Day 233 - We're Up!

     The family has had a pretty busy day.  The morning started with a visit to Radiology for an x-ray of Evan's chest.  The purpose of this was to verify that his PICC line hadn't shifted out of place and was still effective for delivering medications and blood draws.  The medical team confirmed that it looked good.  We also met with the team this morning about the results from the ultrasound of Evan's arm last night.  The technician did not report any clots which was music to our ears.  All of this testing came about because of the discoloration and swelling around the PICC site.  The general thinking is that it could be a rash or allergic reaction to the CHG cover dressing.  We'll continue to keep a close eye on it.

He was very happy to have the drainage line gone.

     Around lunchtime someone from Ortho came down to pull the drainage line from Evan's leg.  The process was really quick and almost entirely painless.  Shortly after the Dr. left there was a fair amount of blood on Evan's dressing.  We were told this was normal and after applying some pressure the bleeding stopped.  As a precaution the nurse checked Evan's BP, but it was perfectly fine.  The nurses came in after lunch and re-dressed his leg.  The swelling looked minimal with some slight bruising.

Only some bruising and small scabs left.

Slightly closer view of his surgical site.

     With Evan's drainage line gone he felt very eager to start walking.  This worked out well since PT was scheduled to work with him today.  Gina and Cristy escorted the therapist and Evan to the gym to get started on his rehab.  I couldn't have been more proud.  This evening he also wanted to go walk around the cancer ward, naturally Cristy and I were happy to oblige.  For once I was the voice of reason asking him to slow down and give his muscles time to catch up.  He's been off of his right leg so long I want to make sure we're taking baby steps.

Gina and Evan scooting around the hospital.

     ID informed us today that we still don't have any cultures.  Not a shocking revelation by any means.  I asked where does that leave us?  They want to have a conversation with Evan's primary orthopedic doctor to try and map out an infection prevention strategy that is effective against bone ailments.  No one can commit to a discharge date, but I still feel strongly that they'll release us Monday afternoon.  The only thing that might prevent that is if they have trouble acquiring IV based antibiotics for home use.

He's looking forward to playing some soccer at home again.

     When Oncology comes by tomorrow I'm going to see what their comfort level is with moving forward with Interim Maintenance this coming week.  Evan continues to be in good spirits and is back to squirting the nurses (or anyone that enters our room) with water filled syringes.  So far everyone has willingly played along.  Let me close out this blog before he shoots me and the laptop with water.

Getting in some last minute laps before bedtime.