Homeward bound!

The doctor directing Sam's treatment has told us that Sam's white cell count is improving such that we can expect to bring him home "later this week." The details have yet to be revealed, but it sounds like:

• we will need to bring him to the hospital a couple times a week, for what exactly I don't yet know (presumably the weekly spinal tap and chemo treatment, at the very least)
• a nurse will come to the house periodically to do things like change the dressing on his PICC line, which is inserted into (and is about as long as) his upper thigh, and goes directly to his heart
• we will have to flush his PICC line daily and administer the meds he still gets daily, including steroids and antibiotics

He will be immunocompromised, so we are having the house cleaned and tested for mold. We will be able to do some normal things with him (strolls), and will just need to be careful about whom he comes into close contact with. We will not need to wear gloves or masks (or quarantine him à la John Travolta's character in Boy in the Plastic Bubble), but we will need to be vigilant about having clean hands. The primary goal is to prevent infection.

And then we wait. To see if he remains stable, and to hear that the hospital has found a bone marrow donor. The former will be a daily regimen, the latter a weeks-long process. (We've already heard that they've identified potential donors, but those people now need to have their marrow re-profiled, need to be in good health, still need to be willing and able to undergo the donation procedure, etc.)

We're a bit nervous about having Sam home, but we're also thrilled. He's lived at Children's Hospital for nearly half his life. Much too long.