A lot has been going on with this proton process and wanted to share an update this journey has recently put us on. We were cruising through proton therapy and made it through the first eight treatments developing a really good sustainable routine driving down to Cincinnati and back. We were going into a long memorial day weekend excited about the pool opening up and having an extra day at home without an appointment. However, when Tuesday morning came around, we learned that the machine was down but were expecting it to be back up the following day. We were bummed about the loss of a day but felt confident we could make it up without pushing into much of July or into our summer vacation that we have had scheduled. It’s a pretty tight window to get all of these treatments completed but we’ve been optimistic with how efficient it’s been going . Then we learned the machine was down on Wednesday and then again on Thursday and then again on Friday! Each day they told us it would be back up tomorrow and each day it wasn’t. At this point, we have lost a week and started to get really frustrated and concerned with such a delay in a treatment plan. When we called that Saturday, demanding we get a plan in place we learned the goal was to take the show on the road and find a sister city with the exact same machine capable of running Ryan’s plan. Luckily, that city was Baltimore, Maryland, which happens to be one of only four cities in the US with this exact same proton machine! The only piece of information they gave us was to be at the Lunken Airport in Cincinnati by 7 AM on Sunday morning for a private charter with other doctors and patients from the Cincinnati center. Their hope was that this would be a three day effort in Baltimore and allow the additional days to get the machine up and running. With only one day to plan, we were unsure of all the logistics to make this work for us, AJ, our jobs and Boh. After talking with them, they approved the ability for all four of us to come and we made the homecoming trip as a family. They really did a good job thinking through everything we needed and made it really efficient for us to commute back-and-forth between the proton center and the hotel but what we are most thankful for is our Baltimore family who have made this trip extra special. We didn’t get back home on Wednesday like they had hoped but we did learn on Wednesday that the machine was back up and running and that they started to begin treatment back in Cincinnati that evening. So now the plan is for us to finish off the week here and travel back Saturday morning. It was an unplanned week to try and navigate, but we have made the most of it and really valued the flexibility of our employers, and our friends, to accommodate this shake up in our schedule. I guess if there’s one thing we learned is that in this process is and has never been linear and just when you think you’ve got something figured out, there always seems to be a curveball. However, the other thing we’ve learned about Ryan as well as our family and friends, is that when life throws us curveballs we knock that sucker out of the park and smile as we round the bases.  With that analogy, maybe we should try and take in an O’s game tonight! 

We couldn’t be more thankful for our baltimore crew taking care of us this week. We totally felt the love and cherish your support especially the Long fam who literally took us into their home for most of the week and made sure we had everything we needed. You guys are truly family and we can’t thank you enough. 
     This week has been a logistic marathon with new information and changes to the schedule literally happening every hour. Tomorrow alone we will Uber to the airport at 6am, fly into Cincinnati, take another shuttle to Lunken airport where the original charter left, drive to Columbus and turn around Sunday morning back to cincy for a 930 appointment. It’s been a grind but we keep pushing through. 

Please keep praying for a smooth process ahead and that Ryan is able to navigate side effects as we get into this second half of treatment coming up…13 down - 17 to go! Anxious to be home soon!