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| 3 days post operation |
In July, it will be three years since Steve's heart attack. Last year, his doctor suggested that they do a heart catheterization and check out the stents that were put in place then. Steve has been well but was just always tired and they wanted to check for blockages. We put it off until this year but finally in April he had the heart cath and they found that the one stent was 70% blocked. This was the most crucial one and they right away suggested open-heart surgery. There was also a blockage that we had actually known about 3 years ago but it wasn't a main artery so they weren't that concerned about it. They would also take care of that one so it would be considered a double-bypass surgery.
On May 14 we arrived at the hospital at 5:15 am and by 7:00 he was taken to surgery. Jay was again the designated one to keep me company. He does a very good job and the time actually passed fairly quickly. At 11:15 we received notice that surgery was finishing up. The surgeon talked to us and said everything went smoothly so we were very happy to hear that. It was probably close to 1:30 until we could see him in the ICU. He was in the ICU until the next morning and then transferred to a regular room. He was able to check off all the boxes just like they wanted and on Monday, May 18 he was discharged! He is currently home recuperating. We are very thankful for a successful surgery and are praying the recovery continues to go well.
I should also mention that for most of the winter Steve was having trouble with a diabetic ulcer on the bottom of his left foot right underneath his little toe. Late January it became very inflamed and after x-rays and other tests it was discovered that there was an infection in two bones in his little toe. He had really struggled with high sugars for most of 2025 and this is what causes diabetic ulcers. Thankfully, we were finally able to get his sugar numbers down with some new medication, but it was too late to reverse the damage. After trying strong antibiotics for two months the decision was made to amputate his little toe on his left foot. That surgery was done on Friday, March 27. It went amazingly well and he healed very quickly which was a blessing since wounds typically take longer to heal for diabetics. So he just got the complete all clear from his foot surgery when he went into his by-pass surgery. I am praying that we get a break now from doctor appointments and surgeries.
Here's a little update of other happenings the first half of the year. January started with us keeping Cassidy & Seth for five days while Josh & Julissa celebrated their 10th year anniversary. We had a great time with them and enjoyed taking them to several local places like the Choo-Choo barn and Hands-On House. It was nice that I could take them home to sleep. I think sleeping in their own bed really helped them to get the rest that they needed and we all know that when kids are well rested they are much happier!
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| Seth enjoyed going along with Grandpa on his Amish taxiing runs. |
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| Played lots of Legos |
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| Choo-choo Barn |
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| Someone likes ice cream :) |
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| Lots of sprinkles make a little girl happy! |
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| Hands-On house "food truck" |
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| Playing store at Hands-On House |
On January 26, Jake turned 5 years old! Jake likes preschool and is really interested in writing and I often get little notes from him that he has proudly written. He is an active little boy and even though he and Kyle can get mad at each other he is a wonderful big brother and they play together really well. He is also obsessed with Uno and even got so desperate to play that he tried to teach Kyle. It is pretty funny to see the two of them sitting on the floor with the Uno cards spread out all around them.
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| Big smile! |
And here is the birthday video.
In February we had Hannah & Janae for a weekend while their parents were away. I was delighted to discover that Hannah enjoys Scrabble!
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| Pondering her next move |
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| Bryce came to play with Janae. These two always get along so well! |
March brought the end of the quizzing season! Alexis, Lydia and Mark were in the older division and Hannah & Clara in the younger. This was Clara's first year of quizzing and she did really well! She actually got top novice quizzer! Hannah & Clara were on the same team and they came in 4th overall.
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| Ready to jump! |
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| The team |
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| Jay coached Mark's team |
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| Alexis & Lydia were on the same team and they came in 2nd overall. |
In March we also did a weekend getaway with our Care Group to the cabin that we have gone to several times before. This is always such a time of refreshment and fun.
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| Love doing life with this group! |
April 5 was Naomi's 2nd birthday and it was also Easter. We gathered together at Jay's barn and had a wonderful time together. Naomi is a vibrant, enthusiastic little girl that lights up the room. She is talking quite well and it is obvious that her family adores her. She is all they need for entertainment!
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| All smiles from the gifts she received |
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| All 13 grandchildren! Only Kyle is unhappy about taking the picture :) |
Also in April my siblings got together at Les & Marian's house. It was so nice to all be together. It had been a while since Glen & Marilyn were able to join us so that made it extra special.
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| l-r Les, Me, Glen, Lois, Gene |
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| l-r Les, Marian, Jim, Lois, Steve, Me, Glen, Marilyn, Gene, Rhoda |
I continue to keep the younger grandkids quite a bit. I know this time will come to a close all too soon. Bryce will start 1st grade in the Fall and I will be sad to not have him regularly on Wednesdays anymore. Our old playhouse has seen all of our grandkids playing in it and it's fun to see when the youngest ones start to interact and play house in it. Here's one of Kyle playing with the kitchen.
Lydia turned 15 on May 19. We managed to get her birthday party in on Sunday, May 10, before Steve's surgery. Lydia is beautiful inside and out and I always enjoy chatting with her. She has recently started playing guitar and is doing very well with it. She plays for their youth group and in church sometimes.
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| Beautiful! |
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| Whoopie pies for a cake. Yummy! |
That's it for now. Hopefully I'll post again before another 5 months goes by!
