Friends With FOP

I was so worried about our flight that I was pleasantly surprise on how seamless it all went.  I took Steve Eichner’s advice.  Erin and I pre-boarded with about five others.  We were the only ones who were not senior citizens.  I immediately saw the concern on their faces when we approached the pre-boarding area.  We were the third in line to board.   The lady behind me was talking to her companion and said that she wanted a particular seat.  I made a point to talk loud (not too hard for me) and said to Erin how much fun it will be to sit in the BACK of the plane.  We were hoping for a little extra wiggle room but the plane only had five empty seats.  The boys sat in the row in front of us and shared their row with a high school teacher.  Mike (the boys’ new friend) entertained them for four hours!  I felt like we should have paid Mike for babysitting.

So far we’ve caught up with family and friends.  It’s been a lot of fun.  Aunt Jenny (Alan’s sister) and our friend Gloria came up from Georgia.  Saturday all of us including my father met at the Nashville Zoo.  Granddad Ryan (my father) made sure the kids saw as much of the zoo as possible.  We had only an hour and a half to get through it.

Sunday was the family picnic.  Alan and I woke up to his cousin Crandell helping Retha (Alan’s mother) loading up the cars to go to the picnic.  We are so thankful of all the family that drove from all over to see us.  It was a pleasure to meet Bob and Guycell Cole whose church gave Erin the beautiful lap quilt.  I made sure Sharon Kantanie (an adult with FOP) who lives in Tennessee was invited.  We are all so thankful that Sharon and her mother Mary was able to come for a few hours.  Sharon and Mary did an awesome job with the impromptu Q&A session.  We did get photos of everyone but we haven’t downloaded them from the camera yet.  I will post pictures once we do.

Internet access has been limited.  Today we said good-bye to Aunt Jenny and our friend Gloria.  When they left we had to do some errands.  I went to the laundromat and Alan went to find a Walgreens to get the medications we couldn’t refill before we left.  Now we’re at the Barnes and Nobles at the Opry Mills mall.  Wi-fi hot spots have been hard to locate.  As Alan and I do our online stuff, Brennan and Larkin have been working on their school work.  Tomorrow we get to spend all day with Granddad Ryan.

Erin’s left bicep muscle didn’t swell as much as her past flare-ups.  She finished her four-day steroid treatment and we continue to give her Naproxen.  The first night we arrived in Nashville she wasn’t too sure about her surroundings.  She kept saying, “Mommy, let’s go on airplane and go home.”  Every so often she’ll say, “No Meemaw house.  I go to our house. I go cuddle couch in our house.”  That’s when we fire up the DVD player and play Barbie DVDs.  Yes, we are now up to TWO Barbie DVDs (The Diamond Castle and Mariposa).

Here are some photos I’ve been able to post online.  I’ll be posting more soon!