I'm sitting here in front of the TV (something I have not watched for a long time), watching the 2nd State of Origin (for my overseas friends it is a rugby league rivalry between two of our states NSW -v- Qld). I am also working through all her new medication to ensure both that I'm familiar with it and it is correctly organised in her dispenser.
As the heading says, Maria is home. However, she has not been not discharged yet. Maria is now part of the Home in the Hospital (HITH) system, where she is technically still an inpatient of the hospital, but treated at home. When a nurse coming onto shift asked if Maria was being discharged, I answered that she is being transferred to a private hospital, which happens to be our home. The advantage of this is that should there be any issues, then she is immediately given a bed in hospital (but we are not expecting any such issues).
Maria had her PIC line inserted this morning with a double lumen attached (tubes - one usually to administer the antibiotic and the other to take blood), after some difficulty. She was away for four hours in total. They weren't able to push it right through the vein on the left arm (preferred) so fortunately the anaethetist, who was in charge of Maria in her surgery (and has visited her a couple of times since) turned up and put it through via the right arm. Maria was sedated, which I think helped the whole experience.
She is now hooked up to a portable machine that she has to carry everywhere in a small bag, which administers one of her antibiotics in two half-hour doses, twelve hours apart. A nurse will visit us every day to change the bag.
While Maria was out, the Social Worker and I had a long chat, which was nice. Maria and I have enjoyed our time with her. She has been extremely helpful and was also able to organise one of the onology social workers to visit us also.
It was time to head home. One of Maria's neighbours is a young guy who had a double dislocation of his neck in a rugby match last weekend. We got to know him and his parents a bit over the last week and a half. He had surgery yesterday and all seemed to go well. It is interesting when you feel a little sad moving on from neighbouring patients and staff, while at the same time looking so forward to leaving the hospital itself.
The kids were very excited to see their mummy. They were able to show off their individual "Welcome Home" masterpieces. We had takeaway for dinner to celebrate. Let's hope Maria can get some sleep without the usual hospital disturbances, while adjusting to the idea of having something attached to her for the foreseeable future (especially if she gets up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom!).
