Better slow than never...

Hi everyone!  

I'm baaaaack!  (AND without Meg the 10 pounder!!!)  Todd did such a great job with posting while we were at Hopkins.  Once we were home, he turned it over to me & you see how well I did at keeping up with it....  I'm a new liver now, but not a prompt blogger.  Prior to my surgery, I had never blogged "just because" & always felt the Spirit leading me.  Just haven't felt the Spirit encouraging me to blog since the surgery.  

For the first few weeks at home, I was sleeping only 2 hrs at a time, pretty uncomfortable with digestive issues & mobility, adjusting to life outside of the hospital, Todd & I focusing on taking care of me (everything took a lot longer than pre-surgery), getting rest & hanging out with Sara & Carly.  Seemed like a REALLY long time since we spent time together.  They had come to visit me at the hospital but it wasn't the same as spending time with them at home.        

So, a HUGE thank you for your patience & for many of you checking with us to say "haven't seen a blog post...how are you?"  We were REALLY blessed by the love & care that surrounded us & continues to do so.  

Here are some ways that people helped (just to name a few) meals, cards, emails, calls, visits, decorating our house for our homecoming, setting up a 1st floor bed for me, weeding, cleaning, transportation & errands, shopping with Sara & Carly, groceries, friends taking Carly & Sara to hang out with them, keeping me supplied with plenty of blueberries to support my habit (glad I didn't miss that season!), putting us on prayer lists, lawn mowing, caring for our girls while we were in the hospital, and many more.  

This is just a preliminary post to say "I'm doing well & getting stronger each day.  My medical staff is very pleased with my current medical condition & say that I'm ahead of most patients".  

I'll post again soon to start to chronicle the time during my surgery & since my hospital discharge & put my thoughts in writing.  I've been getting more sleep so that is a blessing.  My disrupted sleep patterns were effecting my mental abilities.  I can function fine; however, I am having difficulty with deeper thinking. (My new friend, Prednisone, is the cause of that.)  Also, with my A personality I think I should have it processed in my mind before trying to share with it others. That's why I haven't posted yet.  However, I know that some of you are wondering what's happening in my new world so I wanted to start somewhere.  

I'll never be able to praise God enough for this adventure--the new organs AND the waiting time.  I'm slowly re-entering the public world.  Until recently, my travels solely included blood labs & Johns Hopkins.  However, God gave me great peace during this time of seclusion & often solitude.

Here is my 1st card.  It's from my friend, Micah, and his family.  Their yellow lab, Ben, is pictured on it.  He's the dog that I kept seeing in my room while I was hallucinating shortly after surgery.  I wasn't afraid...I just kept thinking someone would step on this sweet dog.  This picture also shows the awesome view that we had from our room.  What a blessing!
 

Love & peace to you all!
Belinda (without Meg!!!!) 

                                                       At one of my Hopkins clinic visits