The Quick and Dirty Summary - 2-11-08

First, thank you so much for signing Gracie's guestbook. She and her family are so appreciative of your love and warm thoughts and prayers. It warms our hearts to read everything there.

After a day of rest yesterday, we ramped up quickly today. I'll be making a number of individual posts to summarize our meetings so far, but here is the quick and dirty summary:

We've had three exceptionally valuable consults today.

1. Neurologist - Dr. Charnas. He was a bubbly guy who liked to make jokes at his own expense, most notably his hair loss. :) He seems like an incredible physician. He had a medical resident (student) with him that I believe is Gracie's first true love. She couldn't get enough of this guy! That said, he is married, so we'll have to steer her away from the home-wrecker lifestyle. :) Gracie did great on his exam. To date, everyone is in agreement that she is in great condition relative to other kids they see. Thank you again Dr. Cortes. Many times over we've heard from these physicisans that you deserve some sort of medal. :) More to come later.

2. Neuropsychologist - Dr. Bjoraker (call her Kendra). She reminds me so much of Marsha Kazmierski. She is easily my favorite person we've met to date. Hmm. Perhaps I'm in love too... haha. I had about 20 minutes one-on-one with her, and she discussed and advised me like a friend would. Everyone has been amazing, but this woman takes the cake. One reason she was so valuable: she recently had a son in the hospital with a very serious condition. She knows exactly the kind of advice and insight we need, and didn't hesitate to provide her perspective. I'll share more later.

3. BMT Intensivist - Dr. Tolar - Gracie's second consult (my first) with the guy who will be doing the transplant. This was unscheduled, but he made time for us to ask and answer questions. This was a very big conversation. I'll summarize here by saying that I honestly don't think Gracie could be in better hands. This guy won my trust. There is much more to come about this consult.

In aggregate, these conversations resulted in Sarah and Jimmy's decision to move forward with ERT, as initially planned. A more detailed explanation of exactly why will come later today so keep posted. I am so so happy we chose to come here. Gracie will receive the best possible care in the world, right here in Minnesota.

Gracie has appointments all afternoon, so I'm sure she will be exhausted at the end of the day.

PS - Despite the cold, we went out for a fantastic, delicious dinner last night at Joe's Garage. Both Sarah and I had mashed potato bowls piled up with delicious stuff. YUM!