Subdued Sunday ... and waiting for Monday ...

I want to start this post by, again, thanking you all for your messages of support and continued love, hugs and prayers, from all over the world. We are truly grateful to have so many people who care about us. Thank you.

Tomorrow, John has his angiongram, which will determine the extent of the damage and will dictate the next course of action. 1. He will remain on the meds only, 2. meds and a stent (these are the 2 preferred options and mean he will most likely be home Christmas Eve) or 3. meds and a bypass graft. This last option will mean a stay of another 7-10 days in hospital, over Christmas and New Year and a very long recovery. We don't want this last one. I've told Santa already.

Having spoken to medical staff over the last couple of days, we have pretty much ascertained that this has been caused (in a greater part) by stress. John has recently been laid off and, as such, every other little problem has become a huge deal. We have had a pretty stressful year, too, so I think a culmination of all things presented itself in this way. His cholesterol of 5.7 has been deemed too high and we will be fighting hard to get that to the recommended level of "below 4" ... we always thought we were pretty healthy eaters, but this, too, will be addressed and we will become salt and fat content connoisseurs from here on in !

I have mentioned on previous posts that I am a member (and moderator) on the world's largest photography forum, the Digital Wedding Forum ... my friend Matt Pereira posted on Thursday that I needed cover for Saturday and literally within a couple of hours, I had it all sorted. Yvonne Blume (see recent London post) monitored the responses and got all the details sorted, all within 6 hours !!

I need to again send my thanks to Jon Rouston who not only covered my wedding on Saturday but presented my couple with an impromptu evening reception slideshow of images from the day ! WOW ! They loved the photos and I am so grateful to Jon for jumping in at a moment's notice. I didn't have to worry about anything by my John all day. Thank you all.

And so, the wait is almost over, tomorrow we will know what's happening and we will face it, no matter what, with strength and determination.

On a final note, I tonight received an email from one of my 2008 brides, Maxine (I know she won't mind my sharing this excerpt) ...

Your news has particularly scared Nick because a few days ago he had a well-person medical at work. The nurse told him that his cholesterol level is too high (about 6.9 I think). It was high anyway and she said he had to get it down. It really frightened him but in a weird way, I was glad. I have tried to suggest to him in the past that he might lose a few pounds (as you know, he has a few to spare). I have also encourage him to choose the healthier option (eg rice over chips), I have puled him away from cakes in the supermarket. All to very little avail. He has never really bothered about what he ate - if he wanted it, he ate it. Now though, you wouldn't think it was the same person. He even reads the labels in supermarkets to compare fat content.

So, your news came as quite a shock to him and I imagine the photos have really hit home - that could be him in 10 years time! So, a BIG thank you for sharing the news and photos - it has been a further wake-up call for Nick.

If something good comes out of all this, that is wonderful ... perhaps a message to us all to look after ourselves, first and foremost and to remember that nothing, NOTHING is so important that it should cause us so much stress it impacts on our health.

Go hug someone you love right this minute ... and wish us luck.

With love

Gill and John x