25 April 2003:  Glad to be Home
Ethan was discharged yesterday from the hospital.  We're not out of the woods yet, but he was doing well enough that his doctors were comfortable sending him home on antibiotics.  We continued to culture his line all week to see if there are any remnants of the pseudomonas bacteria.   We will culture it again in the Doctors office Monday, and perhaps the following Monday in the hospital when we start Cycle #10 (can it possibly be so soon?!?!).  If any of the cultures grow, we'll have to remove Ethan's central line and place a new one once his body has recovered.  Ethan's doctors and nurses have all told me that I should prepare for him to lose it, but I've learned that Ethan is capable of remarkable things, so am not giving up hope. 
 
The later half of Ethan's hospital stay improved quite a bit.  The good folks at the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation put out word that Ethan was seriously ill and he was showered with cards and tokens of affection from folks around the country ~ many of whom he's never met.  It's been a while since he's received cards or packages in the hospital and it was really fun for him.  He also received a "Happy Hat" on Tuesday and was featured on the front page of Wednesday's Northern Virginia Journal (while sitting on his very own hospital fire truck ~ or so he thinks...). 
 
He was very pleased to be sent home and of course had to stop in to get a 'fix' from his Radiation Ladies.  No visit to the hospital is complete without one!  He was in great spirits and sang the whole way home, only pausing to ask me if we could get the Unkle Kracker CD ~ proving once again that he's way hipper then I ever was.  He can even sing all of the words to "In a Little While".
 
Those of you who have been following Ethan from the beginning know that next weekend is a big weekend for us.  Last May 3rd, Ethan became ill and was diagnosed the following morning, May 4th.  I'm not sure yet what we plan to do, but I'm inclined to celebrate.  I think every year that we put between us and his initial diagnosis is a victory in itself.  And yes, I'm sure Ethan will see to it that there is cake involved...

Warm Regards,

Kim.

Previous       Next


Copyright © 2002 by Team-Ethan.org  All rights reserved.
Revised: 06 Mar 2006 16:45:48 -0500.