Monday, May 4, 2009
I rode to Birmingham with Lora Meadow and had a doctor's appointment at 12:00 P.M. with Dr. Nathaniel Robins, a genetics doctor at UAB Children's. Dr. Robins has two interns and a co-worker who will see Meadow.
Dr. Robins has not seen Meadow for almost two years so they will need to take pictures of Meadow for their files.
He ordered some lab work (homocysteine level & some chromosomal study). After the doctors left, Lora changed Meadow’s diaper gave her some milk, and fixed her G-tube in the waiting room.
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| Waiting at the doctor's office |
It is way past lunch time around 1:00 P.M. and we are getting hungry.
I mentioned going to the Botanical Gardens. Lora typed into the GPS the information needed to get the directions for the Botanical Gardens. We decided to eat somewhere close to the gardens.
We asked these two women where was a good place to eat close by and they suggested going over the hill to the English Village shopping area.
We decided to eat at Billy’s Bar & Grill a family-owned pub located in the English Village. Located at 2012 Cahaba Road, Mountain Brook, and Al 35223 205-879-2238 emails: info@billysbarandgrill.com.
The bar is tucked away in the old-world charm with an upscale atmosphere and has an extensive menu, two full bars with an extensive selection of liquors and fine wines. There is a large moose head hanging over the main bar.
We ordered a hamburger with fries for Meadow and we split a Greek sandwich with chips. (It was grilled with Monterey Jack cheese, bacon, and onion, tomato served on whole wheat bread with smoked turkey.)
While we waited, for our food, Meadow tapped her foot to the music that was playing and she kept in time.
We sat in the dining area downstairs because we saw no ramp going upstairs.
The restroom was upstairs, which was much needed after two glasses of coke, along with more dining area, and another bar.
The food was very good; we thanked the waiter and headed back down the hill to the Botanical Gardens.
Lora went to the restroom at the botanical gardens and Meadow and I went to the Rose Garden. I took many pictures of the roses; many were in full bloom, yellow, red, white, and pink, mixed so beautifully.
Lora was on the phone trying to get us into the Ronald McDonald House.
We walked through the conservatory where we saw plants of commercial importance, such as banana, vanilla, coffee, and cacao (the source of chocolate) are here, as are wondrous tropical species of palms, cycads (including a 100-year-old specimen), and tree ferns.
On the north end houses the Camellia’s and on the south side houses the desert plants such as American agaves, aloes and cacti, Pacific rim plumerias, and succulent euphorbia from Africa.
We walked through Bruno’s garden of fresh vegetables, and herbs. We saw fresh sweet peas, Lettuce, onions, kale, cabbages, and broccoli.
On the Herb terrace, we saw rosemary, & thyme.
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| Japanese Garden Birmingham Botanical Gardens |
Next, we walked to the Japanese garden which was opened in 1967 by the Japanese Ambassador to the US and sits on 7.5 acres of land.
I said to Lora, “ I see a red gate ahead” and she said that it was probably a sign outside of the gardens. Instead, it was this spectacular curved top torii, “The gate to heaven” painted a traditional bright red.
Lora had been to the gardens several times before but never to the Japanese gardens.
After entering the gate, we stopped to take pictures next to the bonsai trees, and Japanese Maples. A man stopped and asked us if we wanted our pictures made of the three of us and we said yes.
The path was not paved with concrete but was filled with pebbles and it had rained a lot for this time of year and that made the path very hard to push Meadow’s wheelchair.
The man said that there was a large goose at the pond so we headed toward the pond.
It was such a beautiful pond dotted with boulders within and without and the stream flowed into the pond. You had the feeling that you were actually in a Japanese garden. It was so beautiful that day, even if the day hung with rain clouds.
The pond had fish, turtles, and two geese. The geese were not afraid and would come right up to us. I got a little too close and one of the geese flared up his chest at me.
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| Rose Garden in Botanical Gardens |
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| Vulcan Museum |
We were just coming out of the Japanese garden when it started to rain and we headed to the van. By the time we had loaded the wheelchair and Meadow, it had almost stopped raining but we were soaked.
Next, we to Vulcan Park and walked around, I took pictures, and we visited the gift shop.
Vulcan the Iron Man is located on the summit of Red Mountain overlooking the heart of downtown Birmingham and stands 56 feet.
We stopped at Walgreens and got Meadow some gauges for her g-tub irritation.
Next, we rode to the Ronald McDonald House where we will spend the night.
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| RMH sleeping |
The clerk at Ronald McDonald House said our room would be ready at about six P.M. and that our Room number was 211 on the second floor.
We checked in and ate supper of chicken, beans, and a brownie. Our room was not ready until 7:30 P.M.
I gave Meadow a bath, dressed her for bed, and turned out the lights, Meadow went right to sleep.
Meadow could only have clear liquids up until 2 P.M. so Lora got up during the night to give Meadow some clear liquids.
The next day we had to be at UAB CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL at 5:45 A.M.
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| Birmingham Children after dental surgery |
May 5, 2009
I heard the clock go off, I got up, took a shower, and dressed.
Lora got up and dressed.
Meadow woke up in a very good mood and I dressed her.
We loaded into the van and rode a couple of blocks to day surgery.
Meadow is going to have tubes put into her ears by Dr. Shirley and Dr Curtis is doing crowns and fillings in her teeth. Dr Robins has ordered lab work to be done while she is asleep.
Dr Curtis cleaned & did a fluoride treatment on Meadows's teeth.
Meadow came out of surgery about 10 A.M. and she was not a happy camper. Once the anesthesia wore off she became more agreeable.
She amazingly started sipping some water out of a cup! The water felt good to her dry throat and she drank about four ounces. She did so well that we were able to leave about noon.
We rode to Ronald McDonald House ate lunch, packed, and then checked out.
Meadow ate some more of the soft chicken that was left from the day before. I was surprised she wanted to eat after all the dental work.
I was afraid it would rain all the way home but it was very nice and we were home about 4:30 P.M.
