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First post from Cleveland. Countdown to Hemiversary.


Journal entry by Lisa Rossignol — Mar 22, 2008


We are in Cleveland....never thought life would take us here. What a gift it has been, though. The Ronald McDonald's House is a large, beatiful building that has offered us a large, clean room for four for a measly $20/night. The other hotels near the hospital run $72-$225/night. Different community groups come in each night and cook all of the families dinner. It is usually pretty yummy but no green chili here. 
We have been here one week and it really doesn't feel that way. When we stepped off of the plane, we stepped into an alternate, fuzzy universe where nothing makes sense-nothing sticks. It is a nice sort of mental holiday. 
The first few days got to me because Lily was so unhappy having all the EEG leads glued to her head that she just cried and cried. Also, this is a hard culture. You know that everyone in this house has a really sick baby and during meals everyone makes rounds to find out what the other family is here for. Some people are getting miracles, others are getting heartbreak. 
But you never saw a stronger group of people. Just taking what life gave them and making the best of it. 
Tomorrow we go to meet Dr. Bingaman. You can find a picture of him at ccf.org and search for William Bingaman. When people talk about him, the heavens open up and the lights go on and angels fly. People really speak so highly of him.
The Cleveland Clinic is 6 blocks wide and so impressive. Everyone knows who Lily is, what her diagnosis is, where we are going next. They are just so "on it". 
I don't know how well we will do keeping up on this once we get into surgery time but we will try. 
Miss you guys.....Love, Lisa

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