The call came on a Thursday morning. Juliette did not have a diagnosis for Lupus
and her ANA level was higher than before.
This left us at a crossroad. We
either needed to go to a pediatric Rheumatologist (our choices were a doctor in
Germany, one in Venice, or back in the States) or begin re-running tests
here. It did not take much to determine
we needed to have her seen by the Specialist.
But where? That choice also did
not take long as the States seemed the best option.
My parents live fairly close to Duke, so the process of
trying to get her an appointment with the Pediatric Rheumatologist began. By
Saturday night, Juliette and I were on a cargo Space A flight (aka: free
military flight). By cargo, I mean we
sat in seats along the walls of the airplane and the rest of the space was
filled with cargo boxes.
I have motion
sickness and the thought of flying sideways made me nervous. There were no meals or drinks served, no
handy trays to fold down in front of us, and no warm towels to refresh our
faces. However, armed with a backpack of
snacks, warm jackets, a sleeping bag, and ear plugs (no insulation = extra
noisy airplane) we had an absolutely wonderful flight. We could move around and be as loud as we
wanted because you couldn’t hear anything anyways! J sat
on her suitcase using her seat for coloring and playing.
After a 3 hour flight we arrived in Rota, Spain and were to
be back at the airport the next afternoon for our flight to Norfolk. Before we left, Greg had made us reservations
at the Gateway Inn on the base to spend the night. It was close to midnight and I was
exhausted. J had been so good and was
holding strong while we made our way to the hotel. We walked through the hotel doors when a lady
on the phone said “Are you Anna Harris?
I’m sorry, but we don’t allow children under the age of 12 to stay here.”
To Be Continued…
