The PICC line is out!

Sophie had her second follow-up appointment with the hospital folks yesterday - exactly three weeks after being discharged from the hospital. I had my fingers crossed that they would be able to take that PICC line out, but it was all going to depend on the results of her blood work from earlier this week. She had originally been recommended for a course of IV antibiotics for 4-6 weeks (including what she had during her hospital stay)... and yesterday's appointment marked 4.5 weeks. The doctors had been happy with the way her inflammation levels had been dropping, and sure enough they said she was ready for the line to come out. 

Sophie's inflammation levels are still elevated, but they continue to drop with each week, and are now low enough that she can switch to an oral antibiotic. She will be having those for two more weeks. She will have one last blood draw just before that course is up, and if all looks well she can be done for good. She will also have another chest x-ray at that point. 

The doctor was very impressed with Sophie - even though medically we know she's still recovering, she's acting just fine. She's got her energy back and is happy. She has participated fully in her last two weeks of dance class, and hasn't had any troubles getting winded. The doctor also said when listening to her lungs yesterday that the left and right sides sound nearly the same now, which is a great sign that the right lung is healing nicely and has now gained back it's full capacity and function. 

Removing the PICC line was very simple. The doctor warned that the worst part is taking off the tape, but Sophie has gotten really used to that with the weekly dressing changes and didn't even wince. In fact, the doctor let her do it all herself. After the tape was off, the doctor just slowly pulled out the line. It was amazing just how long it was. I knew that it went all the way up her arm and shoulder, but to see the actual length was still surprising. She left with just a regular bandaid on her arm, which she took off in the car as soon as we left. She as so thrilled to have nothing on her arm! 

She couldn't wait to get outside and run and jump and not worry about falling down or hurting her arm. She was also really excited to be able to sleep on her left arm again last night. 

It is such a relief for Adam and I have to have this portion of the recovery process over and done with.