Home again

 Our trip to Chicagoland was great!

Traffic on both sides of the trip was pretty good, surprisingly, and our only close calls with big trucks on the highway were on the first day going up.

It was wonderful to see my family, and to meet baby Zoey, who pretty much screams when anyone other than her parents holds her.  Unless she is asleep, of course, haha!

She's finally up to newborn size, and is thriving!

We got to go down town one day, which was Dave's wish, and we got to eat all of the things.... 

Arrangements were made, far in advance to meet with a few friends, too, which was much needed.

Including our friend Cathy, who introduced us.  She was traveling to Illinois from Washington state, so that was why we went to Illinois when we did.  She and her husband have been my dear friends for over 25 years.

My long time friend, Margaret, was also able to come down and spend an afternoon, and evening, with us. 

Our weird thing that we do on road trips is to count dead armadillos, and we broke our all time record this time, with 99 round trip.

In other news, my nurse never called about the heart scan results.  I find that odd, since the report I saw on line was alarming to me.

Moderate to severe mitral valve regurgitation was the main thing that concerned me, after the initial scan was completely normal.  There was something else, as well, but I have forgotten what it was.

I have staunchly refused to go on line to research this, as I do not want to make my anxiety any worse.

Thankfully, I was able to put it all out of my mind during vacation, and focus on what we were doing, who we were seeing, and so forth.

My appointment is on Thursday, so I suppose that someone will read the report by then, and we will find out what's to be done next.  I am still assuming that the heart damage has begun, and I will no longer be able to receive this treatment.

It's a shame, because I have been tolerating it really well, in every other way.  

I also feel fine, by the way, for what that is worth. No shortness of breath, or issues with chest discomfort or anything one might expect with a malfunctioning heart valve.

Today, we will finish unpacking, and get some groceries.  I go back to the office tomorrow. 

It's supposed to be a beautiful day, so we might get out in the yard a bit, as well.

There is rain in the forecast for the entire week ahead, so I hope we actually get some of it.

Have a good week!