Home Safe and Sound

We are home. We arrived home around 5:15 today. We had no idea Rick would be in the hospital ALL. DAY. LONG., but he was.

He was such a trooper about letting me take pictures.

This is his "I am really sick" picture

We received very good news today from the cardiologist. All of his blood tests and his stress test came out clear. His heart is healthy and working just like it should. I told him I knew he had a good heart. The doctors just had to prove it medically. So, then, "What is wrong?" you may ask? They believe that he had spasms in his esophagus that mimic the symptoms and pain of a heart attack. It isn't really caused by the food you eat. It is mostly caused by stress. The only way to truly know if this is the problem is to do a test. If his symptoms continue, we will pursue it further. For now, he is home and we are all very thankful and feel very blessed.

This was my favorite picture from the day

Oh, how I wish I had a picture of him on the treadmill doing the stress test in these socks. It really would be priceless to me. For now, I have to settle for the above picture.

I have to share something I saw in my husband when he was in the hospital. I saw him be such an amazing patient. He purposefully interacted with every person that cared for him. He learned their stories and most of the time, he was blessed immensely by those interactions. God placed just the right people to care for him, many of them fellow believers who shared a connection with Rick as a pastor. He was very interested in who they were and cooperated completely even when they were causing him pain. It is not that I was surprised by this. It is just something that really impressed me about him and reminded me why I love his so much. I am so thankful for Rick. When a crisis like this hits, it cuts to the core of what is really important. It also causes the other frustrations in life to pale in comparison to the relationships that we hold so dear.

I have so many people to thank. I have so many messages that I wasn't able to return. Please know that each one of your messages, texts, and emails were so appreciated. I read every one even if I couldn't respond.

This Friday is our 16th wedding anniversary. We are looking forward to celebrating together. That celebration will be even sweeter than before because we faced this challenge together.