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It hard to believe, but it is already five years ago today that my aortic valve was replaced and the ascending aortic aneurysm repaired. I can still remember most of the details, especially the pain. Remembering these things helps me to keep things in perspective and thankful. Karl

This past Thursday, my wife had a huge, bunion removed from her left foot. She is not allowed to put any pressure on it until she gets a walking cast next Thursday. She is still in great pain. She has been sleeping on the couch. She keeps thanking me for helping her. I told her there is no...

About three years ago, my wife befriended an immigrant couple with 18 month old triplets. At the time she was a home health care nurse assigned to the husband after he his AV was replaced. This past Thursday, we received a call he was being admitted to the hospital for a suspected heart...

Over the past several weeks, I have been given tests to try to find the source of consistent right side pain since mid Dec. My kidneys, gall bladder and pancreas have been checked with normal results. However, I went to my doctor to discuss all of the results. He told me he wanted a CT scan...

This past Friday morning, there was a fire in the woods behind our house. About 6:00 A.M, a next door neighbor rang our doorbell and told us there was a fire behind our house. The kids were off from school that day so we were getting ready to leave for a previously delayed trip to Disney...

A local radio personality (Ron McCellland) died suddenly yesterday at the age of 33. He was also a member of the Christian group Storyside B. He suddenly collapsed while playing basketball aboard a cruise ship on a cruise sponsored by the radio the radio station (FM881. The Promise). All...

I would like introduce the newest member of our family, WinnDixie (formerly known as Ginger). I found her at the Southern Illinois Pet Society via petfinder.com. We arranged for a visit on our way home from my parent's in Illinois right after New Years’ day. She is a Schnauzer mix but not...

We had to take our beloved dog Pongo (Sealyham Terrier mix) to Rainbow Bridge this afternoon. Tears flow from eyes as I type this post. It was of course an extremely difficult decision but we loved her too much to let her suffer. She had CHF since this past July. In the end, she was on 100 mg...

Today marks 20 wonderful years of being married to my wonderful wife Susan. I can?t believe it has been 20 years since we said ?I do? to each other. She has done one heck of a job putting up with me all of these years. I cannot imagine the past years without her. She is still the girl I...

Once again we are starting to brace for another storm. Tropical storm Faye is slowly moving up Florida. It is expected to go out to sea around Daytona, head north and then move west in Northeast Florida (my area) late Thursday or sometime Friday. By that time it is expected to be a category 1...

I wanted to share a picture from our vacatoin to Florence Marina. I did some hiking in Providence Canyon State Park about 8 miles from the marina. I love the place. We also visited it about 3 years ago. I want to go back this winter to camp and hike again. Karl

A couple of weeks ago, my wife's family had a reunion (24 people). We rented cabins at Florence Marina State Park in Georgia. I snuck away and was able visit Gadgetman (Danny) and his wonderful wife Peggy. We had short but great visit. I attached a picture of Danny and I. I am on the left...

A few days ago I found this site by accident. It is kind of weird but it is interesting. I managed to find the pictures of graves of a couple of relatives. One of which I have wanted to visit for over 33 years but could never do so because of the distance. It may sound strange, but I know...

Shortly after this past Thanksgiving, I started to have tingling feelings in my hands and feet. I have never had that in the past. I saw my primary care doctor?s PA. a few days later. My biggest concern was suddenly getting diabetes. The PA did not think I had enough symptoms for it but...

Six months ago my cardio told me to see him again in another six months. He was concerned about my blood pressure. Shortly after, my GP put me on a low sodium diet. So far I have been pretty good about limiting my salt intake. I no idea how much salt is in food. Yesterday I showed cardio...

Here I am on the computer at 3:00 A.M. because I cannot sleep:( :( :( . The valve noise is keeping me awake (again). Although my surgery was more than two years ago, I cannot get used to the valve noise at night. I know I should be thankful I hear the valve but that fact remains I am not...

Earlier today, I found out I officially completed all of the requirements for my Master in Education Degree from Jones International University. I majored in E-Learning Technology and Design. It was a very long grind but I am thankful it is now over:D :D :D . I started in August of 2003 and...

In the past few months, we have been able to get 3 of our 4 children tested (by echos) for BAV. Our oldest (13) and one of the 6 year old twins both have normal valves. This past week, our 10 year old daughter was tested. Two of the leaflets on the aortic valve are fused together. The...

My wife has been an Intensive Care RN for about 20 years. She is now transitioning to become a home health care nurse. During classroom orientation last week, one scary fact was brought up. They were told that when it comes to OHS patients, be on the lookout for fluid overload. More hospitals...

My identical twin brother very much wants to know if he has a bicuspid aortic valve and maybe an ascending aortic aneurysm. He asked his primary care doctor about it. Our thinking is that since I (had) them, he probably does as well. If he has an aneurysm, he may be at more at risk than I was...