Cousin Sherrie called today and we learned an interesting thing: her number was listed on Randy's cell phone as "Cousin Sherrie," which was the only reference to a relative on the cell phone. She got called first since it was not clear to the emergency crew that Barbara was the wife (but Barbara had been called immediately by Steve). Someplace Randy's sister Nancy, in Oregon, was listed as an emergency contact, since the hospital called her (and she then started calling family too). So, be sure in your cell phones you have a list of emergency contacts--something to clue the paramedics so they know who to call. There is an official campaign (mostly in Britain) to use the acronym ICE -- "in case of emergency" -- before the names of the people you want to designate as next of kin in your cell address book, creating entries such as "ICE -- Dad" or "ICE -- Alison." Note that this information should also be kept in your wallet, which is probably the first place they would look. [Note also that if you see an email saying NOT to put this in your cell phone because of a danger of a virus or getting an extra charge--that email is a hoax.] As long as we are giving public service announcements, I'll mention that Matt called today and said that he had an echocardiogram done and they initially only looked at the aorta. Matt gave the physician the link to this website, after which Matt was called back and told he should also have an echocardiogram of the heart. So, if you are thinking of getting an echocardiogram then save yourself a trip and do both the heart and the aorta at the same time.
The current status report is that Randy continues to increase in strength, stamina, and coordination, but still has a lot of recovery he hopes to make. There is still lingering dizziness, though not as bad, and his persistent cough continues to be a painful nuisance (a chest X-ray showed this was due to a partially collapsed lung, which he can improve with deep breathing). He is walking further and with better balance (though his gait is still not what you would call normal); he looks great, and each week brings noticeable progress. Life is different for all of us than before this all started, but it remains to be seen how close to normal it can get. Barbara says that now he has survived a month he has beaten all the odds and now his chances of survival are in the "pretty good" category so sympathy levels will go down and he is expected to pitch in and help out as soon as he is able.
If you are a neighbor reading this and you wonder how you can lend a hand, please note that Randy is still not allowed to lift over 5 pounds, so this means no taking out garbage, no shoveling snow, etc., and now there are no offspring around to perform these labors (Tyler and Andrea will be the closest, and they do visit regularly). Thanks again to everyone--you have been so good to all of us! Thanks for all food, goodies, attention, kindness, prayers, and faith. Randy says, "by myself I was not able to shake a cold in October, but with your help I survived the open-heart surgery and beyond."
Randy also says that as soon as his eyes work together instead of separately he will put up a post of his own. And next week we will find out whether he can still play the guitar when the band comes over for a scaled-back practice session. "I am thankful and gratified that you have all been so interested in my life, and pray that things will settle down from here on out."
I was going to end with a little video of Randy walking, but it wouldn't upload. Just imagine him walking, kind of waddling really, away from the pan of sweet rolls and into the living room. Its unclear whether the waddle was because he went to church (to hear his niece Dagny speak after her mission to Brazil), then to a family and friends party for Dagny (at which there were really good crepes, courtesy of Andrea), then went all day without napping, or if it was from eating too many crepes and sweet rolls. But, as you can see from the picture, he is pretty happy about those sweet rolls.
