Author: Steve

  I think I need a monitor setup like my son-in-law’s.       (A good follow-up check-up with the cardiac surgeon today.  We’re right on track.)  

  An excellent mid-day meal.   Dogs galore.     A nap.   Fireworks from the Fairgrounds.       Happy 4th of July!  

  We went to the appointment.  It was an evaluation.  We did a few fitness exercises to establish a baseline.  They didn’t make any declarations about my condition, but it seemed like a thorough thoughtful assessment.  I’m in for a series of visits.  The first one is Friday.   Tomorrow, a fourth of July picnic lunch at Brian’s parents.  Nice place out in the country.  We’ve dropped out of the triple digits back into mid-eighties weather for a couple days.  It’s very nice to be outside again.  I’ll try to get in longer easier walks.   Oh, and I gained a pound back.  A pound isn’t a big deal, but it reverses a trend that has been going on for four weeks.  

  I get to do anything I want, if Judy doesn’t say no.   Today I wanted to go check out my high-altitude stamina.  I said I wanted to go to Echo Lake.  Judy didn’t say no.  And she drove.   What we found:  Standing on level ground at 10,000 feet is a lot like running on a treadmill as fast as I can.  We spent an hour and a half there; exactly what I wanted to do.  Most of our time was spent at picnic tables and benches, just enjoying the scenery, but we walked around a little too.  By the time we headed back to the car I was really puffing.  This was a nice thing to do, but we probably won’t do it again right away.  If previous patterns hold, tomorrow will be a rest-up day after a big-exertion day today.   Judy did a great job and got us scheduled for all the medical appointments we need this week.  Tuesday is the evaluation for cardiac rehab.  Thursday is the four-week follow-up with the cardiac surgeon.  Friday is the pre-surgical consult for the next lithotripsy surgery the week after.  We’ll just keep hammering away at everything medical until we’re done.    

  I wonder what Henry thinks.  What happens when we get on an elevator?  Does he feel the motion moving us between floors?  Does he have any sense of altitude?  Or is an elevator just a magic box where the door closes and when it opens we’re somewhere else?   Henry stands on the bed on the fourth floor of the hotel and looks down at the people and things moving below.  Does he wonder how he got there?  He didn’t climb any hills.  Does he relate his elevation back to the sensation of the elevator?   Does he understand the physics of car rides?  Does he recognize the motion of riding in a car is the same thing he does when he’s running except 10 times faster?  Or is the car another kind of magic box where he gets in, a lot of stuff blurs by, and suddenly he’s somewhere else?