Hi There! Well, I am finally able to get back on the computer although I don't spend more than an hour or two right now. I know my friend, Liz, has kept some of you up-to-date on my progress these past 4 months but here's the story on what's been going on with me. On May 11th Liz and I drove from Jackson, MS to home where I collapsed in the bed as I was some tired! The next day I was down in my back but could still move around. The day after that I was taken to the emergency room as I could not move and was in a great deal of pain. I spent the next 8 days in the hospital and was sent home to try to get in good enough shape so I could have an MRI done to see what was wrong. Along the way I developed small red welts/lesions on both my legs from the knees down. Well, 3 wks. later I did get the MRI and found that I had something that looked like a "growth" on my spine. However, the neurosurgeon was more concerned about the welts than my back by that time so he sent me to an Infectious Disease Specialist. Dr. R. S. Lemos of Bryan, TX is from Brazil and I found out later that he was a "child prodigy, and lucky for me that he was! I had to check into the hospital to have an IV inserted into my arm for 6 weeks as Warner was to administer antibiotics twice a day for the next 6 weeks. While in the hosp. Dr. Lemos asked a local cardiologist to check me out as I had told him I had a malfunctioning heart valve and he had already suspected that the infection might have attacked my heart and spine since those were the weakest areas in my body. Well, you guessed it, he was right! It had attacked that valve and was working on another---the Drs. called it a "vegetation"----not sure if it was moss or what. We tried antibiotics at first in hopes that would solve the problem but I finally had to have open heart surgery on July 24th, repairing one valve and replacing the destroyed one with a valve called the "porcine Hancock" valve. Some fellow named Hancock had developed the valve! The surgeon said that if I had not had the surgery at that time you would now be hearing from me wherever my ancestors are---and I wasn't real sure where I might wake up! After a couple of setbacks with the antibiotics, I finally finished that therapy on Aug. 30th and am now on my way to making a full recovery. When they did the heart cath they found that I have no heart blockage of any kind---which I think is pretty much a miracle in itself in today's world of fatty foods. It seems my heart is now the strongest part of my body so I guess as long as I don't drift into an oncoming lane on the Interstate I'll be around for a while! Dr. Lemos said that the infection which manifested itself in my legs was most likely the cause of my previous back problems as well----so keep your fingers crossed that as I heal and build back up my stamina he is right. So many of you sent me Prayers, cards, and letters and I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed receiving each one. A side effect of the surgery is that the little finger and ring finger on both hands are numb (which will eventually go away) and I have trouble writing so I will be slow in thanking you---but please know that I do thank you so much. I am slowly getting back into genealogy stuff but right now I am trying to read some of the email I was able to save before I accidentally deleted them! I have no idea what I did, but it's all gone now so if you sent me something in the last 4 months (other than forwarded stuff), send it again if you are of a mind to. I do ask that you hold off forwarding email to me as I'm trying to save my stamina as much as possible and I do still have some 500 emails to go through! I'm going to close now but it sure feels good to be here and to be online again! Jean Hancock in TX