Into the Wild

Look who has been released into the wild:

Michael was discharged from the hospital around 11:00 this morning and joined his mother and I back at Family House Shadyside.  He's alert and thrilled to be out of bed.  He's a little self-conscious about the bandage, but his nose continues to drip blood.  We learned it is indeed somewhat packed way on up there.  The "wire" taped to his cheek must be the way they will eventually remove the packing, not some remnants of the failed surgery which will give them a head start next time.

Speaking of "next time", we still don't know when that will be.  His next appointment with Dr. Gardner is Tuesday afternoon at 3:30.  I've communicated with Juliana, the woman who schedules his surgeries, to express our hopes that everyone can reconvene by the end of the week to finish what they started.  That was Dr. Gardner's "best case" scenario, but we have no idea if logistics will allow it.  (If not, I suppose we'll have to entertain returning home until it's rescheduled.)

For those who missed it, Michael was cleared by the cardiologists last night.  There is nothing wrong with his heart.  Enzymes were good, EKGs were normal and stress test worked out fine.  If anything, we've learned as a bonus that he's extremely healthy as far as that goes.  The irregularities during surgery must have been a spasm, perhaps caused by the anesthesia.  Michael says this incident has sworn him off smoking forever.  (If he's ever tempted, I've got some great pictures to remind him of his extra ordeal!)

So, we have three days in Pittsburgh to relax and recoup.  While not as bad as the hospital, it would still be easy to go stir crazy at Family House, so I hope he'll feel like getting out and doing something.  The weather is supposed to push 60 this weekend!  But, oh, how he misses Toby and Cosmo.  Don texted a picture of Toby Wednesday night, but he'll probably need to send more.

I may (or may not) post anything this weekend.  If so, the blog will shift into travelogue mode, unless there's any news about Michael.  Feel free to check back, but I think mostly we'll be enjoying a brief reprieve from the excitement of the week...