Monday, December 22, 2008

Today's plan

After much discussion and waiting, we have a new plan for Steve.

It couldn't come any sooner, as Steve has been "NPO" since midnight -- he couldn't eat or drink anything except his necessary medication. With the new plan, he's been given permission to eat and drink.

In about an hour, a doctor will come to the room to remove the port from the right side of his chest. From what we understand, a procedure room isn't available. Everyone keeps reassuring me that the environment will be sterile.

Later today, another team will whisk him away for a PICC line insertion. PICC stands for peripherally inserted central catheter. It will be placed in his arm and provide access for IV drugs for now.

Dr. M was not comfortable with the hematology plan to insert a new port today, for fear of re-infection. We haven't actually seen her yet today but have corresponded via e-mail. She'll stop by sometime this afternoon so we can discuss the PICC line and future port placement.

There is a chance that if everything goes smoothly, he'll get to go home today. We're both thinking tomorrow is more likely but would love to be surprised!

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