I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Thank you for all the well wishes and holiday wishes!

Our Christmas was wonderful! Low key and simple. This was the first Christmas since we have been married that we were able to stay home and not worry about getting to see all our family, grandparents, etc. I must say that the holiday seemed a lot more simple without those concerns. We had a nice Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve with my family. We opened gifts, which made Hannah very excited. This is the first year she has been into opening presents, and she was REALLY into it! My Dad gave Hannah and Spencer little play laptops and they were a big hit. So big in fact that Christmas morning at our house Spencer would have nothing to do with opening any gifts because he just wanted to play with the laptop. :) Hannah was also really into Santa this year. Christmas morning she came out and just sat staring at the tree. Then I heard her whisper, "He came!". So cute. Christmas we visited with family and enjoyed spending time visiting with those we love.

Recovery is coming along nicely. I am being patient and feel a great deal of gratitiude for so many hands that help me. I finally feel like I can say that I am beginning to feel better. Keven pointed out that I can talk without getting out of breathe. He also says he can tell I have more energy because I am more fiesty. :) My sister-in-law, Jamie, pointed out that I am walking faster. I notice that I have more energy to move around my house and don't tire as easily as I used to. I even felt well enough yesterday that I convinced my sister-in-laws, Jamie & Whitney, to take me to Target. I really wanted to get a few things in my home and had already tried explaining to Keven what I wanted, but what he came home with was always far from the picture in my mind. Now, I hope I don't sound like jerk. I feel like I have been decently patient with having everyone else pick stuff out for me. But I really wanted to pick out a few things so my sweet sister-in-laws pushed me around Target in a wheelchair and helped me out. Doing that took all my energy. We came home and I couldn't do anything all night because I was so tired! SO....... I will probably avoid that activity for awhile, but sure appreciate my sister-in-laws help!

I cannot believe it is almost Christmas! This has been such a wild month! So Merry Christmas all! I wish each of you a very Happy Holiday Season!!

Things are going well here at the Wall Home! We are slowly making our way through this holiday season and through the ins and outs of each day. Here are a few updates on heart surgery recovery...... 1. My fever left last Friday and has not been an issue since! So grateful for that one! 2. I washed my own hair for the first time Sunday. May sound like a silly thing to be excited about but that is a big accomplishment! And you would be surprised how tired you get just trying to do something like that! And 3. I actually only woke up twice last night! After heart surgery your body does the weirdest things - one being that your sleep schedule gets really off. Ever since surgery I have gotten used to being awake for most of the night, but last night I fell asleep at 9 p.m. and didn't remember waking up until close to 5! Loved that!

People keep on asking me if I feel like I am getting better and my answer may seem funny, but I have to tell them that I don't know. At some moments I feel like I am getting better then at some points I feel like I regressed to a worse state. When I saw my doctor last week she reminded me that it will be awhile before I feel better. They said after 8 weeks I can start back into my normal routine but reminded me that just doing my normal routine will wear me out. So she then said to plan on 6 months to a year before I feel really back to myself............wow..... Dr. Yetman said that many people get depressed after heart surgery because you are so limited physically. I don't feel depressed, but I do sometimes get impatient with my limits. I really am not that impatient, because I really don't feel like doing much, but sometimes I get frustrated having to ask for help ALL the time. For example, the other day I was so hungry and hated asking Keven to help me again for the 50th time that day so I thought I would just get it myself. Well, I went to the kitchen to find a bowl and then realized I couldn't reach them without hurting my chest. I opened the fridge next and realized I couldn't lift the milk, which is where I gave up. I was so frustrated I started to cry and when Keven tried to find out what was wrong I was angry. (Big sigh). It is good to have experiences that teach us humility :)

Hello family and friends! It's Cary here!!! I am so excited to be posting and updating about this past week!!

I feel like so much has gone on over the past week. First, we moved into our house! Yahoo!! It is SO wonderful to have a bed again! Thanks to so many friends and family who came to help us! We are so blessed! Second, we have been adjusting - or maybe I should say I have been adjusting - to life on a couch with others caring for my children, cooking my family dinner, and people doing my laundry, etc. It's not easy....but I am so grateful for all the wonderful help we have received. I really don't have the energy to do anything else anyway. My sweet children have been so patient. Hannah is very tender with me because she knows I have "hurts". She will so carefully come sit by me and hug my arm. Spencer is still trying to figure out why I won't pick him up. He runs to me often and pats my leg, which is his cue for wanting to be picked up. It's nice when people will sit him on my lap and I can love him for a little while.

I had a check up with my doctor at Primary Children's today. I expected to spend an hour or so there and it turned out being an all day event. I had to have a echocardiogram done and it was very uncomfortable. You do those tests laying on your left side but my left side has a pacemaker incision, some broken bones, etc. - you get the point. Laying on that side about did me in....but we made it! The staff up there even gave me a cute pink, flowery, fleece blanket for being so brave. :) Turned out I had a fever so they made me stay to do blood work, tests, and such to make sure there was no infection. After awhile I was worried they were not going to let me leave, but all my tests came back mostly normal. I have some fluid on my right lung, and some blood tests were a little off but not enough to keep me there. So I have to check my temperature over the next two days and if the fever doesn't go away then we must go back. As of tonight the fever was still here so keep your fingers crossed that it will go away!!

I need to take a moment to thank my sweet husband for all he is doing, has done, and is continuing to do. He is a super star! You can't even imagine all that he has taken on for our family right now. He is working full time, being a full time, single parent - as I am totally worthless right now - and is trying to run our household, etc. He is my full time nurse and caregiver. He helps me dress, washes and combs my hair, assists me in and out of bed, feeds me, makes sure I take my medicine, and does so with a smile. While we were up at Primary's today one of the nurses turned to me and said "Wow, you can tell he really takes good care of you." How correct she was! So thank you sweetie!!! I love you!!

Okay, I need to run. But I have lots more to add and many more to thank so stay posted!!!

This is the Place!

Cary and I flew home yesterday...an all day affair. Cary did a great job, but was EXHAUSTED when we reached Salt Lake City. My mom, grandma, and Hannah met us at the airport. Hannah was so cute, and gave her mommy a kiss on the cheek to help her feel better. I think it worked. The normally strong Cary cried a little bit.

Then, when we came home, we helped Cary into the house to another surprise. Some kind, awesome, AMAZING friends, who refuse to tell us who they are, gave us this...

A Heart Christmas Tree...with gifts for Hannah, Spencer, Mommy and Daddy. It was so touching, so kind and generous...so much more than I can explain. I'm not sure if it helped mend broken hearts or tore mine right out of my chest...I think the Wall Family has just adopted a new tradition. Thank you to whoever you are. Christmas will never be the same for us.

We also got some beautiful flowers from our kind friends at Wasatch Drywall and Paint. Aren't they awesome!

Today has been crazy. I think our kids have had way too much fun while we were away, and we had some tired children all day today. So, mom, Hannah and Spencer are now all in bed...and I'm left watching the news:) Cary is getting some sleep, which is nice. She gets uncomfortable mostly because she's on her back all day long. Her appetite is not 100% back yet either. She is usually able to eat about 5 or so mini meals a day...to go along with her medication schedule. She told me today that her taste buds are whacked out. She wanted to eat chili at about 8:30 tonight (which is weird by itself) and after about 3 bites she let me know that the chili tasted like ladies perfume. What can I say to that? So I asked "which one?" What I want to know is why is she tasting women's perfume to begin with?

We continue to see progress every day, and are continually thankful to everyone's help and concern. We have better friends than we deserve. Good night!

Discharge!

It is 11:30 Rochester time, and I am blogging now because I thought Cary had blogged before. A lot has happened today.

Cary got paced for the first time last night. I've become 1 with the lingo, so for those who don't know what that means, it means that Cary's heart rate dropped far enough that her pace maker jumped into action to help regulate her heart rate. That sounds bad, but really I'm happy. This has been one of her problems that has caused her grief in the past, but no longer. Now, instead of fainting spells or chest pain, she'll just have a little help from her new friend.

While Cary was showering this morning I told the doctors about her being paced, and their response was "good...that's why it's there." I really appreciated his candor. There are a lot of things in life that seem bad in one way or another, but if we try and expand our vision, we see that they are huge blessings. So...Cary's heart surgery, her pace maker, and our trip to Rochester, MN, have all been huge blessings in our life.

Cary got discharged today. We are staying at a hotel in town until Wednesday afternoon, when we will fly home! The hospital staff has all said that we've come a long way in a very short time. Cary's uncomfortable, but every day walking more, being able to converse more, stay awake longer, etc. Hopefully for her sake she'll be able to get some sleep tonight.

As for our home...well, if only that could have happened quicker than we all thought!...or as quick as we thought...heck I'd be happy if it would have happened slightly longer than we thought...but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We know the underwriter is looking at the file because of all the stupid little letters and hoops we are jumping through now. I assume everyone has them. Our lender seems to think it's all done, and hopefully tomorrow we will have a closing date. I don't have a lot of hope of it being done before we fly home, but maybe Thursday closing?

I appreciate all the people who have fasted, prayed, expressed love, thoughts, flowers, hospitality and in general gone above and beyond anything I could have asked for. I shouldn't name anyone, but some I would feel remiss if I don't...so here goes. First to family. My brother and sister and their families for keeping our kids while we are away. My parents and in-laws for their concern. Thank you Becca, Jamie, Whitney, Elaine for helping coordinate meals, babysitting, mommysitting for when we get back. Thanks to Rod, Melissa, Doug, Troy, Ashley and Ashley. These are the people I work with who have allowed me to take so much time and energy away from work during this process...as well as the build of my home. They are awesome.

Thanks to Brighton Girls Camp and the special bond these girls share. We've been shuttled around Rochester by one of Cary's brighton friends, Tibet, and her husband while we've been here. He is a resident at the hospital and she's taking care of their 4 babies, but they insisted on feeding us, driving us around, and visiting us at the hospital. Rochester was a small extension of Utah thanks to them. Thanks to the Shield's family and their newfound friendship during this experience. They went through this with their daughter a couple years ago and offered a lot of advice for us.

Thanks to our 2 wards, the Canyon Rim Ward and the Country Crossing 5th ward. The Canyon Rim ward held a shower for us before we left, and it was awesome. Elaine is a lifesaver. They have showed us so much love over the years. It was really hard to leave. Similarly, our new ward family has reached out to us in a way that made me feel like we've been there for years already, (and we don't even have a home there yet!) I was so surprised to get phone call after phone call from people in the ward who wanted an update. Thank you so much to both wards!

The doctors, nurses, volunteers, clinic workers, shuttle drivers and Sprinhill Suites at Mayo Clinic have re-defined Christianity for me. Thanks to them for their skill, care, concern and love they've shown us over the past week.

And finally, not to sound cliche, but so much has just fallen perfectly into place that there is no way this is all coincidence. I am thankful to Heavenly Father for His help in making this all happen.

Hopefully the list is complete...I'll have Cary double check it all in the morning. If I forgot someone I am sorry. Thanks.

And I'm sorry this blog is so long. I guess I get long winded after midnight! See you in 2 days.

The Gig is up!

Well...Cary was well enough today to read my blog posts!!! Uh oh! She said I need to "give more details." Here goes.

This morning Cary had an echo. It looked great. What they look for is back flow from the atrium back into the venticle. They call it regurgitation. The cardiologist said that there was almost none! That was the last bit of information to prove that Cary's surgery was a great success. Cary and I were super excited to learn that.

Also...Cary started eating real food late last night. Technically it was 1 saltine cracker and a couple bites of "ice cream." Today she ate parts of breakfast and lunch and...(this is the funniest)...part of a reeces miniature cup.

The doctor's anticipate that we will be discharged on Monday. We have booked our flights to come home on Wednesday evening. It's been a great experience being here at the Mayo Clinic. Everyone has been great. Especially our doctors, Dearani, Cannon, and Cetta. Also, Andrea and Eric Cannon have been awesome! I have to admit Brighton girls are the best. Besides being our shuttle, restaurant and laundromat, they also visited and brought COOKIES!

Also, it snowed here.

Day 3?

The days are starting to run together. We spent our first night together in our step down room. Today, Cary had the chest tubes removed and has been walking around a bit. She's started taking her pain meds orally and just barely finished her first whole cup of raspberry sherbet. YUMMY HOSPITAL FOOD!!!

I'm good. And blogging is becoming boring. Basically, all is well, and hopefully we will learn about when we will come home in the next few days. More to come later.

"The Morning After"

Day 2:

After a lengthy evening of...well...nothing...the most ex

citing thing that happened was that Car

y had the breathing tube removed, around

9:30. She was READY to have it out about 8:00...but the doctor's said no. Turns out that Propopyl, one of the sedatives that Cary was getting weaned off of, is the same medication that killed Michael Jackson. Something about w

hen you are on it you forget to breath or something. Oops!! So they wanted to make sure that Cary was awake enough to remember to breathe before they took out the breathing tube. Anyways, after that happened, I was asked to leave so Cary could get some rest.

Side note, I went to an awesome little restaurant called the Canadian Honker for dinner. Thanks Shields family for the suggestion an

d for the coughing pillow! Cary's been huggi

ng it close.

Then today, Cary has been very sleepy, but she got out of bed and sat in a chair for about 3 hours in the ICU. After that, they sent us down to the "step-down" room...the next step before we get discharged. She's doing great. A little sick to her stomach, very thirsty (she's had more soda than I have had today!), tired and weak

but everyone says she's doing very well. We've had visits today from Dr. Dearani (the Cardiov

ascular Surgeon), Dr. Cetta (the Cardiologist), Dr. Cannon (The pace maker guy) and a host of other guys.

Right now Cary is eating dinner. Not eating s

o much as slurping broth. They have as many flavors of broth as I have hands!!! Chicken AND Beef!

Anyways, I'm bored writing and I'm sure you're bored reading. Here's a little love from Cary...ENJOY!

Post Op

It is 5:40 local time, and Cary has been out of surgery since about 4:00 local...which means that she was in surgery for 6 to 6 1/2 hours. Dr. Dearani (sp?) said that the surgery went "exactly as planned." He seemed a little self confident yesterday, and that was confirmed today. But he is almost universally accepted to be the best at what he does, and he proved it today. He was able to repair Cary's tricuspid valve and make her atrium smaller. He also installed a pace maker to help keep her heart rhythm regular. Everyone is optimistic that she won't need it, but Cary and I are glad it's there...just in case.

I am debating taking a couple snap shots of her with her breathing tube lying in ICU, but I think one of these days Cary will read what I've written, and I'd get in trouble. So let me just say 2 things:

1. Cary is doing great and recovering and

2. No John Doyle it wasn't breast enhancement surgery.

More tomorrow!!!!