Whirlwind Week

This week is tuning into a whirlwind. Basketball and soccer seasons are overlapping as basketball is finishing up and soccer is starting up. Then at school, not only is it the end of the grading period, but my students are going to take the TAKS reading test on Tuesday. 8th graders in Texas have to pass the reading test to move on to high school, so making sure my students are prepared is something I take very seriously. All that to say I'm sorry I haven't posted and I'm sorry this one is going to be a short one. We are however doing very well as a family and I'll leave you with this note from Betty's husband: Ken McNuttBetty came home from rehab Friday. She had been gone for five weeks. Three weeks in the hospital and two weeks in rehab. About every ten minutes she tells me “it is good to be home” and I chime in and say “amen“.

She had been going to a heart specialist for over a year and just was not improving. In fact she was growing progressively worse. Just walking across the room was a trying experience for her.

Our children wanted her to get a second opinion and we made an appointment with a group of heart doctors in Fort Worth recommended by a good friend, Chris Xydas, that I have breakfast with every Saturday.
Chris is a life saver. They ran a serious of tests and we kept an appointment on a Friday afternoon to hear the results of the tests.

SUSPRISE - she was sent direct to Harris Hospital to prepare to have her main heart valve replaced the following week. The opening for the valve was like a pin head when it should have been as large as a dime.

She went into surgery where she had the valve replaced with a mechanical valve the following Wednesday. The surgery went well and for all intents and purposes her recovery went well except for her gallbladder acting up. They were able to bring the problem under control with the expectation, she will need microscopic surgery for that in a few weeks from now.

She has no memory of her stay in intensive care (as the doctor says - that probably is a good thing). Her memory is back to normal now.

We would like to thank all of our friends for your prayers, love, good thoughts, help and support over this period in our lives. Words cannot express how much we appreciate each of you. We will always remember.

As we go forward, our belief is that THE BEST IS YET TO COME IN OUR LIFE.

After Betty recovers, we plan to take a trip to Mount Rushmore, Niagara Falls, Putman Valley, New York to see our family there and come back through Tennessee see our granddaughter and her family.

We would like to close, again expressing our sincere thanks to all of you. Remember to love each other every single day as you never know what the day will bring.

Your friends forever.

Betty and Ken McNutt

P. S. We would like to share a story that makes Betty and I smile, about a little old lady that was sick and her preacher came to see her. During the visit she told the preacher that when it was time to go to heaven that she would like to be buried with a fork in her hand.

When the preacher asks why? She told him that when she attended a church function, where a meal was served, when they cleared the table that would whisper to keep your fork. This always had the meaning that: THE BEST IS YET TO COME.