Optimistic Bias

Last night, Charlie began to have a fever, and when I changed the dressing on his incision, there were signs of infection. So we ended up back in Urgent Care. He was seen almost immediately by a surgical fellow, and, unfortunately, when staples were removed, the incision proved to be infected. More staples were removed this morning, so the incision is open and packed along almost its entire length, and Charlie is again on IV antibiotics. His fever is back to normal.

After seeing the doctor, we spent another four hours in Urgent Care while waiting for a hospital room and then for "Patient Escort" to take him to it. During the last hour (1:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.), Charlie, David and I strangely became a little silly, and the two of them began accusing me of optimistic bias in my blog postings and suggesting how I might spin this latest development:

• "His temperature dropped to only 99 within two hours of the incision being cleaned."

• "He was pleased to see one of his favorite nurses, Marilou, when he arrived on the nineteenth floor."

• "Only the exclusive nineteenth floor had private rooms available, and Charlie has a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline and room decor by the Four Seasons hotel chain.

All of the above is true.

I don't want to make light of a bad situation. It is very disappointing to be back in the hospital. On the other hand, I have a feeling that everything is under control. The nurse is trying to have the wound care specialist team see Charlie later today. He looks well and was up walking the hallway before 7:00 a.m. this morning.