Afternoon of Day 1

We're back. Today we met with Dr. Marc Patterson, the infant neurology specialist, CurlyGirl gave a urine sample and we met with the surgical team for tomorrow's procedures. Dr. Patterson interviewed Daddy and I for about an hour and we received the first scheduled version of our week. Dr. Patterson is going to run some more extensive DNA tests which will be looking for genes with missing, moved or extra sections of genetic information. (This is why we study genetics!)

In order to run these tests, they need more DNA samples. So, tomorrow KT will be sedated so the surgical team can 1) Draw blood 2) Remove skin and muscle samples 3) perform a spinal tap. We won't know what time she is scheduled for surgery until after 8:00pm (CST). Some of these samples are being sent to New York and Georgia for testing and analysis.

Thursday, we meet with a genetic historian, a genetic counselor and then again with Dr. Patterson at the end of the day. And we should be done; however, we have already paid for the hotel room and our schedule could change.

This is the end of the today's blog for family, friends and students. Later tonight, I'll write a posting for people who are bringing toddlers to the Mayo Clinic describing the types of things we wanted to know before we came.

Our first post!

Hello - If your reading this post looking for deep spiritual insights, pithy political analysis or practical parenting tips, you're in the wrong place. This little blog is being written for a couple of reasons.

1) This is a way to communicate with family and friends as our family travels to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota later this month.

2) As we've tried to get ready for this trip, we've looked around the Internet for other blogs in order to know what to expect. While none of the other children have medical conditions quite like Kaitlyn's, it was useful to read of other families experiences. So in the interest of helping others in similar situations, we plan to blog up to and through our trip to Mayo.

So, if you know of our family, please pray for us as we prepare for this journey and for our CurlyGirl, in particular. If you've found us because you're in a similar situation or have a question, leave a message in the comments.

Thanks - TK