After a week-long stay, former Mayor Ed Koch left the hospital Saturday at noon.
Spokesman George Arzt said that Koch originally expected to remain over the weekend at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia hospital. But doctors changed their minds and decided to let him out Saturday instead.
He was admitted last Saturday night with fluid in his lungs and swollen ankles. Doctors have told the 88-year-old ex-mayor to limit his salt intake. He lost 16 pounds of water weight in the hospital.
Sitting in a wheelchair and breathing with the aid of an oxygen tube in his nose, a somewhat frail looking Koch held a short press conference, accompanied by his physician, Dr. Joseph Tenenbaum.
Koch complimented the hospital and said he would be continuing treatment at home.
Dr. Tenenbaum said Koch was doing "better than when he came in, but we still have a ways to go to restore energy level to that which we all know he can do."
Koch was also hospitalized in December with a respiratory infection and in September with anemia.
