Second trip to Duke

Adam and I took Jack and Addie to Raleigh Durham for Addie's second stem cell infusion on December 2nd. We were delighted to have Adam's family fly up to meet us and stay a few nights at the hotel in Raleigh. It was great to meet up with Adam's family and spend a little time with them so close to Christmas! We definitely do not get to see them often enough!

Too quickly it was time to say bye to Adam's family Sunday morning. As a family of four, we mainly stayed in the hotel the rest of the trip. It was more of a laid back trip this time around, as it's Adam's last vacation time before Addie's next infusion in June. 

We did get to try The Pit BBQ restaurant in Raleigh this trip and enjoyed it! Definitely worse going back to it next trip. Their banana budding is AMAZING!

Tuesday was our infusion day. We didn't need to be at the hospital til 10:30am.

In the car on the way to Duke

We were greeted with Christmas Carollers in the lobby

 It was a special day for Addison, not only because she was receiving more of her stem cells in the hopes that it would offer continued healing of any brain damage she sustained before she was shunted, but also because she was meeting a fellow hydro buddy for the first time.

Miss M was born just three days after Addie and her mom and I met on a support group on Facebook. We were able to schedule their infusions for the same day! We ran into them in the hall way before we were called back for Addie's initial exam and then we were placed in the room next to them for the actual infusions.

Addie did great during her infusion! She watched the entire process, wanting to sit up and NOT lie down this time.

They got her IV started on the first stick which was great! Dr. K was very impressed with how well Addie is doing. She said she was prepared to see a totally different child based on her head circumference increase and the fact that her scans don't show a difference in her ventricles since August. Her words were "She's doing much much much better than her scans and head circumference increase would have indicated."  She does want me to follow up with George about the lack of decrease in ventricle size, which I had already intended to do, but it will be nice to have a litle medical enforcment when we see him in February.

As we were being discharged, Dr. K and I were marveling at what she might be doing by the time they see her for her third infusion. Dr. K said "She'll be walking!" Very exciting to think of the possiblities! We're thrilled with how well she's doing and pray she continues to do as well, but we know there are many ups and downs with hydro. We celebrate all the good days and all the milestones and are still trying to enjoy every moment!


We flew home to find an inch of ice on our windshield that had been sitting in long term parking for five days! It was good to be home though. Addison is still a great traveler, though she did not want to go to sleep on the plane. I think she was scared she'd miss something. She is a very curious little girl, which I love!!