Cooker, great to see you! Eleven pounds -- wow! Congrats on that -- come on back here when you can and tell us how you did it.
Jim, that is super about your post-op echo and cardio follow-up -- sounds like everything is going very well.
I forget if I mentioned it here or not, but I got an echo report with a small (hopefully) red flag. Cardio said my left atrium seems to have enlarged a bit - about 1/2 a centimeter. She scheduled another echo for 6 months. Said if it proves to be something going on might cause heart rhythm irregularities in the future, which hopefully could be addressed by meds. I do know that over the years -- since my 30s (a long, long time ago) various doctors have remarked that I have a large heart, a few have even called it an athlete's heart, which I took as a compliment. And I know also that echoes are not always exact. But I've got all this to think about -- and further motivation to concentrate on diet and exercise. (More immediate problem, my dentist and hygienest discovered in a cleaning that I have a slight infection under an old crown, and I am supposed to go to a dental specialist for a root canal and then back to the dentist for a re-crowning. Ack, ack, and more ack! But I suppose as the proud owner of a piggy valve, I can't afford to ignore this infection.
We had a nice family Fourth. Think I will write about it a bit now on my blog, which is at
www.steadfastdawgwalker.com if any STCers would like further reading.
Enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend...
And oh yes, GO USA! USA women' soccer team going for the World Cup tonight at 7 against a good Japanese team. My household will continue to root especially hard for midfielder Lauren Holiday, who was so sweet (along with her NBA-player husband, Jrue Holiday) to my athletic granddaughter Hannah at an Under Armor photoshoot in New Orleans. Lauren typically stops the other team's advances and then sets up her teammates for shots on goal -- a very unselfish player. But she has the kicking power to boom one in goal -- and we would love it if she happened to kick the winning goal tonight! Anyway, it's a great team -- much fun to watch. Go USA!
PS: Duffey, yes, all was well with the world yesterday when the Cardinals snapped out of a mini-slump (enough to score 2 runs and beat the Padres). But do you know they go on the road tomorrow for 4 games against the Cubs and then 4 against the Pirates? Tense times ahead -- why, oh why, do I not lighten up -- it is, after all, "just a game." Gulp.
