Back From NY Gathering

[m&mmom]

The museum was great. It was all day therapy and Matthew had no clue.
Thanks to all who made the day possible.
Cindy

[francine]

Wow - what a great day!

Standing Ovation for Claudia and her family!

What an amazing day - I am exhausted.

-francine

[m&mmom]

We're exhausted to but the kids fell asleep on the way home and now they're wired. LOL.
Cindy

[tcon]

I agree...thank you Claudia and family. It was so nice to meet you all. Sorry we skipped out without saying goodbye. we had to take my parents to the airport and lost track of time.

terri (mother of Kearney LOBPI 5mo).

[Kathy Reilly]

What a wonderful day for all the kids and parents! Claudia and her family really out did themselves! Thanks for all the long hours you put in to make it such a wonderful day!
Kathy Reilly

[TNT1999]

Thank you so much, Claudia and family!! The museum was really great and so was the entire day! Everything went so smoothly. You all did such a great job and obviously put a lot of work into the event. Sorry we didn't see you to say goodbye. I also feel bad b/c I didn't meet Julie (Julie-work). Sorry, Julie, I looked for you (name tags) throughout the day. I hope you got to meet some families today. You did inspire me to branch out more and meet more people, which was really good. It's so easy to get in a comfort zone with people you already know and look forward to seeing. Terri (tcon), I really hoped to find you today too and I'm sorry we didn't connect. Please email me or call me so we can chat some more. I'd love to hear about Dr. Nath's eval too if you'd like to share. Well, I have a child who very seldom ever sleeps in the car and tonight was no different. She talked about her day the whole way home. She wants to go back to that museum again. She's also very excited that she doesn't have to have surgery at this time. So, I took the opportunity to remind her to keep up the great work with all of her therapy. I think tonight she finally made the connection of how important therapy really is (well, it seems like she did). I know that surgery is not always unavoidable even with all the therapy in the world, so I hope no one takes offense to that, but I do know that therapy has its place in the whole picture too. I really feel that of all the different types of therapy that Nicole does (medical, school, alternative, lifestyle, etc.), they all have their place, but the place I see the most remarkable things is in the therapy pool which we still do 2x/wk.

I truly feel for all the families who had to think about the next surgery on their way home tonight. I wish I could take away your pain. I guess surgery vs no surgery is a mixed blessing either way. For children who need surgery at this time, the bad side is obvious (having to have your child go through surgery, etc.), but the good thing is that there's help available to them. For children who don't need surgery at this time, of course it's great that they don't have to go through surgery. On the other hand, when as a parent you see how far they are from "recovered" it's also a little tough to know that there's quite possibly nothing else that can be done to help with the areas that are most lacking (supination and finger function in Nicole's case). So for now, I'll just try to focus on the positive and hopefully others can too.

I'm so thankful to Dr. Nath and "team" for all their hard work today and as always. I can't imagine how exhausted they must be after seeing so many children (and adults) in one day. Great job, TCH!!

Well, my "Eveready bunny" finally stopped and is sound asleep and I'm off to bed soon too. Thanks again for all the hard work that you put forth, Claudia and family and TCH and anyone else who helped make today possible. I think a children's museum is a great place for an event like this b/c it's somewhere that parents can meet and network while the children can have lots of fun playing (oh yeah, I guess a lot of us "big kids" were playing too, esp. in the music room - LOL!)!

It was so nice seeing friends again and meeting so many new families. Take care all. Goodnight!

-Tina

[Sally]

What a wonderful day!! Thanks for all your hard work, Claudia and family - and everyone else involved. Thanks also to Dr. Nath, Lisa T and Lisa D and Nancy. It was so nice to meet a few new faces (Hi, Melissa and Justin!) - and to see some that we had met before (it was great to see you Stephanie and Nathan! If you get a chance, email me, OK?)

We got home about 1 hour ago (we live in MD) and the kids are still talking about what a great time they had (they talked practically non-stop all the way home! LOL)

Thanks again! It was an wonderful experience.

Sally - with the small mob of boys in bright orange.

[francine]

Sally - you were there????? Where????
LOL LOL I never got to see you!!

[Princess]

I had a wonderful time & am grateful to all those involved in making this opportunity exist out of the kindness of your hearts! It's people like you who make a real difference in the world & in the lives of those who really need it. I'd like to acknowledge your efforts. Not many people take the stand you all have chosen take to, its commendable. A million thank you's to all involved.

Gratefully yours,
Halai

[Kathyb]

Wow what a great day!!! I am so happy that i got to meet so many of you. I loved Dr. nath and his team. They were so organized and efficient. We are having surgery in april and I really feel at peace with the decision so i guess thats half the battle right!! Claudia I didnt get to meet you but thank you for a wonderful day!!!!! kathyb