Update: - July 12, 2013

New Beginnings

Well, It's been a crazy month and half.  After the trip to Baltimore, Lauren and Fabian began to seriously consider where they should be.  Carlsbad is where their hearts are, but it had become clearer and clearer that they needed to be closer to a top-notch team of doctors to help keep her more stable.  At first the idea of moving seemed pretty insurmountable.  Where to go?  What about her disability -would she need to reapply?

Well, in many ways it seemed meant to be.  Dallas was the most logical choice because she had already met and had begun working with a doctor there she really liked and trusted.  Due to her many trips, she knew the area pretty well.  And she has quite a few relatives in the area (including her brother, Chad, and his wife and kids - little Fabian's cousins).  Once they began to put out feelers, it seemed like everything started to slip into place.  When Fabian's bosses heard he was thinking of moving, they put the word out and he was approached pretty quickly by a another branch of the same pharmacy, but in Dallas.  It seems that they really wanted him, because though the position they were thinking of wasn't ready yet, they didn't want to lose him to another pharmacy, so they created a floater position for him until the position they want him in becomes available.  In the meantime, Lauren found out that her disability would transfer to Texas without a problem.  Around this time, they discovered that it would take about 4 weeks for Fabian's Texas pharmacy license to go through.  However, his bosses in Carlsbad said that he could keep working there until his license came through.  After some discussion, they decided that Lauren should move as soon as possible in case the doctors called to let her know that her surgery had been approved.  That way she wouldn't have to travel back and forth after a major surgery.

All that was left was to find a place to live.  With the help of many people, a pretty terrific apartment was found.  It's in the same Ft. Worth suburb as her Aunt Sally, to whom she is really close.  It's about a mile from a highly rated elementary school and the complex itself is really child friendly.  It has several playgrounds and pools.  It also accepts dogs -  which was really important because Lauren's dog, Chewy, and little Fabiancito's dog, Roxy were moving with them.

So, the week of July 4th, Lauren's parents drove down and helped them pack up.  And on July 5th, they moved in to their new place.  Fabian joined them for the weekend to help get things set up.

Over the past week, Lauren has been joyfully getting to know her knew home and new city.  One benefit of living in a metropolitan area is that they cater to a lot of different diets and health needs.  She has been able to go out to eat and to buy treats like cupcakes because there are restaurants and shops that serve gluten free/dairy items.  Her food budget even went down because there were a lot more options in Dallas.  In Carlsbad, many times she had to special order the food that she could eat.  She discovered that within a very short distance to her new place were several grocery stores that carried her food, a SuperTarget and even, (woohoo!) an In-n-Out Burger (they can serve burgers "protein style" in lettuce leaves, and their french fries are made from REAL potatoes unlike most other fast food places).  With all these options, she is able to do more things that she never could in Carlsbad.  Going out socially was a huge issue in Carlsbad and now she has options.  Shopping was a carefully planned outing and if she ran out of something, it often took awhile for the store to restock it.  That won't be an issue any more.

Most importantly, little Fabiancito is happy.  He called the new home and new neighborhood a "paradise."

And then, Lauren's doctor's called with good news.  The surgery is now scheduled to take place July 31st. There's a lot of pre-op stuff to take care of so she will be admitted on July 30th.

She is in a really good place, surrounded by family.  Soon, Fabian will be there with her and little Fabian.  Things are looking good.  With the surgery coming up, we will of course keep you posted and she can definitely still use lots of good thoughts and prayers as surgeries are always stressful.

Again, thank you to everyone for your help, generosity, good thoughts, and prayers.  It has helped so much.