Specialist Update

I went to the specialist’s appt. on Tuesday.
They admitted me to the hospital to get as many tests ran as possible I was released on Friday.

We did a 3D echo of the heart which was the coolest thing I have ever seen. Then a transesophageal echo is also known as a TEE, then a CT of the heart, lungs, and abdomen with contrast and without.

I have a leg doppler later this month and my cardio will discuss if I need a right-left heart cath.


It’s not an emergency that I do the surgery next week but, for my symptoms to go away I have to do surgery. My worst symptoms are dizziness and shortness of breath. Next up would be how worn out I get because of tiredness.


I am not a candidate for a valvoplasty there is too much regurgitation on the valve. I have to have a mitral valve replaced it can not even be repaired.


The surgeon I met with thinks my procedure can be done using robotics and thru the right side of the ribs. This would be a lot less invasive surgery than open heart surgery. He suggests the mechanical valve and coumadin for the rest of my life. With my age, this is the best option.
I already take Coumadin/ Warfarin so that is no change you just have to monitor it closely.


In the hospital, they put me on a Heparin IV drip because my blood was too thick they said a few weeks before surgery I will need to give myself shots in the stomach 2 x a day for a blood thinner. I am not at a therapeutic level at this time. My level is like 1.8 and for surgery, it needs to be between 3.5 and 4.5.


I really like this team of Drs and I love the less invasive surgery which would also mean less recoup time.

I am ready to get back to doing things I love like walking, photography, and playing with the dogs I feel like I have had to take a step back from everything I love. Our house in Livingston is about to be built and I want to be able to enjoy this time in my life.


Right now we are just chilling out about this and will make a decision sometime soon about when we think the best time might be.

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Potting bench in bloom

The crossvine on the top of the fence runs across the potting bench.

It looked so pretty that I had to grab a picture.

There is something about the junk hanging on the fence boards with the vine as an accent that I really like about this picture.

We call this architectural junk photography.

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Heart update

We thought we had the AFIB under control then I went to Bradycardia my heart rate was super low.

It ranged from 42 to 46 beats per minute. What this does it make you feel cold inside your body like you are standing in a freezer. There’s not much blood moving at all.

I saw the cardio on Friday but he had me quit the Amioderane before I saw him.

I started a new script Warfarin to prevent blood clots.

I will see a heart valve specialist at Baylor/ St Lukes’s/ Texas Heart Institute next week.

This will see if I am a candidate for valvoplasty this is to get the AFIB under control. Evidently, my mitral valve is very small it’s stenotic. This makes my atrium very large and this causes too much blood to pool it is like flooding out the atrium and flooding my lungs.

It seems that the AFIB will continue and get worse each time this happens.

I am grateful we are outside of Houston and have access to some of the best Drs in the world. My current cardiologist has always listened to me and my concerns he is a great Dr.

Over the next few weeks there will be a lot more testing on my heart they have to make sure this will do me some good.

I will update you when I have more information to share.

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Cici’s Pups x 5

These pups are registered miniature, long-haired dachshunds they are 3 1/2 weeks old.

This is Cici’s litter of 5 and that is a lot for a Dachshunds to take care of. There is a good shade variation in this group.

Shady Acres Leggett is on Facebook for more information on these beautiful puppies. I know there are deposits on a few of them but I have no idea which ones.

I love puppies they are so so sweet.

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Afib again

Monday night while watching TV, my throat closed up, and my heart started racing.

I found my Kardio Mobile my cardiologist had me buy and checked my heart rate.

It said AFIB I tried it 5 times and all 5 said AFIB. Off to the ER, we went. This thing is great for anyone that has heart rhythm issues.

I walked into the ER and told them I was in AFIB and they took me straight back this was a good thing because there was about 40 or 50 people in the ER.

My heart raced up to 178 beats a minute then down to 130 back and forth never going below 130. It took 3 IV injections of metoprolol and a digoxin pill to get it down to 120 as time went on slowly by 7 a.m. Tuesday it was in the 70s. I had about 12 hours of fast heart rate, and my whole chest felt bruised.

I developed fluid in my lungs from the afib but they kept me until Wednesday evening and finally I could go home.

They upped my metoprolol dosage and added amiodarone to the mix, so far so good. They said the fluid would go away from the fluid pills it was mild fluid in the lungs caused by being in AFIB. My current heart rate is 57 – 62.

It seems the mitral valve that is already damaged gets worse during AFIB, but when the heart rate returns to normal, the valve returns to its previous state.

I feel okay I have been a little more tired than usual but last time it took me about a week to get over the AFIB episode.

I am thankful I did not have to do cardioversion again and everything turned out okay.

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Crazy Hawks

We have so many hawks this year I guarantee you will see them several times a day.

This grown hawk the darker red one and the juvenile were together in a tree that fell down this week from the storm.

This was a favorite lookout tree on the fence line for the hawks I am glad it will be gone but this part of the tree is still upright the other half the tree was uprooted.

I do like taking pictures of the hawks they photograph pretty well and their colors just blend in with nature.

Capturing wildlife while posing in nature scouting the next meal.

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Plants

With our latest cold blast, I lost a lot of plants.

Some will come back and some will not.

What I noticed this time was Azaleas, Crepe Myrtle, Texas Sage, Louisiana Iris,

Paperwhites, Wild Privett Hedge, Fringe, and another hedge I can not remember the name of all survived.

Now the pink showers, purple showers, creeping daisies, succulents especially Aloe Vera and ferns look dead. Some will come back.

The Mexican heather froze but it always comes back so we will see who makes the great come back.

I did put some Aloe Vera indoors just in case.

I love plants so much I collect more than I can protect.

For Livingston, we are ONLY planting freeze-hardy plants because it is always 10 degrees colder there.

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Update on the Livingston House

This past weekend our son Joshua brought his skid steer to do some clearing and leveling on the hill.

When you have trees mulched it leaves behind 4 – 6 inches of wood so all that wood has to be scraped into piles.

The good thing is Jeanelle & David can use it at their place next door for the muddy areas on the trails because the kids are always driving the Polaris Ranger around.

He got the hill scraped and it looks good. This is a picture of him on the skid steer.

The concrete guy came out and gave a general bid. Our plans show an 11′ 9 x 40-foot front porch well we are also going to do a back porch the same size. The side entrance is by the kitchen and there will be a sidewalk joining both porches.

Even though we are on a hill with concrete you still buy dirt for us it looks like 6 – 8 loads of dirt to go down before the concrete. He will come out this week and shoot a grade and give the actual estimate for the job.

We could have a slab in a few more weeks. Woo Hoo!

I made the down payment on the building but told them by the time we get the culvert set, the temporary driveway built, and the slab and plumbing it will be the end of February before we can start the building.

It sure would be nice to think that we could have the house by the end of March this is my springtime dream.

We wanted a Barndominium that will be Zinc metal which is dark grey with a white roof and black trim and black trimmed windows.

Here are a few pics of the property on the hill we are thinking of naming it “Magnolia Hill” because there is a magnolia on the hill. That is it leaning on the right-hand side it is leaning because there were other trees supporting it at one time. We are hoping it will straighten back up again. If not we can brace it until it realizes it has more room.

There are a few clusters of magnolias on the property in the front and the back yard.

I want a black iron gate that is 20 feet wide with Magnolia Hill on the gate and maybe our address.

Progress is moving along and I will share pictures as time goes on.

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The Cane Corso Studs of Shady Acres Leggett

Here are the two studs of our daughter’s Cane Corso breeding business in Leggett Texas.

Whiskey is much larger than Mako he is about 165#s and he just bred his first female Hippo.

Mako is Jeanelle’s number 1 stud people request him for breeding I think he is about 115#s. He just bred Storm again.

These dogs are large dogs but very sweet and lovable. Shady Acres is located in Leggett, Texas.

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Happy New Year

We are driving to Livingston today to meet our oldest son Joshua.

We are hoping to get started on the weekend house in January.

Everyone please stay safe on the roads and remember to watch out for the other guy.

We will be back before the crazy starts. Livingston is 1 1/2 hours from us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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