Back from CHOP!

Hans, entertaining me with air guitar and lip synch at yesterday's lunch at Mad Mex




Hans, playing DS in the Suite - Sweet! Check out the new hair coming in on the irino/temodor;)
Hi guys -
Thanks for your emails, calls and thoughts and prayers. Kevin made it through his umbilical hernia surgery okay (ouch, just in some pain!), and Hans and I made it back from CHOP. I was so stressed about just making it all happen, I hadn't exactly expected to have such a pleasant experience. Hans and I enjoyed checking out a new city. I tried to frame the trip as "hopping on a plane to meet one of Dr. Russell's friends". He wasn't really on board until he got an idea - the morning before we left, he asked, "do they have pancakes up the hotel?" As soon as I replied Yes - he was sold. So - Hans ate his way through Philadelphia. We compliment each other well, since he is a little lion cub carnivore, and I'm more of a semi-vegitarian, or as my friend Josie used to call it a 'chickitarian' - he could order the NY strip steak, and I enjoyed the sides. He ate his first street Hot Dog, and a student in the U. Penn area pointed us in the right direction to chips and salsa when he needed them. The only time Hans had a problem was when we had to push away from the breakfast table (pancakes, ham steak, etc.) to make it to the appointment. He actually cried and screamed through the streets on our short walk to the hospital. Going into a new hospital is always a maze. We were somewhat bewildered trying to find the right elevator to get into the Wood Building when an angel of an employee championed the cause of pushing the stroller while I held a screaming/crying Hans, and she got us to the right spot. It actually has ceased to amaze me now that things happen like that. A stranger will just fall out of the sky and push the stroller for you when you really need it. Thanks to that lady - I told her she was an angel. I hope she didn't get in trouble for being late to work!

As soon as we got into the clinic, as I had hoped and figured, Hans calmed down and got into clinic waiting mode - just playing his DS and waiting it out. The consultation went great. The plan is just to get a look at Hans' scans next week, and get a second bone marrow aspiration done. If there is still activity on the MIBG scan, then we will likely do the MIBG treatment up at CHOP the end of this month. If not, then, that's great news and we have other options to look into...

We have a long list of thank you's to people who helped get us through these past two days - TWO of our neighbors who brought meals last night - Dan and Cindy, and Pam and Rick! Carmen who not only got Kevin to and from the procedure, but filled his prescriptions and picked Hans and I up from the airport, Anne who dropped us off. All those donors who gave us the miles for the flight, the Dillon family (friends of Michelle) who donated Sheraton hotel points. We stayed in a beautiful suite after we found out the Ronald McDonald House was full. And, thanks to our Sparrow Club friend Dodie - who pulled some strings and got us a special announcement on the Plane and a tour of the cockpit. Fun! And thanks to Pati and Tom and my mom's friend Christine who sent us special gifts that made this week a little easier!