End of March Update

Tracking my progress on my 2016 Resolutions. We are now three months (91 days) in and I'm am still ahead of pace. Basically, we have reached the quarter pole, although there are two days beyond being exactly 1/4 of the way through the year.

For my 2016 bike miles, I've reached 524 miles in the first 91 days of 2016. That's roughly 20 miles ahead of the pace needed to reach my goal.

For my reading goals, I am at 5+ books. Here is my list so far:

1. Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

2. Heart by Dick Chaney

3. The Real McCoy by Hal McCoy

4. Mercy in the City by Kerry Weber

5. And God Said Play Ball by Gary Graf

6. The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom (barely started)

I didn't do a ton of reading in March as it is March Madness and Fantasy Baseball prep season. Once all of that dies down in a couple of week, I will have more time to devote to reading again.

My health is still in pretty decent shape. Unfortunately, I did have to go back to Cleveland to get my controller changed this month. My new one has had a couple of disconnect alarms, but not excessive as they had been before. I am concerned that one battery port on the controller appears to be loose. This was a problem last year too. Since I am already on my fourth controller, I am really hopeful that this will not require a change, especially so soon after the last one. I am still not scheduled back to Cleveland until May 10, so I am hopeful that that will remain. There is a possibility that if I do require another controller change, it could be done at a hospital in a Cincinnati or Columbus, which would save me several hours of driving.

With April beginning, I am very excited because it is Donate Life month. God willing, I will be able to participate in several volunteer events with LifeCenter in Cincinnati and NKY and Life Connection in Dayton. Please take the opportunity to register as an organ donor and encourage others to do so.

Amy and I are so excited to be participating in the LifeCenter float during the Reds Opening Day Parade. If you plan to be there, look for me on the float and Amy walking nearby! Before that, we have formed Team Patulence to take part in the Strides for Life 5k in Dayton. This is being put on by Life Connection in Dayton. If you would like to join us, walk up registrations will be taken on Saturday, April 2.

Thank you for your continued prayers. As always, please pray for my future donor and his or her family!

End of February Update

Tracking my progress on my 2016 Resolutions. Here we are two months (60 days) in and I'm am still ahead of pace. 

For my 2016 bike miles, I've reached 337 miles in the first 60 days of 2016. That's 6.5 miles ahead of the pace needed to reach my goal.

For my reading goals, I am at 4.5 books. Here is my list so far:

1. Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

2. Heart by Dick Chaney

3. The Real McCoy by Hal McCoy

4. Mercy in the City by Kerry Weber

5. And God Said Play Ball by (in progress)

I also read The Yogi Book. I'm not counting this toward my goal as it is mostly a collection of his sayings with a brief explanation of them. However, I must admit, I did take my time in soaking in the wisdom of many of his statements. Many of them were just "oops" statements though and reminded me of some of our Conversations from Casa de McEntee.

In terms of my health and my situation of waiting, not much has changed. February was in some ways a difficult month. I found myself busier than usual, and honestly a bit frustrated and exhausted from this. I made two trips to Cleveland for various appointments. Those trips seem longer and longer each time. The good news is, I don't have to return until May. The bad news is, either my controller for my LVAD or some batteries continue to malfunction. I had gone six days without disconnect alerts, but they returned on Leap Day. This is disappointing as I had been asked to try using a shoulder bag instead of the lap belt I wore for a year and a half. I have not enjoyed the transition, but am getting used to it. Now that the disconnect alarms are returning, I fear I will have to go back to Cleveland to figure out the next step. Thus my 3-month vacation will be cut short.

I am continuing to volunteer and also to help my Dad with our genealogy. Although I enjoy these things, it requires lots of driving. So I suppose all of these good things together have caused me to become a bit frustrated at times. I have to remind myself, that I still have congestive heart failure and sometimes I need to give myself a day or two just to recharge my batteries. Fortunately I have been able to do that in the last couple of weeks.