I have been so busy lately, there has been little time to be online,making phone calls or writing blogs other than birthday blogs. We are enjoying our new life in TN, everyday it becomes clear that we made the right choice to move. This is where we are supposed to be, there isn't a doubt about it.
Today that was all the more clear. We got up and drove twenty minutes in heavy rain to the University of Tennessee medical center. Normally we would've had to get up at four a.m. to drive 330 miles to Stanford for our 8 am appointment. We quickly arrived at the UT medical center and were blown away at the size of the campus. It is large with many buildings, we searched for parking and set out to find our destination.
Walking inside the hospital, we immediately were amazed. Very newly re-done and updated facilities, clean and bright. Stanford is large but very outdated and often dingy in places, so this was amazing to us. We got registered, labs done and then went to find the transplant clinic.
We were greeted by D whom I had spoken to last week on the phone. She was so friendly and personable, chatting our ear off immediately. She told us they are a family there and she knew it was hard for us to leave our Stanford family. They want us to feel welcome and like part of the family. WOW is all I can say to that, it was so comforting and nice.
We loved all the staff we met today. As you all know, we loved our surgeons at Stanford and were very fond of them. The surgeon we met today was very young, very friendly and personable. He listened to us,asked questions and told Marty " it was nice to meet you, I want you to go out and live your life."
To have quality care close to home is amazing to us. A couple of days ago, I met someone in the marketing department of the hospital at work. She wanted me to call her after our visit and wants to make sure we are happy there. I am sure she had a hand in our warm welcome today.
It took us twenty minutes to drive home. No more 660 miles round trip to see the doctor, no more worries if something happens we won't have top of the line care. We have a team of transplant physicians that can care for Marty full time now. It was one of the major factors that was behind our decision to move. When Marty was on the wait list for transplant, we would hear stories of people in the south waiting 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 weeks and so on. The average wait time in California is seven years, the average wait time here is under two years. It was hearing that during our wait time that helped us start looking to moving to the south.
We are living life finally. After Marty's transplant, we were able to live but had this huge decision weighing on us. Now we are free of those weights, we can fully live life and enjoy it. Settling in has gone fairly smoothly, we've had lots of help from friends, really just two more major items on the to-do list and we will be completely settled.
The kids have found a youth group on Wednesday evenings to meet with and are really enjoying it. We haven't been able to meet up with the homeschool support group yet. Hopefully soon we can meet some other homeschooled kids in our area.
I love my new job at Fig, it is nice helping my friends with their store. I am really enjoying the challenge and learning something new. I have also been busy in the evenings working on learning Wordpress for my first client for Julesmpg Social Media. It has really been a huge challenge that is pushing me beyond my comfort zone. That is a whole other blog in itself.
Everyone keeps saying they can sense my peace, they can sense that I am lighter and happier. It is true, having overcome so many challenges in the last several years, I do peace. Knowing we are living our dream, following God and starting anew is a wonderful feeling. Like the doctor said, we are getting out and living life!
If I am quiet, don't worry, I am just a text,DM, phone call or email away. I haven't been able to be online much for myself since I am busy working online for others. Please don't hesitate to shoot me a message, I will always get back to you.
As Auntie Mame says, " Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death. Live! Live! Live!'' I am off to live!
PS the doctors are still pouring over Marty's records from Stanford which weren't faxed ahead of time like they ought to have been. URGH! But the bloodwork today looked good and they are still waiting on one lab to come back.
