I am Free!

I saw the cardiothoracic surgeon this afternoon. We waited an hour to see him and then got to spend almost 5 entire minutes in his presence. I think that is par for the course. But, I don't mind because in that 5 minutes he released my driving restriction, increased my lifting limit to 20 lbs, and eliminated all the other restrictions "as my body tolerates." I am officially a free man. I tried to get Erin to agree to celebrate with a stop at Quiktrip for hot dogs and nachos, but apparently she wasn't in the celebrating mood. My request was denied. I think she is sad that I am leaving the nest and venturing out on my own.  :-)

The surgeon said it will take another 3-6 months for my nerves to repair, so I'll have numb areas in my chest and left leg until then. He also reiterated that it will take about 2-3 months longer before I am 100%. Cardiac rehab starts in 2 weeks, and that will help move things along. Oh, and I got the protective tape removed from my chest incision. I've got a 7 1/2" incision scar in the middle of my chest, my second longest incision. I have a total of 10 surgical scars now.  Erin took a photo of my new chest scar. It's my thinnest scar... nice work Dr. Khicha!

I was out and about from 8:00 to 3:30 today. I didn't do anything big, but it's the longest I've been up without a rest since before the heart attack. Erin tells me I fell asleep when we got home, but I don't recall falling asleep so she is obviously mistaken.

Okay... maybe I slept for a few minutes. I am getting stronger, though. I expect I'll be back at work full time next week. We'll see how the rest of this week goes before a decision is made, but as of now I think it is a good possibility.