August 23

I've never been to Houston before this, and I've never been to a city this big, except Chicago. I've certainly never been on a highway that had 7 lanes in each direction! I was trying to drive to work, which is 15 miles away, and it took me 40 minutes, without much traffic. There is no good way to get there without going on a toll road, for which I have no Tex Tag. So I hit every red light, it seems! The guys in the Houston office are being super helpful, just like my Austin guys. I can come and go as I please, make my own hours, work whatever days I want. I'm going to try to help out the Austin office, since they have gotten very busy. This happened when I left for maternity leave as well. That just be the trick, have Sarah leave, then the work will come pouring in. Does that make me lucky, or unlucky?

Doctors are hoping to have some information about the HLA typing this week. That is the tissue typing test they do to check if a donor is a suitable match. They are checking the antigens in the donor blood to see if it is compatible with Cael's. The closer the match, the less likely Graft vs Host disease will be. They are currently checking the blood cord bank for matches. I think they will know by the end of the week (wait, that is tomorrow...) or maybe next week if they found a full match, or if they will be using Adam or me. If they are using Adam or me, they will start e process with us to get our blood ready for donation. Again more on that when we find out which they are using.

I would like to take a minute to acknowledge our amazing babysitter, Kendra. She started taking care of Cael when he was just 6 weeks old, and helped us as needed until we went to Dell at the end of July. When we told her we were at the hospital, she brought us dinner in the first week. Then, while being 7 months pregnant, she went around our neighborhood with flyers to ask for donations for a garage sale to benefit us. She did all of this in just a few days and then gave us all the money they raised. Keep in mind that she is 7 months pregnant, and it was 100 degrees in Texas. She is incredibly sweet to do that for us!

Also, a big thanks to our neighbors, Brian, and Misty and Rema. They have been taking care if our dogs since we went to the hospital nearly a month ago. They do this all around their jobs and trying to have their own lives. I can't believe how lucky we are to live in the neighborhood we do, with next door neighbors who are so understanding and helpful. Hopefully they dogs will be picked up by some family soon and taken back to Indiana to be watched by our families until we can go home again. We were thinking about flying them back to Indiana, but airlines won't transport pets if the temp is over 85. So that isn't an option right now. The cats though...we are going to have to find a new permanent home for them. The immunology doctor in Austin said they are not good to have with an immune deficient person. Concerns about toxoplasmosis. Adam is not happy at all about this. Those are his cats! (I'm not really a cat person, so I'm not quite as torn up about giving them up) but we need to find a good home, hopefully in Austin where they can go. I'm not sure what it will take for Adam to give them up, but we both understand that this is what is best for Cael, and that is what matters most.

It's a good/bad thing we have quite some time to deal with all this. At this point I am thinking we have a good 3 months before we are back in our own home. I am already missing it! Especially our bed. Sharing a twin bed is not very fun, or comfortable. It will be a very happy day when we get to go home. For so many reasons. I can't wait.

Here is a cute pic, just for fun. He is just like me - anytime he sees a camera, the grin shows up. He is such a ham. :)