Mom's post

Hi - I was afraid we were getting too behind so I'm gonna sum up the week to date. Everything seemed a little easier after Friday's trauma (easy for me to say) and actually, Jen is still bruised and a little sore in her lower spine. There has been some hairy testing (isotopes put in her blood to follow how her heart functions and how it will react to the transplant), very thorough dental exams, and the craziest pulmonary function test ever performed by this wonderful technician who could take her "act" on the road. I must admit Jen BLEW away the competition during that test (get it?) The week consisted of a lot of listening, a lot of explaining, a lot of questions and more information than we could swallow. It's a good thing there are usually 6 ears listening to these people. We had a meeting where the pharmacist literally had a 3 ring binder filled with pills and their use, side effects and dosage amts and it seemed that most of them will be taken by Jen at some point over the next 3 months. We were told what she can eat, can't eat, can't be around, how to clean, what to clean, how long to clean, the lists go on and on. One thing they repeatedly emphasized was the fact that she cannot be near live flowers or potted plants. Apparently, soil or anything that grows in it is not a transplant recipient's friend. Guess you get the idea by now. We are receiving an education that we'll not forget!

There were some wonderful moments this week too. The Cancer Clinic has a drawing every week for patients and their families for things donated by companies or the general public - concert tickets, sports events, etc. Well, we were passing the receptionist's desk and there were Mariner's tickets so we asked about them. He told Dave to fill out some info and it would be put in the "hat" for the drawing - he should do this once/week. Later that afternoon, Dave got a call that we had won tickets for the Mariner's game that night (Wednesday) for box seats, and a parking pass, meaning no charge for anything but the food we bought. Unfortunately, Jen had had a really long day yesterday and just wanted to rest for the evening but Dave, David, Dominic and I went to the game. It wasn't the Phillies but we had a great time (and the Mariners won). There are wonderful people in this world who do little things like this to bring a smile to these kids faces. What a nice break for them (and us).

Well, I promise Jen will be back writing from her point of view soon but thought I'd let you into our week. There are many stories to tell but we'll save some of them for later. We're grateful for you being out there and we'll be back in touch real soon. Thanks for your prayers and support.