On the Road Again...And Day 1

Hello sweet friends and family! 

Well, here we are again in the beautiful, not-so-warm and sunny Rochester, MN. We had a great trip here with two perfect flights!

Getting very sleepy!

The Arch and Busch Stadium ~ Go Cards!!

 

Sweet princess couldn't make it to Minneapolis!

 Once we arrived in Minneapolis, we had a few hours before we could check in to our hotel. So we figured we were only 2 miles from the Mall of America so we headed to check it out. 

It. Is. Amazing.

You could spend all day in there for days and days and not get bored.

Addy got to meet Sharky the Shark from the Aquarium - she was only mildly petrified :)

After spending, well, not enough time in there, we headed to Rochester. Bright and early wake up time to make it to the clinic at 8:30. She had three appointments Monday morning : 8:30, 9:30, and 10:15. I was really wondering how in the world they could schedule three appointments so close together.... We actually got done early! We were taken to a room where we saw all three people we needed to see, without ever leaving that room. They come to you instead of moving you 3 times. It was so nice!

First appointment: we met with the nurse who is in charge of the aerodigestive clinic. She is the one we met with last time we were here. She is wonderful. She was very interested to see the difference in how Addy sounded last time and this time. 

Completely different.

Three weeks ago - completely clear, no rattle. Today - very loud, rattly chest.

Next, we saw the pediatrician who will be following Addy this week.

We love her! 

She spent a good amount of time with us, covering all the basics of Addy's history and care. 

She did an exam, and she said Addy's lungs were so loud and junky 

she had a hard time hearing her heart.

 {So thankful we are here}

 She asked a lot of immunological questions. She scheduled a repeat sweat chloride test to just be sure the one taken at Vanderbilt is correct. This tests for Cystic Fibrosis. Obviously, we need this test to be negative. But so many of her symptoms are aligned with this disease. So to be certain, they are repeating it. 

She also added in a large amount of bloodwork to be taken while Addy is in the OR. This will be sent to the immunologist/allergist we are meeting with Thursday. 

This dr. will already have everything she needs when she sees Addy!

 Have I mentioned we love this place? 

Next, we met with the aerodigestive clinic social worker. He basically wanted to make sure we had all the resources we need while we are here. He got us $15 off our hotel room every night and free parking passes just in case we have an appointment that the shuttle can't get us to. 

Checking out the helicopter pad on the other building

Oh ya know, just the normal hotel room activities - dance party!!

Bedtime FaceTime session with sissy

 

We feel this a great start to our trip! We are getting things accomplished that would have taken weeks and weeks at home. We so appreciate the love and support

 we are receiving from home.

 It is hard to be away {especially from our sweet Ella} 

but we know Addy is getting what she needs here. 

We will update again tonight when we return from our next two appointments :)

Lots of love,

Laura