"Good to Be Alive"

I got home today from the hospital after a two-night stay here and a heart cath, and I keep singing a song in my head, "It's Good to Be Alive."  I'm still processing it all. 

This morning, I woke up somewhat refreshed, having slept solid - although interrupted every two hours for a blood pressure check.  I'm in the 120's, which is good.  The nurses woke me up and let me know I was going to be discharged shortly.  Before leaving, I was watching "Cardiac University" on their television, which basically explained a lot about heart disease and what to do and when.  It was a longer video.  They gave me a pretty good breakfast, considering, although the idea of any kind of coffee at all is scary.  I think it was decaf.  I don't really drink coffee anyway, but this whole thing has cured me of wanting something with a lot of caffeine in it.  Last night, one of the nurses actually brought me a Diet Coke, and I don't think she knew it had caffeine in it.  It was such an odd thing to bring into the Cardiac Observation Unit, but there it is.  Perhaps it was a test that I passed!

Anyway, after getting the "all clear," and talking to a doctor or two about future appointments and next steps for immediate self-care, I was rolled out to the entrance of the ER, where my mom was waiting for me.  My mom has been so good this entire time.  I don't think she knew it was going to be as bad as this, and she was worried.  Everyone was worried.  

In fact, there are hundreds of messages for me right now, an overwhelming amount of people sharing small notes of encouragement, letting me know they are praying for me.  

I got home, and there was a happy family reunion.  Madison got home from school later, but initially, it was Mom and of course Nana there.  I didn't squeeze too tightly, but I gave Mom a huge hug.  It's good to be alive.  

They were fretting over me, of course, the rest of the day.  And I was just taking it easy on the couch the whole day.  My first order of business:  "The Great Muppet Caper."  Yep, I was wanting to watch that movie, so I did.  And I loved it - it's been years since I've watched that one.  

Our neighbors Joni and Mary Shannon showed up with some flowers and a gift card, and a wonderful note inside a card.  They spent a few moments with Mom and Nana - it was very, very kind of them.  

I needed rest today, of course.  I took naps, and read from my latest Pratchett book, "Men at Arms."  I've actually read this one before, but I can read all these Discworld books again and again.  I just read that they made a BBC series based on the Night Watch characters, but it sounds like they really mucked it up.  Oh well, at least we still have the books, right?

On the way home, we stopped at the pharmacy for a while to pick up more prescriptions.  Now I'm taking nine different ones, and actually ten pills each day.  It's quite a collection!  Mom spent a good while organizing these for me, while I rested on the couch.  

I was out on the front porch for a little bit as I read, while Mom and Nana were spread some mulch out in various spots in the front yard.  My parents brought over twenty-two bags of it today, because when they asked me if I needed anything, for some reason my mind went to "mulch."  It was on sale.  I did not expect them to actually bring mulch, let alone twenty-two bags of it, but there you are.  As I sat on the front porch and read, I was happy to see our birds are really settling in their nest on our front door.  Yes, this means our front door is now inoperative.  But we'll be okay sharing our home for a short time.

Madison was happy to see me.  We talked for a good bit when she got home, although she did have some studying to do.  Eventually we got around to watching a few episodes of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." together, which we're starting all over again.  We're on episode three.  One hundred and twenty episodes to go!

We did our reading tonight in person.  Not even a heart procedure could stop that!  We read another few chapters, but I was pretty tired tonight.  I fell asleep rather quickly and slept soundly through the night.