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Hi Everyone -
Rick was released from UMC yesterday afternoon and was happy to take a shower and get back into his own clothes. He is breathing much easier, although not well enough to do much physical activity. He will continue to take the lasix, antibiotic, and a bunch of other drugs over the weekend and we hope the fluid in his chest (both sides) will continue to drain off. We see Jon Daniel again on Monday morning and he will decide if he needs to surgically draw off more fluid from both sides of his chest (lung on right side, not pleura and I guess the cavity where the lung was on the left). If he decides that is necessary, it will probably be scheduled for next Thursday. It's interesting that Rick's hands and feet have never been swollen. All the fluid is in his abdomen and the most likely explanation is that his heart has moved significantly and can't pump off the fluid as efficiently as it used to. (Just for the record, there was a significant decrease in his heart's ejection fraction. Tricia clarified the right word for me.) I bumped into Rick's oncologist, Linda Garland, yesterday and she said that once he feels better and is more active, his heart will probably improve. We cherish every positive comment doctors offer!