history4

We entered Walter Reed about 6 pm, May 19 and I was exhausted I had been up for nearly 24 hours by this time, although we were still in the 19th! Jordyn had to wear a mask all the way from Germany to Walter Reed, Cpt Fuller was very catious with her, and wouldn't let her take it off, although her counts were up and fine. Luckily the first thing the nurse had us do was take the mask off Jordyn and informed me that she wouldn't be needing it anymore! Jordyn was I think in a little bit of a shock, getting to walk the halls without a mask! It had became such a part of her life and routine! It was so wonderful though to see her face happy and smiling and see that beautiful smile! We were taken to the ward, WARD 51, and we said good-bye to Cpt Fuller and the nurse who flew with us and started getting settled into her new room. We were first intoduced to Dr. Carr, who would be one of the drs on the team of residents,interns, and students to see her. He asked tons of questions and talked to me a little told me that the next day we would meet Jordyn's Hem/Onc dr and that she would probably have a bone marrow biopsy and spinal tap. Jordyn instantly took a liking to Dr. Carr! She seemed very taken by him!

The nurse came in after Dr. Carr left and I think got her and me some food. She gave us a tour of the floor and told us to get comfortable and she would check on us a little later. It was so different from Homburg. No mask, we could go where ever we wanted, just needed to let the staff know, and she got to play freely, and everyone spoke ENGLISH!! Oh how my ears longer to hear American English! (We love the German staff and we are forever greatful for EVERYTHING they did, but sometimes there was a communications barrior.)
We settled into the room for a bit and I made phone calls to my mom and told her we were there and she called Chad so he could call me! Then later that evening I got a phone call from a friend, Shawnee, we had been stationed at Ft. Riley together and had kept in touch here and there over the past couple of years since parting ways.

I remember that night I think was the shootings in the Atlanta, Georgia school. I remember crying and thinking how disgusted I was/am with those boys. Here we were fighting for our little girls life against some horrible disease and they so cruely stole the lives of their classmates. Of course I prayed that those killed in their line of fire were safely gathered by Christ and that their families felt God circling them and holding them tightly.

After getting off the phone, I took Jordyn to the playroom and she played for a while and we went outside to the playground that was up on the 5th floor. Yes they have a playground on the fifth floor! They have a playground and on the otherside of the hall there is water fountains and gardens, that is really pretty and Jordyn loved going out to the garden and looking at the water foutain. She loved the playground too, we spent a lot of time out there while we were at Walter Reed (WR). We came in from the playground and luckily she was wiped out and I definately was and she layed down and I passed out! I slept on a chair that made out to a bed. Jordyn woke up so early the next moring, but I felt better, very tired still. More new things were about to come though!!

The next morning Jordyn and I were woke up by a team of doctors and students. I was asked the same questions over and over by different people, from Jordyn's birth until diagnosis. It got old fast! After things calmed down I took Jordyn to have a bone marrow asperate and spinal tap. In Germany parents were not allowed to stay in the room during the procedure so once Jordyn was asleep I went back to her room and took a shower and got dressed and waited for them to bring her back. Instead Dr. D.A. came and told me that he was threw and I could go to the room and sit with her. On the way over to the room she was in, he asked why I didn't stay with her during the procedure's and I told him I didn't know I could, so he told me that I could! After that, Jordyn was never put to sleep, she was just given some "happy" medicine to help keep her calm and she stayed awake during the procedure's and I was always with her.

Dr. D.A came back later that afternoon to tell me the chemotherapy's she would begin over the next month and told me that we could also leave the hospital for a few days if we wanted! I couldn't believe it!! That day I had met a few parents, including a family who's daughter was diagnosed (dx) with A.M.L, went into remission and when she came out of remission, had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), the more common childhood form of leukemia. The mom's name was Michelle and she told me to call her. That night I did call her and told her how DR. D.A. told us we could leave and she invited Jordyn and I to stay with her and her family for the weekend. I know it sounds crazy, considering I had met her for only a few minutes, but I accepted her invitation! Our new friends, Kim and Sarah took us to Michelle's, because they lived very close to them at Ft. Belvoir (which would also become our new home in a few months). Kim drove us home and took us on the "Loop" for part of the trip and the other part, the scenic route, which was down George Washington/Mount Vernon Road. GW/MV goes along the Potomac and it is a very beautiful drive, going through Old Town Alexandria and passing Mount Vernon, George Washington's Plantation and home. Before we left DC for Ft. Belvoir, I checked into the Ronald McDonald House and dropped most of Jordyn and I's belongings off in our room, that would be our "home" for the next month and a half.

Michelle brought us back to DC and drove us by the White House and down Consitution Ave, along the Mall. I had never seen any of this before, and it was very beautiful and exciting for me to see so much. She took us by the Ronald McDonald House and we met a few people on the staff/volunteers and then we were off to Walter Reed.