Well, the tides of health have shifted, and again for Michelle. She went to the hospital for a check-up and they discovered that the fluid around her heart was greater than it had been. The doctors had ner admitted immediately, although we found out later it was for their own peace of mind. They were going to perform a pericardiectomy (that is, they were going to cut a hole it the pericardium – the sack surrounding the heart) in order to drain off the fluid. Traditionally, this procedure required the surgeon to crack open the rib cage and go at it from the inside. I’m not so sure as Michelle would have handled that… but it is no matter. The doctors chose to to it Laparoscopically. This means that rather than crack her open, they insert a small camera and the instruments through holes in her abdomen. The procedure was successful – nearly 200ccs of fluid were extracted and they cut a 3-inch hole in the pericardium. This should prevent any future fluid buid-up.

Michelle is recovering well. She’s still grumpy, but there were no complications during or after surgery as yet. She was even allowed to go home on thursday.

I’d classify this as good news myself.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *