Walking a mile in these shoes...er, flip flops

Drew can do very little now to contribute to this transplant process - even we parents are somewhat held to minor tasks and errands all focused on helping him enjoy the small things...oodles of noodles, crushed ice, strange milk shakes, etc.

We no longer monitor the blood levels like we did in outpatient care since the numbers are on the screen outside the door - no longer double check the IV dosages since the computer does that, too - no longer haul him to appointments. His IV tubing is even long enough that we don't have to help shove the IV stand to the door when he sprints to the toilet. Gotta love this place!

But there is one thing the doctors said he can do to make this process work best - and that is walk. Staying up and fit for as long as he can is his most important task, and he is taking it quite seriously. So far, he has not entered a wheelchair - instead, he's chosen to walk to radiation and back (a total of a half mile) for each of his six treatments in the south clinic. His transporter loves him - the guy still has to push the empty wheelchair (rules) as he follows Drew. The doctor saw Drew flip-flopping through the clinic corridors and thought he was escaping.

Drew has a pedometer to measure his number of steps each day. The 9200 hallway requires 49 steps per section, four sections to a lap, 14 laps to the mile. He is racking up the miles -all in the flipflops from Uncle Scott. His IV stand regularly bumps into the obstacles of the crowded hallway (full of chairs, nurses, computer stands, and carts), similar to his learning-to-drive experience, as we remember. But he has caused no damage or injury (the nurses have learned to step back). State Farm should be so lucky.

And Mom got a pedometer, too. She did 3.4 miles since lunchtime!