Update on Dan

Just taking a moment here to post the same message on both of my blogs - here and over at The Road Awaits (apologies to those who read both) - but this was too good to pass up.  Dan is home!  We brought him home around 6pm tonight and thanks to some help from my son, Byron, and his friend, Zack, we got him in the house and safely situated on the reclining love seat.

More miracles here - he took the stress test today and passed with no problems.  As a result, the cardiologist decided no stents were necessary!  This meant no more invasion of the body, no more needles into arms that no longer had places to stick them without the aid of ultrasound to find the veins, and some peace in the comfort of his own home.  The doctor said there was little to no damage to the heart, and the heart muscle appears to be very strong.  According to the latest studies, stents do little to prevent future heart attacks, and the consensus was that medicine, coupled with weight loss, a healthy diet and proper, regular exercise, would do more, and be more safe, than any kind of surgery.  After considering the possibilities, we opted to adopt this approach.  He has had no chest pain since the initial heart attack and subsequent cardiac arrest, and should be able to resume a normal life in a reasonably short time.  He will see his cardiologist in 3 weeks and will likely enter the cardiac rehab program at our local hospital.

Thanks to all for the kind wishes, prayers, and words of comfort over this past week.  Even though I have not been able to visit everyone with any regularity, your responses to my updates have been incredibly important to me.  There were moments when I felt completely overwhelmed and reading your blogs brought a sense of normalcy to my life, even if I didn't make a comment.  I treasure the time I have spent with you.

God is good - and we are immensely grateful for a second chance.  Blessings to all of you, my friends!