Wu Zhongkai, head of the cardiac surgery department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, listens to Michael Horvath's heart after surgery for critical infective endocarditis. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"The next thing I remembered was that several days after the surgery, when they woke me up, my breathing was very bad; they had to give me extra oxygen.

"My breathing is coming back. I can take a nice, full, deep breath right now. I could not walk after the surgery because I had been in bed for so long. Now I can walk far. My heart rate was very fast and it has come down. "

"I feel good now. Going back to normal. Still recovering. ...I want to thank them. They did a good job. I almost died. I'm very happy that they made the right decisions. ...The doctors here had a plan and the plan worked."

Horvath, who is to be discharged from the hospital Tuesday, now is looking forward to the birth of his baby, due to be born in about a month.