Fourteen Hours

Yep...that's right. From start to finish, we were gone fourteen hours yesterday. It was a whirlwind of a trip and even though Kc had his camera with him the entire time, we have NO pictures. Sorry.

We got to LA about an hour before our appointment. We only had to make one stop along the way for a diaper change and feeding. Noah did very well and slept most of the way down. The news from Dr. Song is very encouraging. He told us that it was a good thing we didn't have an appointment until this week. The experimental drug that had been suggested for Noah had some very poor results and is now suspended from use. Dr. Song explained that there are many things he can do to preserve Noah's left eye starting with some VERY SAFE eye drops. We'll be heading back to LA in a few weeks to see if they are working.

As far as Noah's right eye, the Doctor has scheduled a VEP-ERG (Visual Evoked Potential - Electroretinogram) in a few weeks as well. It will determine if there is any potential in that eye and whether or not he will have surgery to "uncover" it. If there isn't any potential, it will be left alone and Noah will receive a prosthetic eye that will cover the empty spot when he gets to be five years old. Either way, we have a definite plan of action and that makes all of us very happy.

Before leaving LA, and in order to miss the rush hour traffic, we stopped in Burbank and had dinner with our "transplanted" friends Jenn and Stacey (as well as Stacey's boyfriend Jared). It was so nice to see them again and Noah, while he was a bit cranky and hungry, truly enjoyed meeting everyone.

The drive home was pretty rough. Noah was sick and tired of sitting in his car seat, which was truly understandable, and just wanted to be home. By the time we got home at 11:00, Noah was so happy and awake, that we stayed up until his midnight feeding and did some tummy time. All in all, it was a great road trip.

To make this week a bit more hectic, Noah's achilles surgery that was scheduled for Friday, has been moved up to tomorrow afternoon. I am happy to get it over with although we are not looking forward to spending the night at Children's Hospital again. Thanks for all your prayers. We'll keep you posted.