Special Treatment

We headed out Tuesday on our very own flight to Houston...this is definitely the way to travel. No security checks, no baggage claim, no lines! We just loaded up the plane and headed out!

Craig Brian is the father of one of David's students, Lissa, who graduated last year. She headed up the Emery's Army fundraiser last year, deigning and selling T-shirts for us. She is such a special girl with an incredible heart. Lissa is a Pre-Med student at UT and will be an amazing doctor one of these days. Anyway, we had dinner with the Brians over Christmas break while Lissa was in town and he offered to fly us to Houston. They are an amazing family!

The plane we got to fly on!

Loading up!

It's all for this special girl!

Our wonderful pilot!

Emery buckled in and ready to go!

Me and Vicky, Craig's wife. We had a great time riding together. We wore headsets the whole ride so we could talk to each other and listen to all of the pilot talk on the radio. It was really neat! Emery didn't have any headphones but the noise didn't seem to bother her one bit! She watched her DVD's, read magazines, and looked out the window. She even laughed when the flight got a little bit bumpy...mama got a little bit nauseous! I kept wondering when Emery was going to fall asleep since we left around her nap time. She didn't get tired until the last five minutes of the trip...seriously. I was a little worried about the landing but it was the smoothest landing I've ever experienced. Needless to say, Emery slept right through it.

Lauren picked us up and we ran some errands in Houston while Emery caught a little nap. One of our stops was at the Houston Polo Club where Lauren's company does some work. Emery got right up to see those horses! She loved the horses! She got in lots of 'neighs' and 'byes' while we were there. She would neigh at the horses and then if we got too close, she would wave and say 'bye' to them. It was very cute.

So, we don't have any pictures from our hospital visits, but those are boring anyway! We went in Wednesday morning for our appointment with Dr. Thompson. He was hilarious as always - I'm not sure how many times we've heard the same stories from this guy! He loves giving David a hard time and will tell stories about him to anyone who will listen. There was a young resident working with him so the poor guy had to listen to Dr. Thompson harass David a little. David's always a good sport though. Dr. Thompson is a little concerned about Emery's development...he said she's a little too lethargic, is lacking in the energy department, and is socially introverted. Obviously he's kidding. Emery is completely the opposite of all of those things! She did keep telling him 'bye' though! I think she hurt his feelings a little bit!

After our visit with him, we had to run down to diagnostic imaging to check in for her MRI. Luckily, they weren't running too behind so they got to us pretty quickly. Getting the IV is always the worst part of the day...thank goodness the nurses got it in place on the first try. Emery cheered up pretty quickly after that and pretty soon they sedated her and she was off to dreamland. David and I headed to Chipolte to get some lunch and relax for a little bit. Emery's MRI went great and we headed down to Nuclear Medicine for her MIBG injection. They gave Emery the injection and took her IV out. She was very happy about that.

We started a new tradition last time we were here for Emery's scans - stopping at McDonald's to get Emery a chocolate shake and french fries! We don't give her junk like that on a regular basis so don't worry! After not getting to eat all day, who wouldn't want some fries and a shake?! Mom and I would always reward ourselves with one after a long day at the clinic...Emery was too little then and didn't get to enjoy the tasty treat herself. Now she can! Anyway, she loved it but only ate about 1/4 of the fries and shake...therefore mommy had to finish it for her. I hate for food to go to waste.

Thursday, Emery was scheduled to be at the hospital at 10:00 for her CT scan and then her MIBG scan. She gets an hour to drink her apple juice with contrast before her scan. This used to be such an ordeal. I think the first couple of times she had her CT scan, we had to use a dropper to get her to drink it all. That took FOREVER! We've also used a straw - dip the straw into the juice, plug one end with your finger and then drop it into her mouth - yeah, I'm sure the nurses thought we were ridiculous. Anyway, thankfully, she will drink it now! Yay!

Emery did great with the CT scan. Luckily, it's super quick and she doesn't have to be sedated. Then we had to run down to Nuclear Medicine for her MIBG scan. They were about to give away our spot even though we were held up by her CT scan. I was not happy about that. We got there with time to spare and they quickly got her sedated and on the scanner. We met another family in the waiting room whose son is about to go through surgery and possibly chemo over the next few weeks. They live in Clovis, NM and the father is actually from Dumas! Small world. We exchanged stories for a few minutes and we got their Caringbridge page so that we can follow along with their son's progress. His name is Jack Sullivan if you want to keep him in your prayers. He was diagnosed with Ganglioneuroblastoma when he was 3 and now, two years later, it has come back. So sad. I hate to hear that.

After Emery woke up from her MIBG scan we headed to the park to play! Emery had a great time chasing birds and playing on the playground. We even found a splash park! Emery thought it was pretty fantastic.

LOVES birds!

So, I wasn't very smart. I thought, sure she can get wet, and then we'll just strip her down afterward...should have stripped and then put on the dry clothes afterward. Now I know.

Emery didn't mind the cold water one bit! She looks a little shocked here but she kept going back for more!

Soaked...

We didn't realize just how far we had walked through the park from our car to the actual playground. It was about a 10 minute walk with our fully naked little girl. We got a few looks. Oh well...not the first time! :)

We left the park just in time for 5:00 traffic. Awesome. It's so nice living in a small town. We drove back to Katy - actually a little past Katy - to meet up with Dan and Lauren. One of their friends is a Polo player and he was playing in a championship game at a ranch nearby. We had so much fun watching him play! The ranch was beautiful and the game was really exciting!

Emery wanting to check out the water.

LOVED the horses! I think everyone could hear her neighing as loud as she could at them!

The players in action! Pretty cool!

So they say everyone has a twin somewhere out there...meet Uma, Emery's long lost twin. Uma is two weeks older than Emery and is Marco's daughter. They had a lot of fun running around with each other and sharing Emery's sippy cup.

The Champions!

Visiting the tired horses after the big game. Emery made sure to tell them all 'bye-bye' and 'night-night.'

It was a fun night! Emery fell asleep on the way home and enjoyed getting to sleep in...so did I! Waking up to feed her at 5:00 am and 6:00 am the past two mornings was not fun! We had a great morning. Emery ate a big bowl of oatmeal and had part of a banana! She woke up with quite an appetite after two days of not eating much. We walked to the neighborhood park and played for a while...it was already really hot and sticky outside. Not used to that! David looked up some splash parks in town but couldn't find any public ones nearby. We called the YMCA and went there instead. David was a good daddy and got in the baby pool with Emery. They played and swam for a long time! They were both a little worn out afterward! I didn't get to swim because I didn't pack a swim suit...I didn't mind though because the water felt too cold for me anyway. I'm a wimp. I had lots of fun watching though!

So, now we're back at the house. Emery's napping and David is working on dinner. Fish Tacos! For some reason he likes to cook when we come to Houston...

We talked to our pilot, Craig and it looks like we'll head home tomorrow afternoon if the weather looks okay. If not, Sunday morning. We have had a great time so far and hate to leave our friends. It's always so good to spend time with them. I hope you all had a great week! I'll update more when we get the rest of Emery's results!