A month has gone by since my medical emergency, so I wanted to provide an update to the many people who are wondering how I've been doing.

 

As you can imagine, most of my time since being reunited with Xander has been taking care of him and spending quality family time together with Brandon, Xander, and Tiger.  Xander is doing extremely well. He's getting bigger (and a little bit harder to hold) every day. Luckily, Xander is a very content baby. He fusses and cries when he needs something but otherwise enjoys napping and examining his surroundings quietly with his big blue eyes.

 

Personally, I have spent the last month mostly resting and gaining strength. Each day I am able to move more easily. I spent about a week sleeping in the medical chair that my family rented then was able to transition to sleeping in bed. We returned the chair this week. More recently, Xander and I have started joining Brandon on bi-daily walks with Tiger. This was a regular pastime for us before giving birth. I don't walk as far as I used to, but I'm slowly building up my stamina. Brandon plans to help me find light aerobic workout videos, potentially starting with chair workouts.

 

I've also had several follow-up appointments with multiple specialists. At my trauma follow-up appointment just before Christmas, the staples from the obstruction surgery were removed and replaced with steri-strips. These have since fallen off and my abdomen is healing well. The area is still numb and tender to the touch so I have to be careful, especially when holding Xander. He likes to kick! Overall, I am leaps and bounds ahead in my ability to move than I was after leaving the hospital.

 

I have no lasting symptoms of COVID and will not need another infectious disease follow-up since seeing the infectious disease doctor in early January.

 

My pulmonologist ordered a chest x-ray to assess my lung function. As of early January, most of the effusion (gunk) is gone but there is still some fluid at the bottom of both of my lungs. This is not unexpected due to everything that I went through in December. I will have another chest x-ray in a few weeks to make sure the fluid has absorbed.

 

At my cardiology follow-up, I had an EKG which was normal. I have been prescribed heart medication for at least the next year as the doctors monitor my heart function and structure over time. I have not had an echocardiogram since being in the hospital. My doctor plans to perform another one in the next month or so in order to give the medication and my heart time to heal before assessing. Otherwise, I am supposed to refrain from heavy lifting and am allowed to do light aerobic workouts.

 

I also had a follow-up OBGYN appointment. My doctor said everything is looking good here!

 

Going forward, I have more appointments scheduled with my primary care physician, pulmonologist, and cardiologist in the coming weeks/months.

 

Lastly, I want to express my appreciation once more for everyone who donated and/or offered words of encouragement or prayers for me.

 

With love,

Maria