NIH Day 1

 Running  Update:

Week of 2/1/2021	22.9 mi	3:49:55
Week of 2/8/2021	30.7 mi	5:10:24
Week of 2/15/2021	25.5 mi	4:12:51
Week of 2/22/2021	29.3 mi	4:48:31
Week of 3/1/2021	19.9 mi	3:12:46

This will be the last running update I’ll give for a while since Jane and will be quarantining at NIH for the next 10 days!

Jane Update:

Since we knew we’d be quarantined in our room at NIH once we arrived, Jane and I decided to wait until mid-morning to leave home.  It’s about a 5-hour drive to Bethesda from Madison, so we figured we’d rather have the extra hours at home than at the Children’s Inn at NIH.

We've accumulated a rather lot of CTF luggage :)

The drive was over three hundred miles, and a little under half of it was lengthwise through the state of New Jersey, along the New Jersey Turnpike.  For those who have never driven there, you should know that it’s a quirk of the turnpike that its rest areas are each named for an individual—some well-known and some lesser so—from a number of eras, all of whom have some connection to New Jersey.  Some are named after presidents (Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson).  Some are named for statesmen (Alexander Hamilton and Richard Stockton, an 18th century legislator and signer of the Declaration of Independence—I had to look that up).  There are a few named for writers and poets (James Fenimore Cooper, Walt Whitman, and Joyce Kilmer).  There’s an inventor (Thomas Edison), a Revolutionary War Heroine (Molly Pitcher), a 17th century Quaker (John Fenwick), and even an NFL football coach (Vince Lombardi, namesake of the Super Bowl trophy).  We stopped at the rest area named for Clara Barton (founder of the Red Cross).

We arrived at NIH in good time, though it took us a while to get settled in our room.  First we had to pass through security, which is similar to what you’d expect at the airport (passing through metal detectors, putting our luggage through a scanner) but which also includes having the car swabbed for explosives (!) and other suspicious items.  Upon checking in to the Children’s Inn we had to give saliva samples to test for COVID, even though we were tested at home before we left.  We have to remain within our room, except for appointments at the Clinical Center, until our COVID tests come back in 48 hours.  We’ll even have our meals delivered to us!  The bummer is that by the time we’re cleared to leave our room at the Children’s Inn, it will be time for us to be admitted to the hospital, where we’ll have to remain in our room for the duration of our stay!  We’ve brought lots of books and snacks…

The next two days involve “re-staging” of Jane’s tumors as is done every 6 months, in addition to some pre-operative testing and consultations.  Tomorrow’s most important item are the MRIs.

I got special masks for Jane and myself to wear here, but I’m not sure if I’ll be allowed to wear it.  We’ll be issued approved masks by the Clinical Center, but maybe I can wear this one on top of it. 

Jane has already rolled her eyes at me—I don’t think she’ll be wearing hers :)

NF Update: 

I have been blown away by everyone’s generosity this past week!  THANK YOU for all your donations to the Children’s Tumor Foundation on our behalf!!  You are all rock stars!  We love you all <3