November 21, 2018

Hello again! I haven’t posted since we signed out for JP to recover from his illness, so let’s catch up!

We headed from Lebanon to Bandon in mid-September. JP was still a bit under the weather but anxious to get back on the water. He was happy to get in some bass fishing with Ben (which is his newest fish fascination) and looking forward to that being a yearly seasonal event all on its own.

Salmon fishing was not so good this year but there was good ocean fishing! JP went out with his buddies and they got ling cod, black bass, quillback, crab and halibut. That’s a lot of fish packin’! Even though JP only had a short window of time to fish this go round he did have some fun, some luck and a great time with his friends. Above is his new fishing buddy Randy Lackey who loves to fish as much as JP

We got incredibly Lucky.  JP started having the occasional little chest tightness and burning. It seemed to only be when he was pulling up a fish or carrying his gear to the boat. We had been writing off his occasional fatigue to having been ill in the not too distant past, but he decided to check it out. A doctor’s appointment led to a stress test, then onto a cardiologist, quick trip for a cardiac catheterization (which we hoped would solve the problem – but alas didn’t) then onto the the cardiac surgeon. Our friends Rick and Debbie offered us their place while they were away while we nervously waited for the surgery date. A couple worrisome weeks and JP was at Peace Health Sacred Heart having open heart surgery. As scary as it was –  it’s not lost on us how truly lucky we were.

The kids and JP’s brother came into town before the surgery and the kids were able to stay until JP was stable afterward. JP had excellent care in a kind and compassionate hospital and after 2 days in ICU and 4 days in the cardiac unit he was discharged. This is us goofing around a few days before surgery.

We are now 2 weeks out from surgery and settled into our friend’s Ann and Mike’s home in Bandon. JP’s boat is tucked into their garage and Lucky is safely parked in their driveway. They are away for the winter season and made their home – our home while we need it. Our other friends Robert (“the fish whisperer”) and Sue live across the street. They’ve had our back, shared their home-cooking and  Sue’s nursing skills and helped so much. We are amazingly lucky aren’t we?Our travel plans are on a indefinite hold until JP is back his to his old self and we decide what the future holds for us. Our plan right now is not to have a plan! We are just traveling through the “one day at a  time” zone for time being!