Unconventional Dilemma

We thought we were going home with a pic-line and IV therapy for a month or so. It looks like we may get out of here without it. The bacteria that caused such drama in Nathan's health care planned has mutated and produced two siblings...Viridans and Neisseria strep. One of those bacterias come from the mouth and the other is also found on the skin. Since it was a combination of three on the culture, they have decided that they are "contaminants"and not just a conventional bacterial infection. And since the surgeons don't want to classify anything going "wrong" in the OR, it's still classified as an "infection", although his bone and tissue looked normal except for the dead femoral ball. Nathan had slightly elevated sed-rates, so when the surgical team and the infectious disease got their heads together, they decided that if it was "contaminants"--they should give oral antibiotics for two weeks; yet he also had an infection, which should be treated with IV therapy for 4 weeks. The cause doesn't match the effect...and since they are all on the fence as to the cause and exactly what is going on--a compromise has been reached. We are going with an oral antibiotic for six weeks, unless the cultures in the morning present another issue.

We've been visited by the discharge team. A walker is being delivered to the hospital tomorrow and we have scripts to pick up a wheelchair and shower bench, once we are home. Things are moving along. We need to make appointments in Spokane for blood tests and follow-up x-rays in 6 weeks. Nathan won't be able to detect a noticeable change in the length of his leg just yet. The muscles on the left side have been significantly reduced with the failing hip, so it may take up to a year for that side to strengthen and elongate to match the other side.

Nathan keeps asking what his pay-off for being in the hospital is. (Too much monetary talk with Cameron, obviously....) I told him that he's not getting paid in money, but in a life that's pain-free and without a limp. What more could a kid ask for? $5? $20? No amount of money can pay for the quality of life that Nathan will have now.