We're Home!

After spending 6 days in the hospital, Jamie has been discharged! He's (not so) comfortably home now, and although he began to run a slight fever again, it seemed to respond quickly to Advil. So that's a good thing. We have to make an early visit to the Infusion Clinic tomorrow so that they can teach us how to administer his antibiotics via his PICC line and give us our supplies. Then, for the next 6 weeks, we will have to visit the Infusion Center weekly to get the dressing changed on his line and test his blood for possible complications that can occur when receiving 6 weeks worth of some of the strongest antibiotics on the market.

Some possible side effects and complications:

1. It is very possible that Jamie is going to smell like cat pee. One of the two antibiotics that he's getting smells like cat pee, and it apparently has a tendency to permeate through the pores. Awesome.

2. It is also possible that Jamie's muscles will begin to get sore and deteriorate. The weekly blood tests will test for this, and if it happens, he'll have to switch to a different antibiotic.

3. Antibiotics can kill not only the bad bacteria, but the good ones that live in the intestines as well. So it is possible that Jamie can get what is called a super infection, in which all of the good bacteria living in the intestines die off, leaving it open for the bad bacteria to overtake his intestinal tract. This will cause serious cramping and extremely runny diarrhea. Rock on.

4. If he actually withstands the first three potential complications, we also need to be careful of the fact that we may not kill all of the bacteria after 6 weeks. We'll only know if the antibiotics worked if after 8 - 10 weeks, he doesn't spike another fever.

I really don't wish this on anyone. But we'll get through it. We always do!