May 26th

Suzanne sent me the blog she posted last night. It was the first blog I had been able to read so far, and I can't express how appreciative I was of her blog. But, so much moreso, I need to express to everyone my deep appreciation to my dear wife these past few weeks - for her constant, unwavering love and support, her tireless efforts to keep me and everyone else updated on this covid/pneumonia ordeal, to keep home and family matters current, and to manage 101 other issues that need to be addressed - all without complaint or any sign of distress. I want you all to know deeply I love and appreciate my dear wife, Suzanne. I also want to reconfirm again my deep appreciation to all of you for your love, prayers, faith, and thoughts. There has not been many times the past few weeks when my mobile wasn't receiving some kind of message from one of you - encouraging, coaching, pushing, praying, loving, and most of all believing that I could turn the corner and make it home. I have only gratitude for all of you, and for my Father in Heaven, for so many blessings that have been given me because of your prayers for me. Thank you. There's actually not much to add to Suzanne's blog - she has described the past week pretty well. I guess I will add just a couple of thoughts: - I have been walking every day since I got home; usually I walk for 2 30-minute sets, with the focus of just getting circulation out to my body that has been stagnant and atrophying for far too long; my first day home last week, I walk the two 30-minute sets with a decent amount of oxygen assist in my nose; and if you saw a video of me walking, you would think you are looking at a 90-year old guy who is trying to pace around his house with the slowest shuffle-step you ever saw! ;) Yes, I did about 1-mile an hour probably that first day, but I got the needed circulation in my lungs and body, and it actually felt so great - Since day 1, I have proceeded to walk the same 2 sets, but with decreased oxygen assist each day; and by weekend, I was walking these 2 sets without oxygen assist - that was a key goal for me - to start getting my body to help rely on my lungs for oxygen, vs. a pump - Since then, I have been particularly focused on breathing techniques to help build my lungs back up slowly; I have tried to do these walking sets breathing all in through my nose, and then out through my mouth, and then ultimately in through/out through my nose; my sinuses seem particularly damaged and hurt, and I am trying to get them open in a gradual way that supports normal breathing while walking around - The above has seemed to work pretty well; my legs - even though they are weak with a lot of muscle loss - are feeling stronger every day; my lungs have started to open up partially and are allowing me deeper breaths when walking (not nearly where I want to be, but better), and my sinuses are slowly showing signs of healing and hopefully opening up at some point soon - I take all of the above as an amazing tender mercy from my Father in Heaven, and just feel so much gratitude to be alive, and to see improvements every day (whether small or not-so-small); I also realize how much I have taken for granted my whole life, like such as tiny thing as a shower; normally it's an easy thing to do, and it feels great; for me the past week, the shower has been one of my big ordeals...I guess for someone like me who is now recuperating from covid/pneumonia, a shower feels like equivalent of a 2-hour workout in terms of the energy I need to expend just to get it done and deal with the steam, breathing, scrubbing, rinsing, and drying off! But, so far so good, and I am actually starting to enjoy it again...and with that, onto any next challenges I might have to deal with in the recuperation process! At any rate, I will stop here. Thanks again to all of you for your friendship and love. It means more than you will ever know. Love, Eric