Follow-Up Appt. Went Well

We had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Darragh yesterday at Riley. Bailey's been having trouble getting blood work done - she gets really scared and upset - but yesterday she did a great job. In fact, I tried to bribe her by telling her that if we went right in, got it done, and came right out, I would eat any one of those Harry Potter nasty jelly beans that the nurses on the Heart Center gave her. (Thanks a lot, guys!) Considering her past blood work experiences lately, I thought it was a pretty safe bet. Wrong! She went right in, got it done, and came right out, and quickly handed me a "nasal secretion" (if you know what I mean) jelly bean. My body wanted to reject it right away, just because of the thought, but I kept my promise. The first 10 seconds really weren't that bad, then "the taste" set in and, you guessed it, I ran to the trash can and water fountain. My mouth has never watered so much in my life! That stuff is nasty! Somehow, she got her dad then to try a dirt-flavored, and then an ear-wax flavored, and finally a "nasal secretion" flavored. He was done.

If you made it past the first paragraph of this posting and are still with me, her echo went well. Her pressures appeared to be in the 60's, but her medication was due and she hadn't had it yet. But they were still pleased. Next appointment they want to do an echo before her medicine and one after her medicine. Dr. T looked at her and said, "Well, things are obviously better because you look great." She got the last of her canula site stitches removed - no more scabs on those either. I told her it kind of looks like she has 3 belly buttons now! Don't get me wrong - we're very proud of those belly buttons!! Dr. Darragh said she's doing so well that she could go back to school today if she wanted (she was originally going to skip the first week and go back next week), but she negotiated with him and they decided on Thursday. She told him she still had some things to do - she wants to visit WFMS before she goes back and I think we're going to get to do that tomorrow. We don't have to keep track of her "ins" and "outs" anymore, so that makes things a lot easier too.

And Tom finished her room yesterday! Yeah!!! We moved her bed out of the living room and into her room last night. All the girls got to sleep in their own rooms for the first time in 7 months!! (Josie and Rissy slept in our bed while we were in the hospital and, when Bailey came home, they all slept downstairs in the living room partially because they all wanted to be together and partially because Bailey didn't want to sleep down there by herself.) Rissy told me this morning that it feels like we're a normal family again now. I questioned her what she meant by that, and she said, "Because we all slept in our own beds last night." And I'm going back to work next week, so we're feeling things are getting back to normal a little bit every day.

Sunday was a great day for us. The documentary guys at the Speedway invited us down to the Indy car race in Kentucky, and they gave us the royal treatment. It was very hot that day, but they drove us around in a golf cart so Bailey wouldn't have to walk a lot. And it was a long day - we got there about 9:00 and kept very busy with activities until the race started at about 3:00 (our time). We got home at 9:30. But the girls all had a great time and Bailey managed to get a quick nap in the suite before the race started and felt great the whole day. We got to meet some of the drivers and owners - Scott was incredibly excited to get Rick Mears' autograph, his boyhood hero. Scott and Nancy and Tom and I got to ride around the track in a pace car. That was so much fun! Scott and Nancy rode with Al Unser Sr. and Tom and I rode with Johnny Rutherford! They went about 125 mph and we went only 115. Haha! And to think that was only half as fast as the drivers go! We had lunch in the IRL tent and saw Mary Hullman-George and Tony George. We all got to meet Dan Weldon (the Indy 500 winner this year). He tried to get Marissa to give him "5" and she wouldn't do it. I can't wait to tell her when she gets older that she blew off the 2005 Indy 500 winner! Bailey and Josie got his autograph. He was a very nice guy. Actually, everyone we met was very nice. And our suite was right on the finish line, so we had a great view of the race. The track was only a mile and a half long, so we could see clearly all the way around it. It was a really good race. Dan Weldon and Scott Sharp (who ended up winning) ran side by side (even in the corners) for about 3 or 4 laps. It was an exciting race. I used to be a big fan of Indy car races 15 to 20 years ago, so it was pretty exciting to be a part of it again.

Today was Rissy's first day of Kindergarten! It was traumatic. The entire family was standing in the driveway waiting for the bus with all our neighbors, and Rissy was fine until the bus gets here. She starts crying, saying "I don't wanna go!!" So, I take her hand and walk her up to the bus. The nice bus driver is waiting for her to get on but she's obviously not going to be doing that! So, I pick her up and hoist her onto the first step. And after a few seconds, I hoist her up and deposit her onto the 2nd step. Then, after a few seconds, I plead with our little neighbor girl, Kennedy, and she's very nice and helps me out by sitting with her in the front seat. So, the bus door closes, I turn around, and Bailey's standing there in tears and Tom's rejoicing because he just moved ahead of me in Rissy's "favorite parent" list. I wasn't too shaken up about it until I went to pick her up - then I started crying while I was sitting in the line of cars. I guess I thought she wasn't going to speak to me again. I knew I was in trouble if the teacher came out the door carrying her! But she didn't. She was in line with all the other kids, smiling and waving to us. So, all is well!

I think we're beginning to really sink back into our "old lives" now. I'm starting to let go of that insecure feeling of being away from the hospital. But it's still good to see them every 2 weeks - if not just for the security of a successful medical visit, but also to see all our buddies! We do miss them!

Bailey filmed a commercial yesterday for Riley - they're going to start running it on Channel 13 in about 2 weeks. So keep an eye out!

We got a new computer (a huge thank you to you-know-who-you-are!!), so I'm going to try and post some pictures later today or tomorrow. If they don't show up, you'll know I wasn't successful yet, but I'll keep trying!

Talk to you again soon!
Love, Angie