The Results Are In

Thanks to everyone who has prayed, messaged, text, and called to find out how our follow-up visit for Cheyenne went today. If I didn't answer or respond, please know that I truly appreciate you thinking about us. It's just that the news and plan was very overwhelming and I lacked the energy to tell the story multiple times.

After their review of all of Cheyenne's Stereo EEG data, brain mapping and biopsy results, the Epilepsy team has determined that at this time, Cheyenne is not a good candidate for brain surgery. Here's why:

The EEG data showed that two electrodes were firing simultaneously when Cheyenne has a seizure. However, these two electrodes are on opposite ends of the left hemisphere and therefore there is not one specific area that can be removed to prevent seizures. Also, the results showed that her EEG data is always abnormal - even when she is not having a seizure. In fact, her neurologist said that he believes the only chance she has to becoming completely seizure free is to have a complete hemispherectomy. That is where they completely disconnect the two halves of the brain. That of course would have very significant permanent side effects. It is because of the permanent damage that such a large procedure would cause that the surgery team is not willing to do it until we have exhausted all other possibilities.

We have been fighting the medication battle for over a year and a half. We have been through multiple medications and even if/when the medication works, the side effects are terrible. Some have caused aggression, some have caused extreme fatigue and all cause cognitive delays. Also, currently she is taking two different meds and her seizures are still increasing in frequency and intensity. We NEED to do something different. So for now, there answer is to implant a device called a Vegus Nerve Stimulator (VNS). The VNS functions like a pace maker for the brain. It gets implanted in the chest and an electrode wire gets wrapped around the Vegus nerve. It will send electrical impulses to the brain at intermittent times and durations based on how the doctor programs it. The science behind it is that these electrical pulses cause just enough disruption in the brain waves to prevent seizure neurons from gathering and firing. Statistically, the VNS has reduced seizures by 50% in over 50% of the cases. Also, another benefit is that if/when a seizure does occur, you can use a special "magnet" to swipe over the device and instantly stop the seizure. The hope is that we can eventually decrease her meds and alleviate a lot of her cognitive delays by eliminating a lot of her seizures.

The doctors want us to try the VNS for about a year to two years to see if it helps. If it does, great. But if it doesn't, then we will need to seriously consider the major surgery. The VNS can take anywhere from 3-6 months to become "therapeutic" enough to work. So in the meantime, we will be changing her meds (again) and also adding CBD oil (medical marijuana). And before you ask - No, you can't have some, and No, we're not taking it too? 😉Besides, when I made a joke about taking it too, the Doctor said to me, "Unfortunately, the chemists have found a way to suck all the fun out of it!" LOL. But seriously, the doctor said with kids the CBD oils either work miracles or do nothing but there's no real side effects, so it's worth trying because it won't cause any harm and we may get lucky and be on the positive side of the fence.

Cheyenne will have the VNS implanted on 2/28. The surgery is pretty simple and a lot of times is done as an outpatient procedure. But Childrens wants her to stay overnight one night for IV antibiotics and to ensure she doesn't have any complications. She will have to spend one night in the hospital and miss about two weeks of school just to give the incisions time to heal and prevent risk of infection.

And the Hits Just Keep on Coming

On Tuesday the docs had told us that even though we had't seen any obvious seizures, they were picking up a lot of seizures on the EEG. They were feeling pretty confident that she would be a surgical candidate and had even told us we could likely go home on Saturday (three days early). As good as that news was, I told Kev that I would feel a lot more confident if she had at least one "good" seizure - one that I saw. Well, I guess that's why they say you should be careful what you wish for because yesterday morning she had three seizures all within a two hour period - and with vomiting in between. The doctor came in and decided they had received enough data before starting her back on meds. Since she had multiple seizures in such a short period of time, they wanted them to stop. He also shared with us that during those big seizures, multiple electrodes were firing at once. So it's hard to tell if those seizures are starting at one point and spreading super fast or very wide-spread seizures that start all at once. He will need time to thoroughly examine the EEG data to determine.

And then last night, the surgeon came in to deliver some scary news.

Now they want to do a biopsy of Cheyenne's brain to rule out a very serious condition called Rasmussen Syndrome. They want to do the biopsy because that is the only way to 100% confirm or eliminate it. They already have the wholes drilled in teh place they will need to do the biopsy, so we would really be remiss not to take advantage of it and do it just in case. However, he can't "squeeze that in" on Friday as he was planning to remove the electrodes on Tuesday, so now we have to wait until our original time slot in the OR on Monday.

They think there's only a low change that she has it - but still A chance...and IF she has it, the only way to "treat" it is to sever both halves of the brain - which you can imagine would present it's own set of challenges to overcome. So then we would be faced with a quality of life vs. quality of life discussion...

And if I'm being honest, I am a complete wreck of emotions. I'm sad and depressed but I'm trying SO HARD not to cry so she doesn't see how scared I am for her. I mean one of us has to be strong! If either of us should be frustrated and crying right now, it should be her. She's the one stuck in a bed for days and days with all kinds of strangers comin gin to talk to her and make her perform silly tasks over and over. She's the one away from her family, her school friends, her toys, her pets - but SHE is handling it very well. She only voices the occasional complaint of "I want to go home." She is a trooper.

And Lord help me, that right now the ONLY thing keeping me from losing my mind is that I know - without any doubt- that she would be dead if she was still in China.

And on top of all of this - we have the scary stuff with Faith going on too. Tomorrow morning we have her first appointment with the neurologist AND with an oncologist. The only bright side is that we were actually able to miraculously get copies of her MRI scan done in China. I received them yesterday and have shared them with Chidren's...so hopefully they will be able to tell us more tomorrow. we could REALLY use some good news.

So please keep praying for BOTH our girls. 

Fear Can’t Reign in a Heart that is Full of Gratitude

Here we sit in the waiting room of Children's Hospital while our daughter is having the first of multiple brain surgeries. I thought I was doing okay with everything until the car ride here...that's when the lump that's been living in the back of my throat grew about four sizes. Everything suddenly seemed so scary.

When the anesthesia nurse came in, she told us they would not be able to have us stay with her while they put her under due to it being a sterile environment. This was the first time since we've had Cheyenne that they weren't able to allow us to stay with her until they put her to sleep. They also said they will need to wake her in the OR to ensure everything is okay. That will be the first time she will awaken after any sedation or procedure without us being with her. That news made the lump grow another size or two.

The doctor (and the assisting physician) came in to talk to us. They said the procedure could take any where between 2.5 hour and 4 hours. Since they are inserting the electrodes into both sides of the brain and they are using a robot to assist, there are many possible delays/technical difficulties they may need to work through. Then once all the electrodes are placed, they have to take her for a CT scan to ensure they didn't accidentally puncture any vessels....yep the lump just grew another two sizes.

Once they took her back, Kevin and I went to the Cafe to eat breakfast but neither one of us really has any appetite. We walked around the gift shop for a few minutes and bought Cheyenne the last remaining Paw Patrol pup she doesn't own. (We buy her a new one with each procedure requiring sedation. So if you know the show, you can do the math.)

So now we are sitting in the waiting room trying to busy our minds with anything other than the unspoken fear we are both feeling.

So instead of letting the fear win, I've decided to list all of the things I'm thankful for regarding this day:

1) I'm thankful we were able to keep Cheyenne healthy enough to proceed. Three out of four of our kids have been sick over the past two weeks, and she was the odd one out...

2) I'm thankful that Kevin and I are both healthy and therefore able to both be here together.

3) I'm thankful the surgeon and staff are healthy and therefore able to perform the procedure.

4) I'm thankful for the upbeat music playing on my drive in this morning. It was the only thing keeping me from crying.

5) I'm thankful for the flexibility of both our employers, especially mine. My boss and coworkers have been great in supporting me through all of this, even when it means they have to carry heavier loads.

6) I'm thankful that we live very close to the #2 Children's hospital in the world (any honestly, they should be #1). It gives us peace of mind that we likely wouldn't have elsewhere.

7)  Oddly, I'm also thankful for the brand new iPhone watch I just bought yesterday. Twice in less than two hours, it has sent me a notification reminding me to breathe and telling me how a good deep breath can help to reduce stress...maybe someone can tell me if this is a "normal" message or if it's really smart enough to know how stressed I am this morning. :)

8) I'm thankful for our other kids being so "self-sufficient" that we are able to spend this time getting Cheyenne the care she needs without having to overly worry about them as well.

9) I'm thankful this week has fallen in our nanny's winter break from school and how awesome she is with helping our family and entertaining the other kids.

10) Most importantly, I'm thankful for the huge amount of outpouring love and support we're receiving from friends, family and coworkers. Whether it's an encouraging text, offering to bring food to the kids at home, or simply an ear listen, it means so much.

Even though they took her from us about 7:35 this morning, they just now (10:35) gave us an update that she went to sleep fine and they just got the robot in place...which means even though we've been waiting for three hours, they are just starting the actual procedure.

Lord, please be with the surgeon and staff as they proceed. Please guide his hands and help ensure proper placement. Please be with Cheyenne and keep her safe. Amen

I will try to write another update later this afternoon or evening. In the meantime, thank you all so much for keeping our girl in your thoughts and prayers.

Prayer Warriors Needed

Last July when the doctor gave us the official diagnosis of Epilepsy for Cheyenne, it took my breath away. And earlier this year when they determined that her particular type of Epilepsy has less than a 3% chance of ever being controlled with medication, I thought things couldn't get much worse...but last Friday, it did.

The day we met Faith we noticed she has a subtle head tic. It occurs almost all the time but is even more pronounced when she is stressed. This, in addition to her head circumference measuring in the 97+ percentile (compared to height and weight below the 10th percentile), had the International Adoption Clinic doctor (Dr. Staat) concerned enough to refer us to a neurologist who specializes in Movement and Tic disorders. Knowing the neurologist would want an MRI, Dr. Staat proactively ordered one. The MRI was done on 12/26. We didn't expect to get any information about it until our appointment with the neurologist next week. So imagine my surprise when I answered the phone last Friday morning to hear Dr. Staat's voice on the line.

Dr. Staat knows us well. We started working with her and getting to know her very early on in our adoption journey to Cheyenne in 2016, when Dr. Staat reviewed Chey's Chinese file with us. We worked with Dr. Staat after bringing Cheyenne home. Dr. Staat also spent a good deal of time working with us on the file of the little girl we ultimately had to turn down because of new medical results Dr. Staat uncovered. She reviewed Faith's file and when we brought Faith in for our post-adoption appointment, it felt like reuniting with an old friend when we were with Dr. Staat.  I say all this to help you understand that she knows us and we know her well enough to know when something feels "off".

I had that feeling from the moment she started talking and how she seemed so hesitant to say whatever it was she was trying to say. She asked me if I had read the MRI results on MyChart. I explained I had but didn't really understand what it all meant. I knew something was not good because I did read that they wanted to do another scan in 1-3 months, but we went through that with Cheyenne, so it didn't scare me too much. Dr. Staat went on to explain the results to me. She was using big medical terms (like neoplasm) that I didn't understand. Again, I could tell she was choosing her words wisely in an effort not to scare me, which of course was scaring me. When I asked her to just "give it to me straight", she said the words no parent ever wants to hear - CANCER! For a few moments, the whole world came to a screeching halt. Dr. Staat went on to explain that they see something on the scan, at this time they are unsure of what it is. They listed three possibilities, but neoplasm (cancer) was one of the three possibilities. She told me that as soon as she read the results she contacted the on-call neurologist who also read the results and reviewed the scans. Together they determined that while nothing seemed to be emergent, we should change our appointment from the Movement & Tic disorder doc to a different neurologist, specifically the neuro-oncologist. The new doc they want us to see if off until tomorrow. Dr. Staat told me that she would personally call that doc tomorrow to request for her to see us as soon as possible. But for now, all we can do is wait.

I asked Dr. Staat to level with me and give me the best and worst case scenarios, recognizing that she herself is not a neurologist. She told me that best case scenario was that whatever this lesion is they see is nothing. It's a benign infection or something that can clear up on its own and no harm will come. Worst case scenario is that we discover it is cancer and have to treat it in the same way as any other cancer is treated - with chemotherapy. What's worse is, because it is in the brain, the chemo could alter the healthy parts of the brain surrounding it.

Dr. Staat asked me if Faith ever complains of headaches, seems overly tired or vomits. I told her no and in fact, she seems extremely "normal". Dr. Staat agreed those were all good signs and attempted to reassure me that this is just one potential diagnosis and to not panic. And we're trying. Some days we do well, other days (mostly quiet nights), I'm in tears thinking and praying about it.

In the meantime, we are attempting to gain copies of an MRI that she had done in China (2.5 years ago). Our agency says it's a long shot but they're trying.

Not that news like this could ever come at a "good" time, but as timing goes, this is at least a time when we're very distracted with other concerns. Cheyenne goes in at 6:00 Monday morning for her Phase 2 Epilepsy testing. She will be in the hospital until 1/15 and I will be with her pretty much the entire time. This will have me/us worried enough to hopefully not worry too much over something we have little information on.

These days, the thing that gives me the most hope is the reminder, we named her "Faith" for a reason...we need to have Faith Over Fear - now maybe more than ever.

We know God has a plan but many times it's really hard to trust in Him. Please pray for healing for both our girls and pray for strength for us.

S.U.D.E.P

Cheyenne got diagnosed with Epilepsy about 18 months ago. In that time, we have certainly learned a ton of new vocabulary. Words like "intractable" (when medication doesn't stop the seizures), "cluster" (3 or more seizures in a 24 hour period), "Post-Ictal" (time immediately following a seizure where the person is responding but in a state of confusion or incoherence), "Clincal seizure vs. seizure" (Clinical is when we can see outward signs/symptoms. Seizure is in the brain only with no outward signs/symptoms presenting) and "bridge medication" (an extra medication (like Ativan) that is supposed to halt seizures after you've experienced a "cluster"). Of course there's also all kinds of new words or tests/scans I had never heard of like Stereo EEG, Diastat/rescue med, PET scan, MEG scan and Ictal/Post-ictal tests. Of all the words we've learned, the scariest is actually an acronym: S.U.D.E.P. This stands for Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy Patients. This is a lot like SIDS, but annually takes more lives than SIDS. They claim that children are less at risk of S.U.D.E.P than adults, but I have a friend who has not one, but TWO, other friends who have lost their children to S.U.D.E.P.

Ever since I heard that word, I have lost sleep at night. I installed a "nanny cam" in Cheyenne's room that I can view on my phone. I watch it religiously when she's in bed. And every morning, when I go to wake Cheyenne up, I will literally hold my breath and say a prayer until I see her squirm as I turn the light on or see her move/breathe as I walk in. EVERY.SINGLE.MORNING....

When we got discharged that Friday from the EMU back in August, a nurse called me about an hour after we got home to tell me the doctor had called in a "bridge medication" (see definition above) for her to use over the weekend. This surprised me because that morning when they discharged us they told me they hadn't seen any seizure activity since the one that occurred around 3:00 Thursday afternoon. When I asked why they called it in, the only thing the nurse told me was they "saw something on the EEG from that morning they didn't like". (Thanks, that's very helpful - not). Later that week, I had Chey at the hospital for yet another test. While waiting in the lobby I saw one of her doctors from the EMU walk past. I said hello and he came over to chat for a minute. In that conversation he told me that on the EEG for the two hours before we left, her brain was "seizing" every 20 MINUTES. So even though I didn't see her have a "clinical seizure", she was seizing a lot. That did not help my sleeping habit one bit!

Following the EMU stay in August, they changed her meds and we thought we were on one that may actually work. She didn't have a seizure for over 2 months. That was the longest time period since her diagnosis. We knew the trip to China and back would throw her body for a loop. What we didn't expect is how badly.

About two weeks after we got home from China, (the Thursday prior to Thanksgiving), Cheyenne started having a seizure a day and twice on Sunday (no pun intended). The Monday of Thanksgiving week, we started another bridge medication...but this time it didn't work. Not only did she still have seizures while on the bridge, but she had one of the longest seizures of that week. We had been in regular contact with her neurologist and at first they were hesitant to do anything differently because of her upcoming Phase 2 testing (January 7th). But when even the bridge didn't work, he decided to increase her meds. Overall this helped for about a week or so but then yesterday she had three seizures within four hours. We took her to Children's ER. At first they were only going to put her on yet another bridge and send her home but I cried and told them I really wasn't comfortable having her home overnight with the frequency so high. I explained my fear of S.U.D.E.P and convinced them to admit her overnight for a video EEG. She had another seizure about an hour later and has had at least three seizures this morning (even after they started their bridge last night). Fortunately, the EEG showed no seizures overnight while sleeping so they reassured us that she is safe to come home today.

I plan to call her neurologist first thing tomorrow and discuss everything with him and/or have him see her ASAP. I'm scared to death that something has changed in her brain and really want them to do another MRI. Even if it's the same, at least I'll have piece of mind about that part. We'll see what happens.

In the meantime, I thought you all would like to see a picture of her Neurosurgeon. When we were scheduled with a Dr. Jesse Michael Skoch, I didn't expect an old man as I believed "Jesse Michael" was a pretty young name. But I did not expect him to be younger than me! He was super nice when we met him and is clearly VERY smart. (I guess you don't get to be a brain surgeon without being super smart.) But this guy, put off part of his medical school so that he could lead research studies at Harvard and Children's has given him his own lab so that he can research and test the ability to use thermal imaging to detect seizures, brain activity, etc. (These pictures actually make him look older than he does in person.)

Dr. Skoch will be admitting us on 1/7/19 for her Phase two testing (as noted in my previous blog). Until then, we will keep monitoring her and hopefully able to get a bridge to work to keep the seizures at bay for the rest of the year.

For now, please keep praying for Cheyenne. Because right now, the only thing giving me reassurance is the hope that she could be seizure free by her 10th birthday!

Language Barrier

I've been asked several times lately about the challenges of adopting a child who speaks a different language. Of course, in addition to the other obstacles I've written about, the language barrier certainly doesn't make life any easier, but it's really not as bad as most people imagine.

Did you know that in any verbal communication, only 7% of the message is conveyed by words? Yep, according to 'Psychology Today', it's only 7%! The rest is tone of voice (38%) and body language (55%). This means that the majority of all of our verbal communication is through body language. If you think about this for a minute, you will agree. For example, how many times have you or your spouse said to each other, "It's not what you said...it's HOW you said it." That philosophy certainly helps ease a transition when people don't know the same words.

Smiles, hugs, tears, the "come here" motion, the famous "I have to go pee pee" dance/motion and even the sshhh motion seem to have the same meaning in all languages. That might be enough to get by with a young child but with older child adoption, it is important to know at least a few key words or phrases. In my case, I learned how to ask "Are you hungry?", "Are you thirsty?", "Are you tired?", "Are you scared?" and of course "I love you." in Mandarin. Kevin learned to speak Mandarin very well. He will tell you that he only learned enough to communicate with a child, but that's an understatement as he has held his own in plenty of adult conversations while in China. This helps tremendously when he is around, but when he is away, I have to rely on my own understanding of our girls' body language, and show them mine to get the most out of our time.

For example, when Faith wants to show me something, she just carries it over to me and says "Ka, mommy". It's not too hard to figure out that she really means "Look, mommy." So I smile and give it the due attention but then teach her to say "Look, mommy" instead. Once I know she understands, I slowly stop answering to "Ka, mommy" and only answer to "look, mommy". If something is too large for her to carry over to me, she will simply come to wherever I am, grab me by the hand and pull/lead me to what she wants to show me.

Fortunately (and sometimes unfortunately), kids are little sponges and they learn very quickly. It only takes me asking once or twice "Do you want a drink?" (while pointing to a cup) for them to learn and know what I'm asking and then in turn, they will come ask for a "drink?" when they are thirsty. 

Each day gets a little easier. She learns a few more words and I learn a few more of her phrases. When all else fails, technology also helps. There are many translator apps that will even allow you to push a button and have a conversation in two different languages.

I will admit, there has been more than once when Faith is being a little chatter box in Chinese. When she's talking so fast that I can't even make out the few key words I know to try to decipher what she's saying...in those moments, I just smile, nod and agree. In those moments, I can only hope that she's also not calling me all kinds of bad names...but again, reading her body language helps makes me feel better about that too. I figure since she's only six, she's likely not asking for a trip to Europe or telling me some super top secret mission launch codes. 😜

Progress in the Making

Sunday was a down day where we really just hung out at the hotel and explored around town.

Monday we went to the local zoo. It says it is the third largest zoo in China but we were able to see everything in about 4 hours so... It was super hot and SUPER humid. We all loved seeing the animals, but especially Faith. She ran up to each one and was genuinely awed by them. This is probably my favorite part about adoption - all the "firsts" we get to experience with our new kiddo. We missed their normal firsts like first words, first tooth, first steps, so it's nice to get to experience these other firsts with them. This was clearly the first time Faith had been to the zoo and seen those types of animals up close.

Tuesday was our "Consulate Appointment" (CA). The CA is the final required step in this process. At the CA we have to go to the US Consulate and swear under oath that we will never forsake or abandon the child. We also have to swear that we are adopting the child to raise as our own and not to "sell" them to someone else back home. 😟 This appointment finalizes everything on the American side and most importantly is when her Visa application is finalized. We will be issued the Visa tomorrow (Thurs) afternoon. The Visa will make it so that Faith becomes a U.S. Citizen the moment our plane hits U.S. soil! 😊 According to the Consulate, this particular Visa is the hardest document in the world to obtain...as he said this I was thinking, "No shit, it's taken almost a year to get it, even after you already had the same info on us from the last time!" After the CA, we went to the nearby mall and watched the new Nutcracker movie in 3D - another first for Faith. She did really well with it. Then we had dinner and it was time to meet our diver who was taking us to the River Cruise. As we were getting into the van, Faith grabbed a seat on the outside of the back row. I was getting in behind her and needed her to scoot over to the inside so that Kev and I could sit there too. I asked nicely two or three times and after she refused, I gently picked her up and slid her over to the inside. OH.MY.GOSH! You would have thought I took her favorite toy away from her. She cried and screamed the ENTIRE way to the cruise! We tried giving her toys to play with, candy, anything and it just didn't work. Fortunately when we boarded the boat, she perked up and had a blast looking at all the beautiful scenery. When it was time for bed, Kevin ran an errand to go buy bottled drinks for our day today. While he was out, I tucked Cheyenne in to her bed (in the couch), had Faith give her a good night hug and took Faith into our room to climb into bed. Once she was lying down in bed, she started crying silent tears. This was pretty out of the blue and she wasn't mad about anything. I tried to lay down next to her, rub her back and talk to her. I asked her why she was crying (no answer). Soon after, Kevin returned and I explained everything to him. He asked her again why she was crying and she replied "I don't know". This is grief - mixed with over-stimulation! Poor thing was exhausted. She was back to not wanting me anywhere near her and only wanted her daddy. Once she fell asleep, everything was ok but this broke my heart.

Today we went to Chimelong Paradise. This is a large amusement park with all kinds of rides. We only went for a half day because we didn't want to overstimulate Faith again. The boys and Cheyenne went to ride the "big kid" rides with my mom and Kevin and I stuck to the rides Faith was tall enough to ride.We all had a great time. Faith was such a dare devil. She was pretty happy the whole day except after about every other ride she would see a big kid ride and say (to Kevin in Chinese of course), "I want to ride that one." When he would tell her she was not tall enough she would stomp her foot and cross her arms and pout. EVERY.SINGLE.TIME! 😂 Fortunately, it only lasted until we came up to the next cool ride where she was tall enough. I got the pleasure of riding her very first roller coaster with her and then she gave Kevin her big beautiful brown eyes and asked him to go with her on the water ride...which he agreed! He HATES water rides and I'm pretty sure even his Princess Cheyenne hasn't been able to get him on one, but he willingly agreed to accompany Faith and I on the ride. We came back to the room and gave the girls a nap. While the girls napped, Kevin helped the boys with their homework and my mom and I went down to the bar to have a few drinks and play cards. That was a lot of fun too, mostly because my mom  got trashed and was hysterical! Fortunately, she kept her clothes on! 😉 Once the girls were up for a while it was time for dinner. Right before we went to dinner, Faith came up to me and gave me a hug - all by herself! Once we were back in the room, I gave the girls a bath. While the bath water was running we had an all out tickle fight. They LOVE, LOVE, LOVE taking baths together and splash around and have a great time together. While they were in the bath, Faith says, "Mommy?", I looked over at her and said "Yeah baby" and she said "Wo Ai NI" with a big smile on her face! Oh my goodness, I almost cried. When it's time for bed, she'll probably be back to only wanting daddy, but at least we're making progress.

Tomorrow morning we will pack up everything and get ready to go home on Friday! YEY!!!! We will pack in the morning and will go to Shamian Island for some site seeing and dinner tomorrow afternoon.

We will be picked up to go to the airport at 8:00am Friday morning. We will fly home all day on Friday. I may get the opportunity to write again, but I may not. So, if not, please wish us well on our journey home - not only for safe travels but for traveling with a little girl who 1) has never flown before and 2) does not seem like the type to happily sit ans watch movies for 14 hours. :)