1/02/2007

Vermont - round 2

Arrived in beautiful, snow-covered Burlington Sunday night - New Year's Eve - after a long day in the air. United managed to lose our luggage, leaving it at Dulles where we had transferred from the relative comfort of a UA 757 in Econo Plus to a Embraer regional jet.


Aboard the Embraer United regional jet.

United must've decided the little jet was too heavy as it was obvious why our "big" suitcase was left behind while our smaller two made it through. Of course, the big suitcase held Max's and my clothes so we were without a change of clothes the first night.... and of course Max wet himself Sunday night and I hadn't prepared for that, so he spend Monday morning - New Year's Day - pantless in our room. I have a picture of him playing on my computer that I would love to post as only another parent would appreciate it, but alas I'd probably have the San Diego Police child p*rn team at my house waiting for my return.





















Max - in a "clean" photo of the situation I mentioned above.

We had Monday off but didn't do a whole lot... Max got a cool book on dragons at the downtown Burlington Barnes & Noble, one of the few stores open on New Year's. And so we spend most of the day fooling around the house, reading and generally doing “nothing”, which was nice, especially in preparation for today, Tuesday our first official day in clinic.


In front of RMH Burlington.

Today started off pretty good. Max was scheduled for an MRI and bone marrow aspiration, so he couldn’t eat or drink anything after 6am. We got the beautiful UVM medical center at around 7:30, early for our 8:00 start time but hopeful we could get going quickly. Didn't happen though we did start soon after 8am, only to find that our 9am MRI appt was bumped to 11am for some reason. So, Max played video games (they have a cool GameCube cart) and I tried to get organized and do some NB-parent work.


Hooked up for a neurological scan.

Max went in for his MRI around 11:15 and came out around 2:00 after full-body scan plus a bone-marrow aspiration + biopsy procedure on his pelvis. Nevertheless he recovered from the anethesia quite quickly and rose to eat his favorite post-op treat, popsicles. He was still so groggy while eating the popsicles he was having trouble getting them into his mouth, which was both quite funny and sad as the same time. NB parents reading this realize this funny/sad dichotomy happens quite often, and its part of the challenge to embrace both the good and the bad, sometimes at the same time, as it happens.





















Eating graham crackers and popsicles while recovering from anesthesia.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. The staff at Children's Specialty Center (the outpatient infustion clinic in other words) worked very hard and effectively to get Max out at the scheduled time of 4pm. Tonight, Max ate oranges for dinner. His first time eating an orange and he ate four of them tonight! Actually they're those clementine tangerines that are so yummy and easy to peel. Nevertheless, he's hooked which is great for us and for him!


Finally, after MRI and bone marrow aspiration, chemo and Super Mario Cart Racing on the GameCube.

Tomorrow will be an easier day. I'm going to make Max a giant batch of pancakes for breakfast, as some people here say Vermont has good syrup, whatever that means... I thought Aunt Jemima was from the South...

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