Amazing Day

Today was Tanner's PICC-line change appointment. Tanner and I headed to the city at 6am to fight the morning commute and try to arrive at UCSF by 9am. Surprisingly, traffic was relatively light UNTIL we hit the Bay Bridge. Then it was stop and go at the toll plaza AND the metering lights. Tanner slept right through until then...which was great because he was NPO (no food or liquid) since midnight. He loves to count the boats...and this morning he saw an airplane! FUN! Now, flashback to last night while we were decorating the tree...my cell phone rings and it's an unknown number. I let it go to voicemail with the intentions of listening later. Well, Mackenzie had basketball practice and when we got home, it was bed, books, and bedtime...and honestly I just forgot to check my messages. So while sitting at the Bay Bridge this morning, I rang into my voicemail and listened to Tanner's nurse practitioner tell me that the procedure was a "98% go" for today...and she'd call me later in the morning! AHHHH! I had already left! FORTUNATELY, she called back 10 minutes later and assured me the line change was a go. Sure will teach me to listen to my voicemail messages PRONTO! Tanner was a bit apprehensive about having to go into the hospital (instead of the clinic across the street) but he did really well. Familiar faces kept asking us with worried looks "why are you here?" and I had to reassure them it was just a line change and we were back out in a few hours (hopefully!). Everyone commented on how good Tanner looked...some even thought his cheeks looked more full! So the nurse is getting Tanner hooked up to the monitors and Julie (NP) is getting supplies for the new PICC line when Petros the surgeon came in with a HUGE GRIN on his face and announced, "Dr. Azakai and I were just talking, and we are going to pull the PICC line and have Tanner take PO (oral) antibiotics for the remaining two weeks." My mouth dropped open, and I just grinned back. I couldn't believe it. I was speechless. Our conservative surgeon was giving us some slack! So I told him as he was leaving, "You just gave us the best Xmas gift EVER!" It was so amazing how the fabulous news traveled around the ICU unit too. Nurses and doctors kept coming in with HUGE smiles and congratulating us. You could just feel the excitement in the air. Julie came back in and I couldn't even talk...and started to tear up. She told me, "This is HUGE and don't start crying or I will too!" They still gave Tanner a bit of sedation to take out the 2 stitches on his chest wound and then pulled of the tape and removed the tiny PICC-line tube. The whole procedure took about 10 minutes. And Tanner did very well...just a few, "do it slow!" and "OUCH!" It's almost bitter sweet because it's a HUGE step towards recovery, yet we're losing our "hospital family". We still have a cardiology appointment on the 21st, which marks the last day of antibiotics and a well-check just before the holidays. As I watch Tanner run around tonight...he seems a bit naked without his PICC-tube flopping around...but I got the go-ahead for the showers and he's getting scrubbed down tonight! And our first uninterrupted night of sleep! It'll probably take Mark and I a few nights to get used to it!