The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

My sister the health care ninja

Some good news: While I've had some tentative discharge dates thrown around over the last 2 weeks, it's looking real likely that I'll be out of here by the end of the week. My strength continues to improve; I can do several laps of the unit at a time and I'm doing it 3-4 times a day. My fluid load is way down, though I have a little ways to go yet. I've got no chest tubes and no IVs and can stand without help. My sister Jaimie is here and Melinda is going to be back up this weekend.

Some not so good news: I still get quite short of breath very quickly, and it was determined this morning that my diaphragm is partially paralyzed. Essentially, the left half of my diaphragm doesn't move when I breath. It's likely that a major nerve was damaged during the surgery. It's possible for it to heal, but there's no guarantee, and it's not going to improve for at least 12-18 months. The pain from having my sternum busted open is pretty bad, and with much of the remaining fluid settling in my lungs, the nasty cough doesn't help.

Some...other news: My surgical sites had been healing nicely until a few days ago, at which point they started oozing at different points. Nothing dangerous, but real disturbing to wake up covered with blood, and then having the dressings soak through every couple of hours. Anyway, that seems to have resolved.