Charlotte's Journey

Last Saturday, Charlotte walked into the nail salon, browsed the polishes to pick her colors, and climbed up into the little child sized pedicure seat, putting her little feet into the foot soak bath and let out a deep breath as if she had been doing this all of her life🤣Boy she sure looked like she could get use to this pampering! She had 2 little friends, and her sister Taylor along with one of her friends, all join her for her nail salon afternoon to celebrate her 4th birthday. They were all pamper with fresh orange slices rubbed on their little legs and foot soaks and a pedi/mani. We must have looked so crazy, treating these little people to such a lavish service at their age, but no one there could know Charlotte’s story. You can’t tell what she’s been through at a glance. No one could have known that Charlotte and I have played nail salon countless times while hospitalized and how doing our nails was such a good distraction from what she was going through. And now, she gets to b...

Today, Charlotte turns 4 years old! Well, excuse me, according to her this morning she is NOT 4 until everyone sings happy birthday at her party 😂. Birthdays are all that much more sweeter and precious now. We were so grateful for 3 but last year we were still in the thick of it, going through the uncertainty of transplant. We were learning all about how if it wasn’t the disease that threatened her life, it was the actual treatment itself that was life threatening. We were so thankful to see 3. And she was thankfully outpatient for her 3rd birthday but not home. She was recovering at an apartment near Duke. But this year, this year we are HOME. And our baby girl gets another birthday. Yesterday, Charlotte woke up, her last day as a 3 year old, excited to go to preschool and celebrate her birthday a day early with her new friends. While she was gone, her birthday present was built in the back yard! It's just like Charlotte to wish for something she can enjoy with her brother and ...

So Charlotte needs to be in the clinic at MSK in NYC for 3 Thursdays in a row to start this vaccine trial. Her second of 7 vaccine injections is Thursday 10/5 and Corporate Angel network arranged for a corporate jet to transport us up there! We could only get as far as Trenton NJ so...Charlotte and I are taking the train from NJ to NYC too! Good thing we have quite the adventurous spirit built in. The corporate jet was beyond amazing!! Some corporations donate space on their private Jets to this charity (Corporate Angel Network) for children to be able to get to various hospitals and such as they are undergoing treatment. The social workers referred us a while ago and this time it worked out! Once we arrived, a limo drive us from the hanger to the train station! We then took a 90 minute train ride into Penn Station NYC. We then cabbed it to RMH. We ate dinner and played bingo and had some playroom fun before tucking in after the long travel day. Today, we went to MSK clinic bright and...