A Photographic Journey to Iowa City

So, on Thursday Jake and I drove up to do the 6-minute walk and talk to the transplant doctor for the first time.  I decided to take the camera along to show a typical trip to Iowa...though I guess I've never gone for this reason before, so it's not really typical, but...oh, you know what I mean.  This is gonna be really exciting, so buckle up! 

I am not a morning person.  At all.  Morning and I?  We just don't get along.  And this particular morning started at 5:59am...and that was 29 minutes later than it should have started...thus this was my reward.  Granted, I probably should have taken pictures of the actual doughnuts, but by this time they were long gone.

This is Jake driving.  He always drives because I tend to develop narcolepsy when at the wheel.  We've decided it's best this way.

This is one of the construction areas we went through.  

There were only a couple.  In Bloomington, Peoria, Galesburg, the Quad Cities, and Iowa City.  I still don't know how we made it to the appointment on time.

This is a construction worker wondering why the chick in the car is taking his picture as she drives by.

 Are those mountains in the distance, you ask?  No, no.  Those are just cool clouds.

This is a bridge going over the Mississippi River.  Not the one we usually go over, but that one was backed up by, you guessed it...construction.  I like this one, though.  It gives the illusion of being extra sturdy, don't you think?

This is the Pulmonary Rehab gym I use every time I'm in the hospital and where I did my 6-minute walk.  That's me over there by the glass being weighed and measured by Janie.

These are two great people.  That's Jana Beaver on the left.  She's the lung transplant coordinator.  And that's Dr. Klesney-Tait on the right.  She's the transplant team pulmonologist.  I was talking to the social worker, Emily (forgot to take a pic!), and started crying.  She was incredibly understanding and reassuring.  Then she left the room to give Jake and me a minute to talk.  Pretty soon Jana walked in and said she'd heard I was having a tough time and gave me a big hug.  It's just what I needed.  I'm really looking forward to working with them more.

As for the actual appointment...there was a lot of information given to us in a relatively short amount of time (about an hour).  Dr. K-T was very blunt and honest about everything, as she needs to be.  This means that there is a lot for Jake and me to process, and we are still doing just that.  I will post later about all that we learned.

I hope you've enjoyed this photographic journey.  I'll continue to take pictures and hope that they get more interesting from now on :)