Friends Lightened The Load

Two months ago my friend Angie made plans to fly to Seattle on November 7th to visit. Little did we know that Ashtyn would still be in the hospital with a discharge date on the horizon. The night after Angie arrived, she and I were heading out of the hospital room when Milton came by to say Hi. Ashtyn and I met Milton in August while she was in the intensive care unit. He is a 25 year old who had a bone marrow transplant five years ago, works as a nurses aid, and plans to be a pediatric oncology nurse one day. I told him we were leaving to move Ashtyn’s and my stuff from the Ronald McDonald House room (we’ve had since March) into the Ronald McDonald Apartments that are specifically to isolate bone marrow transplant patients. Milton offered to help! In about one hour the room was vacated, ready for check out, and everything was move into the apartment. The rest of the week Angie grocery shopped to stock the fridge, unpacked bags, organized, made beds, and decorated to make the apartment feel cozy. I’m not sure if we are going to get the green light to leave the hospital today but if we do, we’re ready for it.

Ronald McDonald House room

Ronald McDonald House apartment