2008 Appointment
Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA; 31 December 2008 at 10:30 am -- Dr. Michael Portman

Emma holding her brother Kolbe, Mary, and sister Megan - December 2008

Emma had her annual appointment today, 31 December 2008. Emma is 15 years old now and is 5'2" tall. Emma had an echocardiogram test that took 25 minutes, and an EKG test. Emma waited for Dr. Portman after that. It was a very uneventful appointment. Nothing has changed. The daily dosage of enalapril remains at 10 mg. The size of Emma's heart is just fine. Good news for another year. Dr. Portman said, "See you in a year."

Emma took many of her friends with her to the doctor appointment this year. They decided to make a day of it. The appointment only took an hour and a half. During this time, Emma's friends waited for her in the waiting room. Megan and Matt slept. Lyndsey and Jason listened to their IPods. Afterwards, they went to the Seattle Center; they rode the monorail to Westlake Center; they walked to Pike Place Market. These were their three major shopping hubs. On the way to Pike Place Market, Matt said he saw a drug deal going down. It is an unfortunate side of life in Seattle, but exhilarating and disturbing both at the same time when you see it.

If Dr. Portman had given us different news, I don't know what the kids would have done. Dr. Portman has told us at least twice before, "Emma needs to have surgery. We'll schedule for next week." He said it once in 1997 and again in 2003. That is always a shock. One that I try to prepare for every year. Kids are more resilient. I suppose they would have gone shopping anyway.

Here are a few photos of the day.

Children's Hospital - Emma and Kolbe	Children's Hospital - Jason and Lyndsey
Pike Place Market Lyndsey, Emma, Mary, Kolbe, Jason, Matt, Megan	Seattle Center Emma holding her brother Kolbe, Mary, and sister Megan

Seattle Collage - Seattle Center, Monorail, Pike Place Market