New York, New York

I've been trying all night to upload pictures of Nate's early birthday party for a fun post, but I'm having no luck because the internet connection is so slow here.  So, I'll save that post for another day.

We arrived in New York, yesterday evening after a pretty uneventful plane flight (uneventful plane flights are a good thing).  We were picked up by a car service, courtesy of The Corporate Angel Network, another amazing organization that we have come to know through this journey.  Unfortunately, they were unable to locate a corporate flight for us but helped me change our 7 1/2 hour long flight with two stops to a 4 1/2 flight with no stops.  We flew into a different airport that was further away, so they offered to have a car service pick us up.  I didn't even know this was an option.  Really, all of these organizations are amazing!

Speaking of amazing organizations, The Ronald McDonald House here is incredible!  It is just like a hotel, but better, in my opinion.  We have a hotel sized room with two twin beds, a pull out couch and a private bathroom.  The house has a giant play room, a dining area that has several different, shared, fully stocked (plates, pots, utensils, etc.), gourmet style, kitchens and a beautiful family room area.  We have a mail box, a cabinet in our kitchen and a giant bin in the refrigerator and freezer to keep food.  They frequently have meals brought in from generous, outside groups.  The whole house is being beautifully decorated for Christmas and Nate was handed 2 new toys within seconds of walking in the door (we've been warned that at this time of year the kids can get a little spoiled, because lots of toys are brought in from outside organizations).  We are a short walking distance from the hospital, but the RMH also has a shuttle to the hospital available.

When we were given the tour, I held it together through the whole thing, but started bawling as soon as we got back to our room.  It's just so nice here!  In college I used to take collected pop can tops to The Ronald McDonald House in Tucson and one time I helped clean up after a family meal.  I remember pitying the families.  It was so sad to me that all those families had a sick child and had to be away from their home to get care for their child.  Are we really that family now?  I guess we are...and I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to travel with our son, to the best surgeon in the nation, and to have such a beautiful place to stay.

After our tour, some lovely friends picked us up and took us for a delicious BBQ dinner. Nate was a pretty good boy at dinner, but got a little wiggly at the end, so we headed home to get some sleep. We spent all day today at the hospital meeting with doctors...but that's a post for tomorrow because I need to get to bed. Goodnight from New York. I promise to write all about our meetings, tomorrow.