MD Anderson Visit

Kristen and I had a long day. We caught the red eye to Houston for her appointments. I don't think I'll do that again. I hate early mornings. Kristen had to complicate it by leaving her purse at our friends. Luckily, we have a really great friend in Jamie that she jumped in her vehicle and brought it to us at the airport. Our flight was at 6:20 and at 5:50 we were standing in line trying to get through security. We were the last 2 to get on the plane. If you know me at all, I don't like to rush. But, I managed to remain calm. I just thought, worst case scenario, we have to reschedule our appointment and catch a different flight.

Her appointment went well. She is to continue on with her meds as they are, continue to see the local doc about every 2 weeks, and return in December or January for her 6 month checkup. They seemed well pleased with her progress.

Houston was 91 degrees today, and humid as usual. We got to meet with Barbara for lunch and ran by The Chocolate Bar to stock up on hot chocolate mix. You should have seen the security guy when he was scanning the sack. We brought back 10 jars. Some for us and some for Kristen's friend. We had a sweet taxi driver named L.J. He gave us his card so we used him to go to and from the hospital. He was so much fun to talk too. Isn't it funny how much you can learn about someone in such a short time. Kristen also had the opportunity to encourage a couple of other stem cell patients. You hear so many of the horror stories that they were encouraged by her success story.

Finally, we get home to find out that Steven does have H1N1. I feel like an awful mom. I was sure that wasn't it. I should have taken him in the first day. So now we are sending Kristen to stay with her friend for a couple of nights to minimize her exposure. Luckily we were being very careful before that.

Please pray that Kristen, Devin or I do not get the virus. Also please pray that Steven has a swift recovery.

(Did you see Katie on the today show. She was telling people to sign up for Be the Match at www.join.marrow.org/4katie . This is a young woman, 24 I think, who needs a blood stem cell match and has not found one out of all the registered donors. Here is another young woman like Kristen who has a blood disease and will need a transplant. Maybe you could be the match!)