This is my surgeon... Dr. Peter Knight. He is a really
nice guy that in many ways reminds me of Dr. Romney...
(Helen and LaRay will know him) He is the guy who has
made me feel so crummy, and hopefully will make me feel
so much better, very soon!
This is Alvin Smith's origional soapstone
marker. It is really hard to read so the church
incased it in a granite stone that has the inscription
on the opposite side.
This is the other side of the marker of Alvin Smith.
It is much easier to read... "Alvin Smith - In memory
of Alvin, son of Joseph and Luch Smith, who died
November 19, 1823 in his 25th year of his life."
Egbert B. Grandin owned the publishing business that
finally contracted with Joseph Smith to publish the Book
of Mormon (only after Martin Harris put up 170 acres of
his farm as collateral).
John H. Gilbert set the majority of the type for the
first Book of Mormon. He was so good at it that it
would have taken much longer without him.
They set up the towers for pageant during the last 10 days.
To the right of this tower, it is kind of cool to see
Moroni watching from over the trees!
The crane would lift them up and then the men at
the bottom would bolt them down to the cement blocks
that has all the power and stuff in them.
There are 12 towers that have lights and speakers on them.
Six on each side of the Hill Cumorah. It is pretty amazing
to start seeing things go up!
The first few missionaries at the "Cooper" demonstration.
(The building of barrels and buckets)
Trimming a shingle so that it has a thick and a
thin end!
Showing how the hand made oak shingles were put
together on the roof.
Showing us how buckets were put together. The
building of each slat is what is so impressive. Those
guys were good!
Getting to know Bro. Roberts better. His demonstration
was very interesting but I was glad that I was sitting!
It looked like snow, but it was cotton from the
cottonwood tree... The "snowballs" on the ground
were huge! Doug wanted to go and light one on fire
but I wouldn't let him... I didn't want a forest fire!
I have been a good girl and gone for my walks even
in the rain this week. There have been a couple of
days that have actually been cold. But I have to admit...
this week the walks were harder to do... no breath!
Crossing over Crooked Creek as you go into the grove.
The grass is at least waist high now.
The sun was shining down through the trees leaving
a trail of sunbeams. I wish that it had showed up on
the picture because it was really beautiful!
It sure looks different... It is so green and beautiful
after a long Winter and "slow" Spring.
I love this spot in the grove. It's a good thing
that it isn't a long way into the grove or I couldn't
walk to it for a while.
Our Self Portrate... We always have to get one when
we go in the grove. I think Doug is getting better at it.
It's a good thing he has long arms!
On Memorial Day the missionaries took flowers to graves around the area who had played a part (good or bad, but mostly good) during the early church history. One of our missionaries is a retired BYU Church History professor and he knew where all of the graves were located and made us maps to get to them. I didn’t get around very well, so I was glad that almost all of the graves that we went to see were near the cemetery roads. It was kind of fun to see the graves. In most of the cemeteries there were very few flowers. The missionary flowers stuck out like a sore thumb so we could find the graves easily. The grave that I wanted to see the most was Alvin Smith’s (Joseph’s brother). Wouldn’t you know it… you had to go up a two story staircase to get to the gravesite. It took me a while to hike up the stairs, but I got there. Alvin was a remarkable young man who worked so hard for the betterment of his family. Joseph’s love of Alvin, and his thinking about where he was, had a big part of why we have the section of the D & C that tells us of the degrees of glory. I have really come to love all the Smiths since I have been here, but Alvin holds a special place.
About 10 days ago they came to set up of the platforms that hold the lights and speakers for pageant. It took a crane 2 days to get them all up and it was fun to watch the progress. Doug would like to climb up to the top of one of them to get some pictures… I’m not sure that he will get the chance (and I am not sure that I would like him to if he does!). The "work crew" (about 20 eighteen-year-old boys that build the stages and stuff like that, come in another 10 days or so… that will be exciting and fun to see, too. I sure hope that I have some stamina soon or I’ll never make it through pageant.
During week 3 (post surgery) Doug and I went to a demonstration of "Coopering." (It was a really good thing that Doug brought me a chair to sit on or I wouldn’t have made it.) A Cooper was a man that made barrels and buckets. Joseph Smith’s father was a Cooper. It was very interesting. He talked about harvesting wheat, making shingles, buckets and barrels, and how flax gets from a plant to linen. He had all the old tools and showed us how everything was done. All I can say is, the people had a very "engineering type of mind" at that period of time. I don’t know how they figured everything out, but they had it down to a science.
It is now Sunday, June 11th, one day short of 5 weeks since surgery. Week 4 has been a very tough week… I felt like I was going forward one step and back two all week. I have been very short of breath, coughing so hard I want to croak, and having pains in my abdomen… possible from coughing, but it doesn’t seem like it. I have had an appointment with my cardiologist (Dr. Garringer-different from the picture above) on the 6th of June since I left the hospital. I guess it was a good time to go and see him, because I sure felt like I needed to see him.
He told us that "I looked really good" and Doug told him "yes, she always does." I think that he got a kick out of that… Anyway, he gave me some water pills to see if my shortness of breath is from water around my heart or in my lungs. It has taken several days, but I think that it is getting better… my cough is still pretty bad though (especially since I love to cough so much). Dr. Garringer had me come back on Thursday to have some blood work done. The results said that I was slightly anemic and that my INR (which is my clotting factor for my blood or how thin my blood is) was way to high. They want my INR to be between 2.5 and 3.5 and mine was 4.6. They are adjusting my coumadin this week and hopefully my blood test next week will be better.
Dr. Garringer also had me wear a Holter monitor for 24 hours Thursday to make sure that the electrical rhythm of my heart was ok. On Friday I had to return to have a stress test! I figured that I would be able to walk for about 20 seconds, but I made it to three minutes before they turned it off. They have sent that result down to the cardiac rehab group and they are going to be working with me starting on Monday. Dr. Garringer believes that cardiac rehab will help me see a lot of improvement. I sure hope so, because I haven’t seen much this week.
Yesterday we went for a short walk in the grove (the first since my surgery). It had really changed. It is very lush, green and beautiful. It was a beautiful day… there were places where the sun was coming through the trees, trailing sunbeams, just like you see in all the paintings. We tried to get some pictures, but they didn’t turn out very good. You will just have to use your imagination. I didn’t get very far into the grove, or walk very fast, but it was sure a nice place to walk.
After reading this letter, I have realized that I really have done a lot, and have improved a lot over the past couple of weeks. It is hard for me to see the slow improvement, but Doug keeps telling me that I have. I have been trying to keep up with my walking (shortness of breath or not). Hopefully someday soon I will feel like I am getting back to normal. I have great hopes for this next week. I have been rather discouraged this week, but I will try to improve my outlook for next week.
I hope that you are all doing great. I appreciate all the continued prayers… I have felt them and needed them. Leave us a comment… we love to hear from you! Love to you all, Delores & Doug
3 comments:
Well, you may be discouraged about how you are feeling, but you look great! And the Grove is just beautiful, I can imagine those spots where the sunbeams come through, just like in the "old" visitor's center picture I used to love. I sure hope I can make a visit during the summer or early fall, I don't know though, I'm not really having much success with the saving - too many drugs. I had my blood drawn on Friday and she only had to try 5 times before she got it - and she was the expert thank heavens! hahahaha. My appointment is on the 15th, so I'll see if my Hemoglobin A1C has gone down from 10 (should be 6.5). Hopefully, all the nausea and carsickness from the shots has been worth it. I had lost 7 more pounds though, so nausea does have a good result for some things. Anyway, it really is a pain to be sick all the time, I can't imagine what you have been going through! You have hung in there though, and I know you will start doing better. We are all still praying for you. I'm glad to see your blog up. I love to see what's happening to you and you are right, Doug is getting better at the self-portraits. This one is especially good (doesn't look like you are looking through the end of a bottle, hahahaha).
My kids all said to tell you hello and that they are thinking of you. They took me out to dinner and a movie on my B-day (even Scott came - and he HATES movies). We had a blast.
It seems like the nausea is getting less, some days I'm not really that sick. So, like you, I'm improving. It's hard to see it for yourself, isn't it?? hahahaha. I love you both, be good, keep up the walking. Try not to cough up a lung. I'm so grateful Doug is there and is such a good nurse. And he's right, you always look good. (just sometimes you look better than others, hahahaha). Love, xoxoxoxox
Dear Doug and Delores, Ditto to the above. Yesterday was church and Krislynn's b-day. We went to church, came home to a roast, potatoes and carrots all cooked in a Dutch Oven! It was delicious and sure beats eating out we have been doing for 3-weeks now with no kitchen. The cabinets come tomorrow and we just barely got the floor (chipped) up.! It was the biggest mess you have ever seen with all the floods (from the Dishwashers) over the years. I am sure Delores remembers what it looked like before we put down the Peel and Stick Tiles (heheheh). Anyway, Ryan is a wonderful cook and I love it when he gets sick of eating out fast food cause he becomes real creative!! We still have a fridge but only til Friday when the floor guy is coming to put down the hardwood floor. The cabinets are hickory and the floor is maple but they are beautiful in my mind - hope it turns out. Krissy got baptized and turned 9 the next week. I don't want to say Kerry and Ryan are procrastinators but they are. Now the only children in my family not baptized are Brads and Ali wants to (it will be tricky) and she turns eight in August!
Sorry so much family stuff. We enjoyed the party at Park City (Bear Lodge) with The company and especially Steve and Kathy as ever. They are really great people and Kay and Steve have become very good friends. He and Steve got rained on Monday (thought they could golf) - after two holes, they gave up and went to work.!! We are doing fine. Paul was a paulbearer this weekend for Samantha's best friends dad who died of Liver cancer in their ward. He asked Paul to be in the funeral as a paulbearer and it was very humbling for him. He had to go buy a new suit. He told him he was honored he asked him but didn't deserve it. (This guy has tried time and again to activate Paul) Hope and pray it touched him and is getting through!
Sorry you have been so bad. I remember Murray and Homer after heart surgery and that is when I found out it is very very common - in fact, normal, to have clinical depression after heart surgery. Most surgeries leave you with that but especially heart surgery! Expect to feel a lot down mentally I guess - just because of the procedure and drugs used to get you better. Sounds like a slow painful process. Well, gotta get workin' its 8:00 a.m. already...Keep your pecker up (your nose - Catherine Cookson) and try to feel as good as you look! (both of you) Pray my kitchen gets done before you come home!!! Lots of Love, lulu and Kay
You both look great. I love the picture. I love all I learn from your pictures and commentary. Keep it up.
Hang in there girl. You will have good and bad days for a while. Patience is your best friend. Gary has been feeling down lately, guess what, his level was just like yours. So time to change dosage. When his blood is tooo thin he is very cold. You will soon recognize all of the signs. He has been working a lot in Mexico and I do believe the change in diet affects him.
Gary also had the water retention problem. Too much salt in his diet.
Keep up the walking, I know it is hard, but each day you will get a little better.
I'll never forget the day I came home from Work and Gary said, "I made it all the way to Pack's mailbox today!" He was so thrilled. One step at a time.
One step at a time.....
It was so good to see Andrea and family. My goodness the girls have grown. and Jett(sorry I do not think I spelled his name right) is a doll.
You are in our thoughts and prayers daily. love you both.
JP
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