Ethan was discharged today after a record-short hospital stay. We were admitted Wednesday night but were unable to remove the line because he had eaten that day and has to be NPO for the surgery. We were on the dreaded add-on list Thursday, which is like flying standby - waiting for all of the stars to properly align so that both a pediatric surgeon and an OR are available at the same time. It wouldn't be so bad, except that 4-year-olds who can't eat or drink all day can get profoundly grumpy.
Around 1:00 we got word that they were ready to come for him and Chaya and I nearly blasted out of our chairs, we were so happy! I suppose our moods must have been contagious because Ethan was delighted to put on his surgical pajamas and climb up onto the stretcher. As they pushed him off the unit, he was waving to all of the nurses saying "Bye! I'm going to the operating room now!." Once in the pre-op area, he remained delightful and never tired of playing I-spy. Then for his favorite part.... They wheeled him into the OR and his head suddenly whipped around and he said "MOM!!! THEY'RE PLAYING UNCKLE KRACKER!!!!" Sure enough... it was being piped into the OR. I'm not sure if this made me feel better or worse, but Ethan was thrilled. The nurses were hysterical.
Ethan told the Anesthesiologist that he was ready for his Propofol and when he started to feel sleepy he said, "Okay, Mom. I'm going to sleep now. I'll see you when I wake up. Bye!" Then he added "I love you all the way to Crystal City and back". The OR staff thought he was loopy from the Propofol, but this is actually a hold-over from when I worked there and must have complained a few times about how far away it was...
They removed his central line and placed a PICC line in his left arm so that we could continue to treat this infection with IV antibiotics. Regarding the infection, the lab was mistaking Wednesday when they thought it was Graham negative. His doctor's reacted so quickly because they feared that the Pseudomonas was back. Later Thursday, the lab reported that it was actually Graham positive, which is easier to treat. This particular infection is called Corynebacterium, and is a run-of-the-mill skin bacteria. Although he's no longer neutropenic, just having a central line (or a PICC for that matter) is an open gateway to infection, so apparently its not unusual for these things to happen.
He's doing extremely well and has 9 more days of a vancomycin regimen. Then a day or two later we'll remove the PICC line and should be nearly back to our original schedule of having everything gone by July 8th. The PICC line is now almost the last visible reminder of our little journey... well, that and the little bald head of course. Ethan's hair has started to grow back some, but he's adamant that he wants to shave it all off because he likes being bald. Go figure.
I'll let everyone know how we do with the PICC line and when we finally have it removed.
Warmest Regards, Kim.