. Not sure how I feel about that. Not feeling celebratory, but not overly down about it either. Just another day I guess. We got 23 inches of snow this weekend. Just in time to break in the new snow blower, so that was fun. Too bad it’s all going to melt soon.
 
90 days out of surgery I'm still in cardiac rehab. Feeling good been having trouble with high blood pressure but it seems to be coming into line, my cardio says it will get back to normal soon. I'm going to Hell's Canyon steel head fishing the day after thanksgiving for 4 days. I just did a day of range duty and am building a .17 cal remington that will be done in about a week. I made a 5 gallon batch of IPA and that will be ready to drink in another week. Started all the permitting for my import fireworks and stand licenses, December will start hiking the hills here in eastern wa. coyote hunting. Just the usual!
 
I'm enjoying my post OHS life. It's been 4 months now post surgery. Back to normal doing all the things I was doing (plus more) pre surgery.

This month I built a new gaming PC for from scratch (I work in IT too) with pedals and wheels to play F1 2022. I haven't built a PC in years, but its what got me started in IT/computers when I was a teenager. So I thought, lets give this a try and have some fun :)

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I made a 5 gallon batch of IPA and that will be ready to drink in another week

What's your address I can help you drink when ready? *joking*

IPAs are my favorite style of beer, especially the US west coast IPAs. But also like the New England IPAs too :)
You guys in the US have so much more craft beer to choose from. In Australia where I live, we have a pretty good craft beer scene too.
 
Actually it a light blonde ale Im shooting for 5 % and were real close at 4.7 brewed to be 100 calories at 12 ounces. This week of waiting for it to finish carbonating lol isn't near as troubling as waiting for the surgery was!
 
Hello,

Working, researching, trying to keep work and life balanced as I navigate the growing issues with my valves.

Life is good because I opened my eyes again today...thank you Lord for your continued grace and merecy.
Two points (in order of importance)
1. Fantastic that you have a good positive outlook! It makes ALL the difference
2. Your Lord was surely the one who gave you this problem to start with, no?

Anyway - irrespective of my ireligiousness, I wish you well and strength and a long continuation of your positive energy!!
 
As long as the people are able to just talk about religion objectively I enjoy the topic. The reason it is commonly banned from many internet sites is the mindset I stay clear of in every setting regarding the topic. I am deeply spiritual but not "religious."

That is a funny peculiarity how some people are thankful and attribute credit for good things but they don't express awareness of the source of everything including the not-so-good things in life.

There is a way to make a case for every angle. They come in a wide range spanning simple to convoluted and complicated. We live. We die. What we make of any of it dies with us. Even if you believe you continue on after the body of this life dies you are not the same thing from that point onward.
 
As long as the people are able to just talk about religion objectively I enjoy the topic. The reason it is commonly banned from many internet sites is the mindset I stay clear of in every setting regarding the topic. I am deeply spiritual but not "religious."

That is a funny peculiarity how some people are thankful and attribute credit for good things but they don't express awareness of the source of everything including the not-so-good things in life.

There is a way to make a case for every angle. They come in a wide range spanning simple to convoluted and complicated. We live. We die. What we make of any of it dies with us. Even if you believe you continue on after the body of this life dies you are not the same thing from that point onward.
WOW!! A great addition to the debate. I am also deeply against the whole banning issue, which poses me increasing problems as I grow older and become grumpier!! As to what happens when the lights go out - well, we'll never know! Lets all just hope - in this forum in particular - that the end is a long way away, and in the intervening years we're all in spanking good health!!
 
Two points (in order of importance)
1. Fantastic that you have a good positive outlook! It makes ALL the difference
2. Your Lord was surely the one who gave you this problem to start with, no?
Yeah but the second one was because of something my parents did. Per Exodus anyway.

Maybe even further back.
 
Maybe a bit different from many of you.

After years typing on a 'standard' keybeard, I'm teaching myself to use the Dvorak key layout. It's an interesting challenge.

I continue looking for work.

Using this key layout is a bit of a challenge right now so I am cutting this short.
 
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I haven't been on here in a very long time, but am happy to see some familiar names, and some new ones being accepted into the "family" as well!

Some of you may remember my husband Mathias' story, it was a rollercoaster for a bit but we have moved on from the dramatic parts and are building our life together. In the years since his surgery, we've bought a house in the same town we both grew up in, which we've been gutting and renovating since we purchased it. It's a long process, but we are hopeful it will be just what we want when (if?) we get it all done. We've started a nonprofit in our state that has been such a blessing to operate. We've met amazing people and made some wonderful connections...between running that and fixing up the house, plus our full-time jobs, we are pretty busy most of the time.

We FINALLY won the battle with his cardiologists about keeping his INR between 2-3...for years they fought us and were adamant about keeping it at 1.5-2. We weren't comfortable with that so did our own testing and maintenance for a while. But we've established care with a new cardio, and she much prefers the range we've been seeking all along, so there was no battle with her. He goes in for his yearly echo next week...wish us luck that nothing's changed since the last!

Mathias' four-legged buddy that got him through all of his recoveries turned 9 last month...I can't believe it's been 9 years since he came into our lives. He's such a special part of our days, I hope we have many more years with him. He's still a puppy at heart, he just moves a little slower when he chases the ball. We love him and his newly acquired facial glitter just the same, probably more so.

I've been writing more, short stories mostly. I like doing animal perspective pieces, maybe it's because I've worked with them for so long that it comes easily to me. I need to get myself a new laptop, to store my writings and actually work on a book of them. We'll see though, renovations take priority in our budget right now!

We celebrated 3 years of marriage in February, I'm not sure if I've been on here since we've been married?! Anyway, that's about it for now. I see some familiar names on this thread, I hope you are all doing well! I've missed you!
 
I haven't been on here in a very long time, but am happy to see some familiar names, and some new ones being accepted into the "family" as well!

Some of you may remember my husband Mathias' story, it was a rollercoaster for a bit but we have moved on from the dramatic parts and are building our life together. In the years since his surgery, we've bought a house in the same town we both grew up in, which we've been gutting and renovating since we purchased it. It's a long process, but we are hopeful it will be just what we want when (if?) we get it all done. We've started a nonprofit in our state that has been such a blessing to operate. We've met amazing people and made some wonderful connections...between running that and fixing up the house, plus our full-time jobs, we are pretty busy most of the time.

We FINALLY won the battle with his cardiologists about keeping his INR between 2-3...for years they fought us and were adamant about keeping it at 1.5-2. We weren't comfortable with that so did our own testing and maintenance for a while. But we've established care with a new cardio, and she much prefers the range we've been seeking all along, so there was no battle with her. He goes in for his yearly echo next week...wish us luck that nothing's changed since the last!

Mathias' four-legged buddy that got him through all of his recoveries turned 9 last month...I can't believe it's been 9 years since he came into our lives. He's such a special part of our days, I hope we have many more years with him. He's still a puppy at heart, he just moves a little slower when he chases the ball. We love him and his newly acquired facial glitter just the same, probably more so.

I've been writing more, short stories mostly. I like doing animal perspective pieces, maybe it's because I've worked with them for so long that it comes easily to me. I need to get myself a new laptop, to store my writings and actually work on a book of them. We'll see though, renovations take priority in our budget right now!

We celebrated 3 years of marriage in February, I'm not sure if I've been on here since we've been married?! Anyway, that's about it for now. I see some familiar names on this thread, I hope you are all doing well! I've missed you!
I move a little slower when I chase a ball, too
 
I haven't been on here in a very long time, but am happy to see some familiar names, and some new ones being accepted into the "family" as well!

Some of you may remember my husband Mathias' story, it was a rollercoaster for a bit but we have moved on from the dramatic parts and are building our life together. In the years since his surgery, we've bought a house in the same town we both grew up in, which we've been gutting and renovating since we purchased it. It's a long process, but we are hopeful it will be just what we want when (if?) we get it all done. We've started a nonprofit in our state that has been such a blessing to operate. We've met amazing people and made some wonderful connections...between running that and fixing up the house, plus our full-time jobs, we are pretty busy most of the time.

We FINALLY won the battle with his cardiologists about keeping his INR between 2-3...for years they fought us and were adamant about keeping it at 1.5-2. We weren't comfortable with that so did our own testing and maintenance for a while. But we've established care with a new cardio, and she much prefers the range we've been seeking all along, so there was no battle with her. He goes in for his yearly echo next week...wish us luck that nothing's changed since the last!

Mathias' four-legged buddy that got him through all of his recoveries turned 9 last month...I can't believe it's been 9 years since he came into our lives. He's such a special part of our days, I hope we have many more years with him. He's still a puppy at heart, he just moves a little slower when he chases the ball. We love him and his newly acquired facial glitter just the same, probably more so.

I've been writing more, short stories mostly. I like doing animal perspective pieces, maybe it's because I've worked with them for so long that it comes easily to me. I need to get myself a new laptop, to store my writings and actually work on a book of them. We'll see though, renovations take priority in our budget right now!

We celebrated 3 years of marriage in February, I'm not sure if I've been on here since we've been married?! Anyway, that's about it for now. I see some familiar names on this thread, I hope you are all doing well! I've missed you!
Good you fought for we all know what we feel comfortable with in the INR levels. Mine is 2.0 to 3.0. Got 2.5 reading today. Feeling good. You and hubby keep up the good fight. And your Mathias also, hugs and kisses. I have a Doxie/Lab mix and she helped me after I lost another heart mender, Dixie, who was with me for 12 years. We all need to hugs our furry helpers.
You all take care and keep on the fight for what you feel is right.
 
Hi all, got asked to share here.

32 NB, 2.5 year post aortic valve replacement. On-X mechanical valve, and aortic aneurysm repair. Things have overall been going really well for me, aside from a couple of incidents related to the blood thinners. Was hospitalized with a GI bleed after vomiting so hard I ruptured my esophagus while I had major food poisoning, and again about 6 months ago after getting a colon and stomach biopsy that caused me to lose more blood than expected. Both times I made a full recovery. Learned a lot from those experiences, and expect that they won't happen again.

A lot of my early fears turned out to be not a big deal. I can't hear the valve 90% of the time, and the times I can hear it, it doesn't bother me at all. The blood thinners are very easy to manage with home monitoring, and I'm stable with occasional heavy drinking and a moderate amount of vitamin K. INR hovers right around 2.0. I'm in great shape. I try to run frequently, and I'm fairly active in general. I have a great job in software that I really like. And I've been transitioning MtF starting this year, which has been a crazy ride so far.

I'd say that I rarely need to think about the valve and surgery at all anymore, and it doesn't cause me any grief.
 
Traveled 7 times in one month including Vietnam Singapore and Laos
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