We're foreigners now

We had Carter's last clinic visit at our original hospital just befor Christmas.  I took pictures of the hospital and of Carter with his doctor and nurses but they were lost last week when I left my phone on the bus :(. His counts were good, anc was higher than they like to keep it at this stage but with all the traveling we were about to do he left his doses the same just to be safe.  It was very hard to say good bye to everyone.  I cried the whole way to and from the hospital that day.  I tried to keep it together while inside the building, but didn't entirely succeed.  I had written some thank you notes and handed them out despite feeling that they were grossly insufficient.  How do you say thank you to the people responsible for saving your son's life?!  It was very emotional for me to leave that place for the last time, more so even than I thought it would be.  But leave we did.

We past the 2 year mark since diagnosis at the end of December.  We spent the day in Paris.  It sounds awesome and glamorous but it was far from both.  We were actually stranded in the airport all day long.  Literally.  We arrived at 9am, tried unsuccessfully to buy train tickets all day (our bank card wasn't working, we still don't know why), on the phone with our bank, sitting on the airport floor, trying to keep track of the kids and watch our ridiculous pile of luggage.  Completely exhausted, lots of frustration, and very little patience.  That was our day.  We finally gave up and forked out lots of money to stay at the Sheraton hotel inside the airport.  We caught a train the next morning and things have gotten better since then :). It feels good to have a full two years between us and that awful night of diagnosis.  That night I could not even come close to imagining what life would be like two years later.  And I NEVER would've imagined that we'd be living in a foreign country while Carter was still going through treatment.  It seems insane when I think about it but we know this is where we're supposed to be.  We are overjoyed with how well he has been doing and look forward to a lifetime of health and happiness for him.

Tomorrow morning is our first appointment at the French hospital.  To say I'm nervous is a laughable understatement.  I've mapped out the bus route several times, just to be safe.  I have my huge binder of cancer info and all of his past cbc's.  I've written down the name of his new doctor and her department in French in case I get lost and can't find anyone who speaks English.  I've recruited a French-speaking friend to come along with me.  I think I'm prepared... But I'm totally freaking out!  Ugh, I just want it to be tomorrow afternoon already so it's over.  Wish us luck, I'll let you all know how it goes.