We'll be on the road again...

...come Monday. We made the decision today to drive to Maryland for this coming week's return trip to NIH. Woody got up early, like usual (glad to be back in his routine), headed off to work, worked, walked at lunch, worked some more, and came home to rest and relax. He has been in pain this evening.

I spent the day waiting on phone calls and making plans for our next trip. The Fellow returned my call this morning and gave me the information that I needed. He also said that Woody should come in to the clinic when we get there on Tuesday and be admitted...but not to stay. By doing that we are eligible for the lodge that is on campus for families (the patient already has to be admitted)...good thing to know. So when the social worker returned my call, I was able to ask her to find out if there was a room available. She checked on that for us and called back to say that we could stay for the first two nights that we are there...but there wasn't an available room(at this time at least) for the other two nights. This is free lodging provided by NIH (the government). Woody and I will both be staying there on Tuesday evening and then I will be staying there Wednesday night by myself. I also found out that when we do fly that we will be getting our tickets through their government travel agent (the only way to get reimbursed for part of the ticket). We will be reimbursed at government rate for the miles we travel to and from NIH, also. Later in the day, I talked to the research nurse and found out when Woody has to be at the clinic/hospital for the preop stuff. The social worker told me about a nearby hotel that has the best rates and also a shuttle to NIH. So I then made reservations for the other two nights at that hotel, which is only about a mile from NIH. I will be staying there Thursday night by myself and then we will both stay there on the night that Woody is released from the hospital.

I will say that I have discovered that the orientation meeting that we missed was something that is needed...lots of information that I gleaned today from the social worker that I should have learned on Tuesday. I plan to ask if I can sit in on the orientation this coming Thursday (if it works out with Woody's surgery time), since they have them on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (We missed our orientation due to computer problems at Woody's registration.)

Now that I have all the above done, I guess it is time to start packing again! So we can once again travel across the rolling hills of TN (pictured above) and VA and onto the beltway of MD.