A - Z and 5 DAYS LEFT!!

Brandon has done it! He has learned the whole alphabet in exactly one week IN PRINT! X & Y were a bit tough but he counts the "legs" to determine whether it is an X or a Y. Today we woke up & got him fed before the 6 hour cut off (no food or water 6 hours prior to treatment). Then he went back to sleep. The Dr's came in soon afterwards but didn't want to wake him up. They said to let him sleep so they left. LESS THAN 2 minutes later, 2 nurses came in to put his IV in. I asked them to come back later since the Dr's said to let him sleep. They said "no, now". So at 9:15 am this morning, they did his IV. 45 minutes later, the interpreter came in and said that the treatment has been cancelled today because the flight was cancelled. The stem cells are flown in the day of the treatment in insure that they are as "fresh" as they can be. They said that the treatment will be done on Friday instead. Of course I was a bit concerned because we head home on Monday & from what we have always been told, you must wait 5 days after treatment to leave. I told them that we ARE LEAVING on Monday - regardless. They said that since his last spinal was fine that this one should be noneventful as well therefore it would be ok to leave on Monday as scheduled. We are so ready to go home that nothing is going to keep us here!! I told John that we'd run away if they attempt to keep us longer. With that being said, I told them to take his IV out and Friday's IV won't be given until closer to treatment time. It is crazy to give a kid an IV 6 hours before treatment. Especially since they don't start using the IV until an hour prior to treatment. Brandon being tortured today could've been prevented if they hadn't been in a rush. I had promised Brandon that this was the last IV & I unintentionally lied to him. Last night I couldn't help myself. I started packing. I tried to limit myself & pack only the stuff I wouldn't need here. It made Brandon & I feel so good to begin the process of packing. It made the impending trip home seem a bit closer. Brandon & I have gotten so used to being by ourselves. We aren't trying to be standoffish to the other patients, we're just so homesick and don't feel like hanging out in the lobby. Yesterday I took Brandon to KFC and that's the only time we stepped out of our room the entire day. Today we went to the nurses station to get the IV out and that's been it. John has been telling me to put a DVD in & watch a movie to make the time go by faster. I can't even get myself to do that. I have turned the TV on twice since John left 10 days ago. He convinced me to try a movie twice but each time, I didn't watch it. I feel completely different since everyone left on the 1st. The only thing on our minds is the prospect of being home soon. All Brandon talks about is leaving China & going home. In the middle of the night, I hear him talking in his sleep. Usually he just says "I wanna go home". We wander through the process of getting up each day, eating meals, listening to music just to end the silence, practicing letters and chatting with family back home. And of course staring at the clock, begging time to move faster. Now I know what the other patients feel like the last week they're here. It really does go on forever!!