As the rehab move paperwork and insurance stuff gets done behind the scenes, Michael spent another day walking around the unit and resting in between. The doctors are using the extra time to stay on top of his infection so they tried a new type of drain in his incision today to see if it helps. Like the other drains he has, this one can also be managed while he’s in rehab so it won’t interfere with his move over there when they’re ready for him. 

Michael is beginning to really look forward to rehab. He says he will appreciate the opportunity to regain strength in an environment that allows him to push himself safely under the watchful eyes of experts. ❤️

Michael is still waiting for the logistics to be finalized that will allow him to move to rehab but we’ve been told we should have more information on that tomorrow. In the meantime, Michael is still in a holding pattern in ICU. It was a quiet day, which gave him a chance to catch up on a little more sleep. ❤️

We had two pieces of good news today. First, one of Michael’s three drains was removed today because the fluid it was collecting from one of the three places in his abdomen is now under control. The fact that his body is manufacturing less fluid means he’s one step closer to getting rid of the infection entirely, however it is definitely under control — which brings me to the other good news. 

Sometime in the next couple of days, Michael is moving to the rehabilitation facility next door to the main hospital. It has on-site nurses to monitor everyone but the move signals that he is well enough to no longer be considered a medical patient. His surgical team will still come by daily to see him and check his drains but he is doing so well that he no longer needs 24/7 medical monitoring in a hospital environment.

It seems a surprising thing to say considering he’s still in ICU but, as I’ve mentioned, that was less about medical necessity and more about minimizing his chances of picking up any germs that would interfere with clearing up his existing infection. After several days of strong vitals and great lab work, his doctors believe he no longer needs such an extreme level of protection. 

During Michael’s month of hospitalization and varying degrees of medical concerns, he lost a lot of muscle mass and is not as physically strong as he was when he arrived. Although he’s able to walk and such, he definitely needs to be more steady on his feet before coming home so rehab is the right move. 

They will work with him several hours a day to help him regain his strength and be sure he is able to care for himself with minimal assistance, which greatly reduces the chance of any backsliding when he returns home. It’s possible his rehab stay could be as long as two weeks, but we won’t really know until he gets there and spends a couple of days being assessed by the staff experts. After that, we’ll have a clearer picture of what his rehab timeline will be. 

We are both very excited at this latest turn of events. As the doctors mentioned today, Michael is right at the goal line with this part of his recovery and rehab is the final piece of his Miami journey. He will still need plenty of time to get back to fighting fit when he gets home, but by then the hardest part of all of this will be well behind him. ❤️

Michael’s fluid drainage procedure went well today. They put two drains in place but that was something they said might happen so it wasn’t a surprise. They also collected a bunch of fluid they now know was contributing to the infection so we are definitely heading in the right direction in that regard. 

Not much else went on today, but after a wild ride for the last several days we are definitely not complaining about a day of low excitement. 

Michael had another CT scan today to take a look around the incision site and they discovered a couple of pockets of fluid hiding around his innards. They’ve been wondering about that possibility for a few days but needed to wait to do the CT until his kidneys were in good enough shape to not be bothered by the contrast dye they gave him for the test. 

Tomorrow he will have the fluid removed using the same technique they used to drain a different pocket of fluid a week or so ago. The assumption is that the infection they’ve been battling for the last couple of weeks originated there and this strategy should help clear it up once and for all. 

I’m also happy to report Michael’s fluid retention has decreased substantially, which was another thing that’s had the doctors concerned. So that’s another check mark in the good news column. Other than that, there not much else going on. Michael has been resting and walking when he feels up to it. 

Michael remains in ICU to minimize the potential for exposure to germs as the doctors work to clear the infection he has. The fluid retention seems to be decreasing but, like getting the infection resolved, it’s a bit of a slow process. Michael spent the day resting and then walking as his energy levels permitted. Tomorrow will probably be more of the same. Not very exciting, but I think we’ve both had enough excitement to last us a while. 

Although Michael’s surgery was June 17th, we left for Miami on June 14th for all his pre-op appointments. That means tomorrow marks one month that we’ve been away from home, something we never expected in a million years. The doctors still aren’t talking about discharge dates so we have no idea how much longer we have to go. We both know that extra time away is a small price to pay for his miraculously successful surgery, but please keep a good thought that we can wrap this up soon and get back home. 

Michael’s doctors came by and said he’s making really good progress. They reiterated that his challenge now is to walk as much as he can tolerate to reduce the swelling in his feet and legs. He has about 20 pounds of fluid to get rid of so it won’t happen overnight but he gets stronger every day and is able to walk longer distances each time, so he’s definitely on the right track. 

Since Michael is doing well otherwise and pretty much all the focus now is on getting rid of the fluid retention, twice daily posts here seem like they would be overly repetitive. It seems to make the most sense to pare down to a once-daily update toward the end of the day so I can let everyone know how things are going but not bore you with repetitive updates that’s simply say, “he walked, he walked again, he walked some more.” Of course if anything unusual or unexpected comes up in between once-daily updates, I will certainly let everyone know. 

The unexpected detour back to ICU was rough for both of us so I appreciate how patient everyone has been with the shorter and less frequent updates over the last few days. Michael is doing so well now and he told me yesterday that he believes he “has turned a corner and will be home soon.” I’m so glad he has a positive attitude and we all know how determined Michael is when he works toward a goal he believes in. ❤️ 

Michael is still in ICU to lessen the risk of exposure to infectious illnesses but is doing well enough that he could otherwise be in a regular hospital room. We are grateful he’s able to stay in ICU for that reason so no complaints here. Now we wait for the infection to finish clearing up and his fluid retention to decrease. Everything else with him (labs, vitals, physical activity level, etc) is at acceptable levels and his doctors have no concerns with those things. Every day is one step closer to going home. ❤️

Michael is still in ICU and is expected to be here for a couple more days but he is doing very well. In fact, many doctors on the team were recommending he be moved back to a regular unit today. However, the lead surgeon prefers he stay in ICU for the higher level of care due to the lower nurse/patient ratio and also because it keeps him away from units that are caring for Covid or other patients with infectious illnesses. We both fully support this plan. 

Michael’s infection does not appear to have gotten any worse and some further tests results came back overnight that are helping them zero in on the best way to treat it. Michael continues to have fluid retention issues so they’re still working on solving that problem but he’s able to do laps around the unit again and that will almost certainly help. ❤️

Michael is still in ICU but doing much better. His mental acuity has returned to normal and he’s up in a chair eating a small meal. His doctors came by this morning to check on him and say his bloodwork is back under control but the ongoing infection/fluid retention situation continues to perplex them. They believe the detour into ICU was brought on by the infection and not an indication of a new problem trying to take hold. I don’t have any other concrete information to share right now but wanted to let you know Michael is okay and being looked after very well. ❤️

A side note: ICU policy requires families to leave the unit at 8:00 pm but I want to make sure I’m available if they need to reach me so I have to turn off all phone settings that silence incoming calls and texts. I still do not wish to be contacted at all for the time being but please do not reach out to me after 8:00 pm for any reason because every phone call and text startles me into thinking it’s the hospital calling with an emergency. Thank you.