We're headed to st. louis

Ann · #1 05-30-2004, 01:15 AM

In approximately 12 hours, we board the plane for St. Louis. Â*Jack and I, along with his sister, Mary, his brother Eric and his nurse, Kristi are headed to St. Louis not only for the conference, but for two full days of doctors' appointments. Â*This is the first time I will have flown with Jack. Â*I'm bringing two vents, two suction machines, a 9 hour battery, a 3 hour battery, battery charger, SVN machine, pulse-ox, just to name a few of the items. I think I have 90% of everything packed and hopefully have every possible contingency covered. Â*I received a call from my friend in St. Louis tonight telling me that they are expecting tornado like weather right when we are supposed to land tomorrow! Â*Everyone, please pray that we don't end up on the run-way in Amarillo, TX for 6 hours waiting out the storm!

I'm excited to see Jack's doctors, whom we haven't seen in over two years and I'm excited to see everyone coming to the conference. Â*I want to share with you a portion of an email I received from Dr. Cotton on Friday:

"We will arrive at the Holiday Inn about 9 ish on Sat and be with you and the families through tea-time. There are a couple of families who would like to talk to me during the day and I have arranged to see them during the lunch break. We would like to be as approachable and informative as we can for your audience."

How great is that! Â*

Also, one of the families attending the conference has gratiously offered to tape the speakers and, therefore, we should have video available after the conference. Â*I'll post on how to get a copy after the conference is over.

Wish us luck and I'll let you know how the plane trip was. Â*

Ann

Jacks Mum · #2 05-30-2004, 06:36 AM

Good luck Ann! I hope the ride is smooth and no stopovers are needed. I also hopethat Jack travels well, and you get to have a great time in St Louis, and arent so stressed, all your hard work will be paid off - time to meet the parents!

I am glad to see that the conference is only days away, Everyone attending have a blast!! lots of pictures areto be posted here for all to see!

Take care
Jessica

abby · #3 05-30-2004, 07:58 AM

Have a safe, wonderful and problem free trip!! Im excited to hear all about the conference and see pics!
~Abby

Doug-Iowa · #4 05-30-2004, 09:11 AM

Have a very safe trip Ann.

It sounds like you have thought of everything that could come up. I hope the travel is very uneventful. Except for the shear excitment of flying of course.

Doug

christyw · #5 05-30-2004, 10:58 AM

Ann-

I hope that your trip is good! You do sound like you have quite an arsenal there! Â*

Â* I can't wait to see you all on Thursday.

What Doctor Cotton said is great - I'm sure that everyone will appreciate getting to interact with him and his people. I'm anxious to see and meet him myself.

Christy Â*

Ann · #6 05-31-2004, 12:04 PM

We made it ~ three hours late and after diverting to Kansas City, but we made it! Â*Needless to say, my worst fears came true, right when we were supposed to land, St. Louis was under a tornado warning, arrghh. Â*We had to divert to Kansas City and sit on the runway for an hour. Jack did fairly well. Â*The pilot was totally freaked out with having Jack on the plane, at one point they told me we'd have to turn the vent off during take off and landing (yeah, right!). Â*Once I convinced them that his vent wasn't an oxygen concentrator they were okay. Â*Then the pilot wanted to know if I had a doctor's letter certifying that Jack could safely fly. Â*I told him Jack wouldn't be flying if I didn't think it was safe!! Â*You could see the look of fear in his eyes. Â*The only problem Jack had was his muscle spasms were really bad once we got to a certain altitude, but his respiratory status was fine. Â*He cried the entire trip (thank God for a cuffed trach), so it was quite stressful for both of us. Â*I'm hoping to get a stronger med from his neurologist here in St. Louis so he doesn't have the same problems on the way back

What an adventure! Â*I'm not sure the 3 day car trip wouldn't have been the better way to go!

Ann

Lily's Mom · #7 05-31-2004, 03:24 PM

Ann,
What a way to start the week! I'm so glad that you all made it safely, despite all the hassle. As you know, I have a morbid fear of flying, so the idea of YOU scaring the PILOT for a change is a rather delicious one to me.

Good luck with Jack's appointments in the next few days, and we'll catch up with you on Thursday! Yea!!!

Erica (Lily's Mom)

christyw · #8 05-31-2004, 09:13 PM

Ann,

Whew!! I was thinking about you guys last night. It was crazy stormin' here and lots of trees were down etc...and of course lots of tornados in the midwest. What a ride for you guys with all the panic of the flight crew. I'm so glad you're there now, and I hope the trip home is more pleasant. Can't wait to get there!

See you soon.

Christy

Whitney · #9 05-31-2004, 10:17 PM

Ann,

I am glad you arrived in St. Louis safely and things went fairly well. At least it was only a 1 hour layover.... Steve and I really wanted to come to the conference, but we were unable to make babysitting arrangements. We didn't feel comfortable w/ traveling with Alex yet. Everyone's dedication and devotion to planning this conference will be rewarded greatly this weekend. We are there in thoughts and spirit!! I can't wait to see the tapes....

Enjoy your weekend.

Whitney

indiemum · #10 05-31-2004, 11:30 PM

HAVE THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME YOU GUYS...........I WISH INDIE AND I COULD BE THERE. We are having our babe on the 7th and I am praying for a face breathing mouth eater LOL!!!! I will think of you all and wish you all safe and glorious air travel. We are there for the next one. Lots of love to you all, I wish I could go and hug and take pics of all our kids together. Sigh!!!!

Kellyxoxoxo