Want to hear some great news?

Last week I had my first post-op echocardiogram. Today I went to see my cardiologist for a follow up. It's so much better than I even dared to hope. He said that the echo looked so good that if you didn't look closely and didn't know that I'd just had valve replacement (not to mention most of my ascending aorta) you would think I had a TOTALLY NORMAL HEART. It was all I could do not to say, "You're F$#@ing kidding, right?" The blood flow is perfect. Best of all, my heart has shrunk to within normal range. That means that the surgery is now completely and officially a success. The new valve and proper hemodynamic action have allowed the dilation of my heart to reduce, meaning that there's no longterm damage to the muscle.

I know that this adventure will continue for the rest of my life, but for now I don't have to see the cardiologist for another year. I've been on a 3-6 month schedule for a long time. It's hard to get used to being healthy enough to be on my own for a whole year.

I've been smiling so much today that my face is tired.

Truly amazing. Thank you God. Thank you indeed.