Back in the Hospital

Troy had a PICC line in his arm that they have been using to draw blood, give anesthesia, and give chemo treatments through. This has been great since they haven’t had to stick him with an IV because they could use the PICC line. Well, on Friday his arm that the PICC line was in got very swollen. About double the size of his other arm. I did not call anyone about this problem until Saturday when the home health care nurse told me to take him to the ER right away. They did an ultrasound and luckily found no blood clots and he has not been running a fever so they didn’t think it was an infection either. All of this was good news. The doctor decided that the PICC line was doing more harm than good so they removed it and today the swelling had gone down some, enough to let us come home. I am so glad to be back home and what a horrible weekend it was. I know he will end up in the hospital every now and then but it still stinks to have your child in the hospital. I absolutely hate it. We go back to the clinic tomorrow and Thursday is D day. He will have all his procedures and have his port put in. For those who don’t know what a port is here is the definition. A port-a-cath (IVAD-Implantable Venous Access Device)- A small reservoir connected to a flexible tube which is surgically placed under the skin leading to a major blood vessel. This may be used for drawing blood or giving blood products, fluids, or medicines. Once the port is in they will be able to access it to give him chemo. Yes, I feel like I am talking about Star Wars with all this access port lingo. Hopefully, the next phase will go by fast and we will have our old Troy Boy back, which is all Chris wants. I will update after we hear the results from Thursday. Thanks again to everyone.