May 2013

My good friend Dick Montgomery gave me a visit a few weeks back. If you have looked at this blog from the early days in 2009, there was Dick. We were both stuck in the UW Hospital on the fifth floor (5 NE), waiting for a heart transplant. Dick was fitted with a temporary device to assist his heart called a Left Ventricular Assist Device or LVAD. The LVAD had an external battery with a mechanical surgically implanted pump to help the movement of blood from the left ventricle of the heart into an aorta. Dick would visit several patients each day who were on the fifth floor to encourage them and explain the ups and downs of getting an LVAD. Dick was a great ambassador between the patient and staff to explain what to expect. Dick did receive a heart transplant in Oct 2009, about six weeks after I had received my transplant. Today Dick tends a huge vegetable garden and works in his shop on rebuilding truck and lawn mower engines. He gets together with his grandsons monthly for a guys afternoon out for lunch and a matinee movie. He looks a little like Santa, but Dick has a bigger heart. He is one quality guy.

Well, an update from me shows I see improvement in several areas. I remain on hospice, I require a continuous supply of oxygen and I am not fighting the Amyloid today with any Chemo. Yet I am improving as I can now stand and walk for short periods of time. I get tired fast, but there is an improvement. My eating has improved and sleep is better. For some reason I am needing my glasses more. I thought I could skip them since after my cataract surgery, I was fitted with a distance lens. This vision issue has affected my painting. So I have put the paint brush up until I get this figured out. Though Claude Monet was loosing his vision during the time he painted some of his most impressive work. His water pond murals are huge canvasses that are a treat to see. For some reason Rick cannot get the same results while he struggles with his vision. C'est la vie.  (Photo of Rose with one of Monet's water lilies murals, L'Orangerie, Paris.)