My Hero - Challenge YOUrself Blog's Challenge #104 -Tough Times

Hello Scrappy Friends! It's time for the next challenge from the Challenge YOUrself Blog!  

Challenge #104 asks you to document a Tough Time in your life, and to be sure to include YOU in a photo on your layout.

I am documenting a very tough time in our life.  My husband Phil had a Widow Maker heart attack on August 13, 2021.  It is a true MIRACLE that he is still with us, and we are blessed that he has a great team of Doctors caring for him. His heart was severely damaged and he was put on the heart transplant list as a "6."  A person with a 1-4 status is someone who is in urgent need of a new heart.

At the end of November, Phil's condition had seemed to worsen, so his Doctors had him go back into New York Presbyterian hospital for a right heart catheterization on December 1st, 2021.  They had anticipated that he would be bumped up on the list to at least a 4, and told us it was very possible that he would need to remain in the hospital and await a new heart.

We still put up our Christmas Tree at home before on Thanksgiving weekend. The BIGGEST one we have every had, and prayed that God would get him and our family through this very scary time.

The GOOD NEWS was that his heart function was not as bad as the Doctors had thought!!  They were also able to clearly see an old blockage on the right side of his heart, ( he had a silent heart attack years ago they said, and we never knew about it!) and come up with a plan to have one of the best Doctors in the world go in and try to clear that blockage. *That 4.5 hour SUCCESSFUL procedure took place on December 27th, 2021!

So here is my Design Team Inspiration layout with a photo of the 2 of us in his Cardiac Intensive Care Hospital room at NYP during his early December 2021 stay. 

49 and Market's Spectrum Sherbet Tidal Pool Collection was the PERFECT choice for making a layout with this photo. 

This man is my HERO , My HEART, My ALWAYS and FOREVER- he is certainly very BRAVE and STRONG, and UNSTOPPABLE, LIKE NO OTHER! These days, with the help of medication, diet, exercise, (and me hovering over his every move! poor guy!) he is back to cutting the grass, tending the plants and flowers around the yard, even doing laundry!!  He had a pacemaker/defibrillator "installed" in  April and has even been moved to a "7" on the heart transplant list - which is an "on hold" status!!!  He is certainly my Miracle Man for sure!!

We have a follow up appointment in Mid-August and are praying that his heart function has improved, and for continued good news! Please keep Phil in your prayers - we truly believe that the Power of Prayer got him where he is today!

Here are some close ups for you:

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my story.  It is fun to document the FUN times, and can be tough to document the TOUGH times - but they are BOTH part of our lives, and saving those tough ones, is just as is important, so that we don't forget how strong we can be, when we have to be!

Stop by the Challenge YOUrself Blog for all the Challenge, Entry and Prize info and I hope you play along with us this month!

Sending LOVE and ((HUGS)) to you and your family!

Take care, be well and stay safe,

~Sherri