And the good news is....
We've had a very trying month so far this February.
My Nephew (Just turned 24 on the 2nd) went missing just before Valentine's day and has yet to be found. His snowmobile has been found in the waters at a marina, so we are not very hopeful.
Our Van has decided to vomit its transmission. I hate being without a car!
BUT we have had some unrelated good news. As those of you who know us well, or have been stalking my blog know, The Boy severely burned his hand back in October. We have been flying back and forth for our Doc visits, all paid for by the wonderful Shriners!! No, burning his hand is NOT good news.
Anyway, on with the good news.
We had another appontment in Cincy yesterday. I was hoping for typical appointment, fly in mid morning, have a 2 O'clock appointment, see the doc, get new instructions, see you in XX months, have something to eat, head back to airport, wait in the airport forever and fly home that night. What we got was SO much more!
I get a ride to the airport with my BIL, who is also going to see to it M gets on the bus when she needs to since my FIL needs to have a "Proceedure" and my MIL is waiting with him. Our car is in the shop since it won't go into reverse all the time. I Manage to wash a load of clothes, vac the living room and dining room and pack a few snacks for The Boy and I before 9:45!
We get to the airport an hour early, express security (Love travelling with a toddler in a stroller LOL!) and wait for our flight, which is not only showing an on time departure, the airplane is at the gate already! Sweet! I distract the boy with fresh fruit and soon we are on the plane ready to go ON TIME!
The boy has some crackers and water then promptly falls asleep on the overfull flight and the nice grandmotherly lady in the next seat reads the entire trip, so I get to relax a bit, too. We arrive in Cincinnati on time and make our way 2 terminals over to baggage claim to look for the Shriner's van. Just as I am about to check the curb, one of our escorts gets to the door. THey just got there, right on time!
We get to the hospital with about 25 minutes to spare, so I figure I'd go sign in and let the boy play on the slide while we wait. He only gets down 3 times before we are called to a room. We are not in there very long when Physical Therapist #1 comes in to take a look and chat. She sees his glove is getting a touch small and wants to consult with someone else before sending in the garment lady for new measurements. We talk about the supplies I need at home to tide us over to the next appointment (Not sure when that is yet) and then leaves. Not too long later Nurse comes in with our "Stuff" and more questions, then SHE takes a look at his hand and leg (Donor site). She is excited by how good it looks, asks me about any "problem areas" and I point them all out to her. She leaves. A little while later PT#2 comes in and talks a bit about how the scarring process works, and how we are at "peak" time for permanent scarring to occure, BUT she thinks it all looks good!
She exits and we are alone for a bit (Maybe 10 minutes, but it may not have been that long). Resident comes in to take a peek and take notes then leaves. While she is there the "Recovery specialist" stops by to see if I returned the last survey (I did) then says she will have to check her log better since she doesn't have it marked as recieved yet. Since I do not hear from her again, I'm assuming it was just a simple paperwork error. Soon Doc Warner, Resident, Nurse and PT#2 all come in to take a looksee and chat. Doc Warner is very excited by the healing and scarring and RELEASES US FORM GARMENT WEAR!! this is HUGE because #1 - Ricky will no longer have to wear his glove OR shorts - I was told that both would be worn for at least year!!! and #2 - I will have FAR LESS laundry and cleaning to do!! Ricky will still need to have PT 2 times a day, but I won't have to scrub the tub, give him a bath, hand wash the glove, shorts and "French fry" that goes between his fingers, hang to dry, do his PT, put clean shorts and glove on him, then scrub the tub again, using fresh towels for each step. And to make sure I understood that yes, there are no more garments, she says "See you in ONE YEAR". Wahoo!! Yes, we will have to be diligent about sunblock -Not just sunscreen- Every 2 hours while outside and I can call if there are problems. Yes, there is DEFINATLY surgery in our future, but nothing for at least one year! Yay!! I return the bag of supplies we just got since I will no longer need them!
Then we head out to get pictures taken of the burn site and run into our Family Life Rep on our way out of the clinic. She is excited to see the boy, but sad that he won't be back for a year, then very excited to hear we are released from garments already (her privious "best ever" was 7 months!) I then touched base with our driver and headed upstairs for lunch since its WAY cheaper to eat at the hospital. I got a Philly cheesesteak, onion rings with ranch dressing, a bottle of soda, then got a pasta salad and a bag of chips for the boy - $5.76 cents! I made a couple phone calls while we ate, then my boy made friends with one of the patients there, a boy about 13 or so.
We then headed downstairs and bought a shirt for DH, then found our driver and headed back to the airport. Yes, it is insanely early, Not even 3:15 yet and we have a 7:30 flight, but I am told traffic gets brutal starting around 3 and peaks between 4 and 6. There are times the 20 minute ride to the airport has taken close to 2 hours! IF there is an accident in the tunnel, it can take even longer. Traffic is starting to build, but I still arrive by 3:45. I go check in, then head to customer service to have my name changed on my ticket (It was spelled wrong) and have my frequent flyer miles updated (I couldn't do it since my name was spelled wrong). Then I sit to finish our snack (THe bottle of soda we bought) and make more phone calls, including my Father. He tells me to call my Aunt that lives in Kentucky and I do. Since she is free, she says she will head over and is there in about 1/2 an hour.
We have a snack together and chat, killing nearly 2 hours! I decide to ge through security (Its almost 90 minutes before my flight) and give her a hug good bye. Ricky and I express security again and we are on the other side less than 5 minutes later. I know of a play area in terminal A, so we head over there. Ricky has fun then spies the ice cream machine and I agree to share a sandwhich. I let him play a bit more then we head over to terminal B to catch the tram to Terminal C. We make a bee line for the bathrooms and I change his diaper (Its true! No shorts!) and go potty myself. I check the departures again and see we are still marked for an ontime departure and the plane is in the gate. With only about 15 minutes to go before boarding I lead Ricky to the toy store to play a bit. As I walk in (ITs a small store) I overhear a panicked Mom asking if ANYONE sold pants for little kids, to which the clerk replies "no, we have some skirts!" She has her DD (Around 2) wrapped in a blanket. I ask what size her DD is and she says 2T. I dig in our diaper bag and offer her our sweat pant, size 18-24 months. She thanks me then tries to pay me for them, but I decline, telling her that I've been there as a mom and when she gets a chance, to pay it forward. She is near tears as she leaves to dress her DD.
The clerk is amazed at my act of kindness and I wave it off and let Ricky throw balls around for a bit, then we clean up and head to the gate. WIth less than 5 minutes before boarding, I see this flight is oversold, too, but know Ricky should be alseep soon. I think I want a lemonade, but as I gather up our things and turn to head to the pretzle shop, then start boarding our flight and the line is longer than I think I can get away with so I go back to the gate.
God rewarded me for my PIF by having one empty seat on the flight - right near me! The flight attendant tells me to go ahead and use the seat and Ricky is asleep shortly after take off. I have my snack in peace and take a short nap myself. We arrive in Buffalo just one minute late and we are home before 9:30 that night.
I give the boy his PT then we all head to bed. It was SO nice to not have to clean the tub, bathe the boy, clean the tub, wash the garments then do PT. I can get used to this!
My Nephew (Just turned 24 on the 2nd) went missing just before Valentine's day and has yet to be found. His snowmobile has been found in the waters at a marina, so we are not very hopeful.
Our Van has decided to vomit its transmission. I hate being without a car!
BUT we have had some unrelated good news. As those of you who know us well, or have been stalking my blog know, The Boy severely burned his hand back in October. We have been flying back and forth for our Doc visits, all paid for by the wonderful Shriners!! No, burning his hand is NOT good news.
Anyway, on with the good news.
We had another appontment in Cincy yesterday. I was hoping for typical appointment, fly in mid morning, have a 2 O'clock appointment, see the doc, get new instructions, see you in XX months, have something to eat, head back to airport, wait in the airport forever and fly home that night. What we got was SO much more!
I get a ride to the airport with my BIL, who is also going to see to it M gets on the bus when she needs to since my FIL needs to have a "Proceedure" and my MIL is waiting with him. Our car is in the shop since it won't go into reverse all the time. I Manage to wash a load of clothes, vac the living room and dining room and pack a few snacks for The Boy and I before 9:45!
We get to the airport an hour early, express security (Love travelling with a toddler in a stroller LOL!) and wait for our flight, which is not only showing an on time departure, the airplane is at the gate already! Sweet! I distract the boy with fresh fruit and soon we are on the plane ready to go ON TIME!
The boy has some crackers and water then promptly falls asleep on the overfull flight and the nice grandmotherly lady in the next seat reads the entire trip, so I get to relax a bit, too. We arrive in Cincinnati on time and make our way 2 terminals over to baggage claim to look for the Shriner's van. Just as I am about to check the curb, one of our escorts gets to the door. THey just got there, right on time!
We get to the hospital with about 25 minutes to spare, so I figure I'd go sign in and let the boy play on the slide while we wait. He only gets down 3 times before we are called to a room. We are not in there very long when Physical Therapist #1 comes in to take a look and chat. She sees his glove is getting a touch small and wants to consult with someone else before sending in the garment lady for new measurements. We talk about the supplies I need at home to tide us over to the next appointment (Not sure when that is yet) and then leaves. Not too long later Nurse comes in with our "Stuff" and more questions, then SHE takes a look at his hand and leg (Donor site). She is excited by how good it looks, asks me about any "problem areas" and I point them all out to her. She leaves. A little while later PT#2 comes in and talks a bit about how the scarring process works, and how we are at "peak" time for permanent scarring to occure, BUT she thinks it all looks good!
She exits and we are alone for a bit (Maybe 10 minutes, but it may not have been that long). Resident comes in to take a peek and take notes then leaves. While she is there the "Recovery specialist" stops by to see if I returned the last survey (I did) then says she will have to check her log better since she doesn't have it marked as recieved yet. Since I do not hear from her again, I'm assuming it was just a simple paperwork error. Soon Doc Warner, Resident, Nurse and PT#2 all come in to take a looksee and chat. Doc Warner is very excited by the healing and scarring and RELEASES US FORM GARMENT WEAR!! this is HUGE because #1 - Ricky will no longer have to wear his glove OR shorts - I was told that both would be worn for at least year!!! and #2 - I will have FAR LESS laundry and cleaning to do!! Ricky will still need to have PT 2 times a day, but I won't have to scrub the tub, give him a bath, hand wash the glove, shorts and "French fry" that goes between his fingers, hang to dry, do his PT, put clean shorts and glove on him, then scrub the tub again, using fresh towels for each step. And to make sure I understood that yes, there are no more garments, she says "See you in ONE YEAR". Wahoo!! Yes, we will have to be diligent about sunblock -Not just sunscreen- Every 2 hours while outside and I can call if there are problems. Yes, there is DEFINATLY surgery in our future, but nothing for at least one year! Yay!! I return the bag of supplies we just got since I will no longer need them!
Then we head out to get pictures taken of the burn site and run into our Family Life Rep on our way out of the clinic. She is excited to see the boy, but sad that he won't be back for a year, then very excited to hear we are released from garments already (her privious "best ever" was 7 months!) I then touched base with our driver and headed upstairs for lunch since its WAY cheaper to eat at the hospital. I got a Philly cheesesteak, onion rings with ranch dressing, a bottle of soda, then got a pasta salad and a bag of chips for the boy - $5.76 cents! I made a couple phone calls while we ate, then my boy made friends with one of the patients there, a boy about 13 or so.
We then headed downstairs and bought a shirt for DH, then found our driver and headed back to the airport. Yes, it is insanely early, Not even 3:15 yet and we have a 7:30 flight, but I am told traffic gets brutal starting around 3 and peaks between 4 and 6. There are times the 20 minute ride to the airport has taken close to 2 hours! IF there is an accident in the tunnel, it can take even longer. Traffic is starting to build, but I still arrive by 3:45. I go check in, then head to customer service to have my name changed on my ticket (It was spelled wrong) and have my frequent flyer miles updated (I couldn't do it since my name was spelled wrong). Then I sit to finish our snack (THe bottle of soda we bought) and make more phone calls, including my Father. He tells me to call my Aunt that lives in Kentucky and I do. Since she is free, she says she will head over and is there in about 1/2 an hour.
We have a snack together and chat, killing nearly 2 hours! I decide to ge through security (Its almost 90 minutes before my flight) and give her a hug good bye. Ricky and I express security again and we are on the other side less than 5 minutes later. I know of a play area in terminal A, so we head over there. Ricky has fun then spies the ice cream machine and I agree to share a sandwhich. I let him play a bit more then we head over to terminal B to catch the tram to Terminal C. We make a bee line for the bathrooms and I change his diaper (Its true! No shorts!) and go potty myself. I check the departures again and see we are still marked for an ontime departure and the plane is in the gate. With only about 15 minutes to go before boarding I lead Ricky to the toy store to play a bit. As I walk in (ITs a small store) I overhear a panicked Mom asking if ANYONE sold pants for little kids, to which the clerk replies "no, we have some skirts!" She has her DD (Around 2) wrapped in a blanket. I ask what size her DD is and she says 2T. I dig in our diaper bag and offer her our sweat pant, size 18-24 months. She thanks me then tries to pay me for them, but I decline, telling her that I've been there as a mom and when she gets a chance, to pay it forward. She is near tears as she leaves to dress her DD.
The clerk is amazed at my act of kindness and I wave it off and let Ricky throw balls around for a bit, then we clean up and head to the gate. WIth less than 5 minutes before boarding, I see this flight is oversold, too, but know Ricky should be alseep soon. I think I want a lemonade, but as I gather up our things and turn to head to the pretzle shop, then start boarding our flight and the line is longer than I think I can get away with so I go back to the gate.
God rewarded me for my PIF by having one empty seat on the flight - right near me! The flight attendant tells me to go ahead and use the seat and Ricky is asleep shortly after take off. I have my snack in peace and take a short nap myself. We arrive in Buffalo just one minute late and we are home before 9:30 that night.
I give the boy his PT then we all head to bed. It was SO nice to not have to clean the tub, bathe the boy, clean the tub, wash the garments then do PT. I can get used to this!
posted by Elena at 6:14 PM
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