Mommio: Connor Update

I am home for some down time again while Daddio keeps Connor company at the hospital.  So, here's the update on his condition and what we've been doing.  The tests have started to come back on his infection and it is a staph infection for sure, they just don't know what kind or which antibiotic will treat it best yet.  So, the Infectious Disease doctors are still working on that in their lab.  In the meantime, Connor has been disconnected from a few things.  His drain was taken out of his knee.  The ice cooler wrap was taken off.  The knee immobilizer was taken off.  His IV line was removed and yesterday he went through a procedure to have a PICC line put in.  More about that in a minute. So, except when he is getting his medicines, he is free to walk around with his walker or wheel around the hospital.  Kyle took him outside for a while today and they were planning to eat downstairs in the cafeteria since Connor expressed he was feeling some "cabin fever". He is feeling great through, no pain- but the itching and rash that he usually gets after a surgery is bothering him again.  One of the highlights of his day yesterday was when a therapy dog- Bridget- came to visit.  She laid with him for almost an hour.

 He was also very happy about his turkey, mashed potato and root beer dinner last night!

 Yesterday he also had a PICC line put in.  This is basically a heavy duty IV system made for long term antibiotic use.  To put it in they used ultrasound, a magnet detector and a xray machine.  It was fascinating!  They put a skinny IV tube into the vein on the inside of his upper right arm, then they pushed that tube all the way through the vein to right above his heart.  It empties the medicine out directly into the superior vena cava- which is the main vein that carries blood back to the heart.  Here is a diagram of what a PICC line looks like.

Here it is in Connor's arm.

And here we are this morning when the PICC nurses came to change the bandages on the line.

Having this PICC line in will allow us to continue to give Connor all the IV medicines he will need over the next month or so to clear up this infection.  Daddio and I will both be trained on how to use it tomorrow, and then a nurse will also be coming to the house every week to clean the area and bring us supplies.  Hopefully the coming home part will happen in the next two days!