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The 11th valversary came and went before I knew it, but I finally remembered 11 days later. I haven’t checked in lately, and thought about everyone here who had been kind and supportive during the recovery time since my out-of-the-blue emergency mitral valve repair on 12/12/2007. I’m shocked...

Nine Years Ago today, 12/12/07 I had 63 minutes of "heart-stopping drama" as my flail mitral valve had its emergency repair while I was in severe heart-failure and nearly fatal severe pulmonary edema. By the grace of God I survived. While it took many years to get over the depression, it's...

Hello, Sorry for being so scarce lately. It has been a rough 1 1/2 years since Laura left, so I haven't felt much up to doing a lot of things. I'm slightly better now, so I'm thankful for small favors. I'm grateful to be alive even if it sounds like I'm not. Eight years seem like a long...

Hello Everyone, I'm still kicking after 7 years, though Laura and I got divorced this past August. We still get along, and even had dinner together tonight as a family after our son KC sang at a choir concert, and had a solo there. Today I came online to report that my mother, age 82...

Hello all, I'm writing in the Significant Others category because I really have a SO with OHS. My mother, Jeannette, started having difficulty with aerobic activity about six months ago, and decided to have things looked at. It turns out that after over 70 years since she had rheumatic...

I guess that there's no delicate way of saying this, but in August of this year, Laura decided that my stunted recovery from my emergency mitral valve repair, manifested by my not getting back into living again, was just too much for her. There was no abuse, physical, verbal, or emotional...

Folks, I realize my wife and I haven't come as often as we used to, so I apologize for that. Six years ago today Dr. Huerd saved my life by repairing my flail mitral valve. Speaking of valves, I still don't know of my friend Mike and his wife Susan ever made it to this site or not--so I...

Hello Everyone, Sorry for my long absence. I'm back because I just found last night several days after it happened that one of my best friends from back in junior high. Mike, had emergency OHS following what at had first seemed to be a mild heart attack, and I've told both him and his wife...

Sorry I haven't been on much. Life has been busy lately, but I couldn't forget my VR family... It seems almost surreal that a bit over five years ago I nearly died at age 45, leaving a widow and (then) two small children without a father. While the trials and tribulations of life continue...

Hello everyone. I know I've been scarce here lately, but I do think fondly of the support I have had over the years, especially during the protracted post OHS depression. It still affects me, but gradually I'm coming out of it. My heart, so far as I can tell, is doing great. While I've...

I made this up from things I had in the refrigerator and there was not one scrap left! Serves 4! Ingredients: 1 box gluten-free whole grain penne pasta 2 TBSP olive oil 4 oz sliced fresh mushrooms 1/2 med onion, chopped 1 red pepper, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 5 large brussels sprouts...

Hello All, Sorry for being absent so much lately. The heart repair has done well. While depression has been a problem since then, I'm otherwise healthy. Kids are now 10 (KC), and 8 (Jane), and Laura and I are moving toward our 16th anniversary in April. Still have the flock of chickens...

Hi All, This is my first post in many moons. I thought about posting several times in the past since the new site went up, but never got the chance. Life was just too busy. My recent echo came back basically near-perfect, and my cardiologist recommended that I now wait 2 years between...

Everyone, While I've been in California taking care of my mother whose progress since her hip replacement surgery has been excellent, Laura has had to deal with her own mother's detiorating health. Tonight Laura called me to tell me that her mother was expected to die either tonight or...

My mother, who is 77, due to a rapidly deteriorating artificial hip has had to schedule a near-emergency hip replacement surgery tomorrow morning very early. Please keep her in your prayers, so that her recovery is quick and uneventful. She went rapidly from a several mile a day hiker to...

Hello All, Sorry to bear bad news on my 2nd Valversary, but Andie our malamute/black lab cross started to get weak on Monday, and by Tuesday morning was no longer able to stand up under her own power. Like the previous episode last year, she doesn't appear to be in any pain, and has...

Hi Everyone! Sorry to have been scarce this time of year. So many kids' programs, so little time. Last year had to miss the actual anniversary since everything was happening the same day. As it was I had to take KC to his school's Live Nativity on Dec. 12th, and Jane had her major Ballet...

Sorry we haven't been here in like forever. I've been beaten down by some heavy duty depression so that very little has happened in a while. Home is still cluttered, lawn is extremely overgrown, some fruit harvested, some not. We're all still here, but not much has happened. Managed to...

Sorry about the long drought of messages. Andromeda seems to have made a full recovery from her paralysis. She's back to her old self except she still doesn't attempt to jump the fence. She can run again and loves walks. She's escaped from her yard so many times we've even had to put her...

Our dog, Andromeda (Andie for short), a half black lab, half Alaskan Malamute we got in November 1996 when she was a puppy (when Laura and I had been married only six months), suddenly lost her ability to use her hind legs this last Saturday. She had been showing some stiffness and weakness in...