Post Christmas update & the Echocardiogram results...

We had a great time with family and friends at Christmas.  We had Christmas dinner with our good friends and neighbors (thanks!): Christmas goose, prime rib, chestnut stuffing and Shannie's flourless chocolate cake! That night we had a little scare.  Rosie (our dog) was "guarding" Barry by sleeping at his head where he was taking a little nap on the couch.   Someone came to the door and she abruptly and loudly barked right by his ear!  This was a very startling event and it took Barry's heart quite awhile to settle down.  That made Terri a little freaked out too! Eventually things settled down and he was fine of course.  But it's not a comfortable thing to startle 5 weeks after a major heart attack!  When we saw the doctor yesterday he explained this was normal.  He will have a bit of PTSD for awhile due to the shock of having had the heart attack.

The next day we went as a family to Monterey for the trip we'd planned for Thanksgiving but had to postpone because of a little issue known as Barry's heart attack!  Barry was able to do some light hiking and we even spotted a whale. :)

Yesterday was his first echocardiogram since leaving the hospital.  We got the results today.  There's some good news and some not so good news after Barry's echo.  The doctor says his heart muscle function has improved significantly.  It's not completely recovered but it is in a good range for this early echo.  I can't exactly repeat the percentages but it was good news.

The less than good news is that he has developed a clot.  This is not abnormal.  It's similar to developing a scab on an injury but it does mean he has to go on more significant blood thinners.  This raises the possibility of bleeding and makes it a little more dangerous for him to actively work construction.  Our hope is this will only be for three months and that the clot will dissolve safely or at least not build and break loose.  That could be quite serious.  So please pray that the clot will not build or break loose!

We'd also appreciate prayer about the coumadin.  He will need to be really careful about any potential bruising or injury.  Since Barry's typical week of work always consisted of various cuts, bruises and scrapes, we're wondering what work will look like for him in the near future.   We'd like to see him find his way out of such physically difficult work anyway but this might be forcing the issue into an earlier timeframe than we were expecting.

Prayer for continued healing, protection, safety, wisdom, and provision would be appreciated!  Thanks for praying about these things!

Blessings!