Final Preparations

It's a daunting task to realize that your child has such a rare condition that you have to travel across the country to get help. I always wanted to go to New York...never did I dream that this would be the reason we would go. But I also couldn't believe our good fortune in finding Dr. Siebert and in my heart, I knew this was the answer for us.

The next few weeks were a whirlwind as we made plans to go to New York. We told Hank we were going to New York to see a doctor. Hank asked if he was an "expert" and I told him, "Yes, we were going to see a specialist who lives in NY." Hank was quiet and then started to cry... he said he didn't want anyone cutting into his face. My heart sank. How did he know? We hadn't mentioned surgery. But technically, there is no cutting INTO the face, so I honestly told him that he'd be OK, and no one would cut into his face.

Jeff thought we would do a "turn and burn" as he called it...fly to NY, see the doctor, fly home. Uh...NO...! I didn't want to fly our 7 year old across the country to NEW YORK and just see the doctor! Nope! This was going to be FUN! (but could we afford to have fun in NY?) And in Jeff's defense...for business reasons, he needed to make it a quick trip!

Jeff and I are the type of people that get hit with "Murphy's Law" all the time. You know..."if anything can go wrong, it will". But not this time...oh sure, Hank's illness and our financial situation would qualify for Murphy's Law, but our efforts to get to New York definitely changed our luck.

Things started to fall into place and it was as if divine intervention was propelling us along. Our brother-in-law (once removed), Bill, found us a friend's apartment to stay in, another friend who works for an airline, gave us a "friends and family" discount, my sisters and mom came up with a plan for caring for our two younger kids while we were gone, and Jeff's mom helped off-set the cost of the airfare. What? Things are going smoothly? Hurray! A touch of good luck! We could use some good luck!