A Snail Weekend

These are Valerie approved photos of her with Vanessa, Mom and Dad at her favorite spot in La Jolla. I think this weekend has been good for her spirit but she is really upset about having to go back on Tuesday. She gets really overwhelmed thinking about the road ahead. At the transplant meeting on Friday the doctor laid out the plan and apparently it can take 8-12 months to go back to work after a transplant and up to 2 years to feel normal again.
Her rash is horrible! It is honestly the most painful looking thing! Please pray it gets better and she gets some relief from it.
Vanessa was tested on Friday to see if she is Valerie's match. Below are their matching arms afterward. It is hard to believe but Valerie is still the tan one! If you can believe this, they are going to FedEx me the tubes and have me go to the hospital, have blood drawn and FedEx it back! Apparently they do this all the time but I think it is weird and cool at the same time.
Vanessa had to come back to Colorado today which brought a lot of tears for both of them but my Mom had a funny story. "Vanessa leaving this morning was very hard for both of them. God always amazes me with humor. I opened the truck to get Vanessa bag out and a bag of groceries transporting from hotel to Valerie house flew out throwing a giant glass bottle of iced tea on the ground (luckily where I was standing Valerie was on curb with Vanessa) breaking it every where and yes cutting my hand as I tried to grab it. I was so busy trying to pick up glass quickly and get the car moved that it diverted the girls attention to the mess and away from the departure of Vanessa. Although driving away Valerie was in tears as she had been most of the morning (and I am sure Vanessa was too) it helped somehow. I mentioned it to Valerie and she agreed it was an interesting diversion. We came back to her house where she requested nachos which she ate pretty good. Oddly enough Mexican food tastes best to her, most other stuff makes her gag. Pretty much whatever she wants is what I make!"
Last day of freedom for a while tomorrow. Pray she has a good day!