Delaware Adventure

To say I am done with travel would be putting it mildly!!

I'm grateful that traveling home did not involve meeting Destiny again!!  Just saying!!

I know many of you have wondered why Aaron and I went to Delaware this week.

It wasn't to meet Ronald although he is a GREAT GUY!!

And it wasn't so we could try out the Ronald McDonald house although I have to say that the House that Ronald built in Wilmington is NICE!!  I've been in five star hotels over the last few months because of the Conventions and honestly - most of them could learn a few things from that place!!

But the Ronald McDonald house was NOT the reason we battled traffic to get to Delaware!

Aaron and I were in Delaware because back in March we had heard through the blogging grapevine that the Research department at the duPont Hospital for Children was working on a 'robotic' arm for children like Aaron.

Needless to say, we immediately contacted the department and asked if they would consider Aaron for the program.

They sent us an e-mail that listed some of the criteria for acceptance and in reality... Aaron was extremely  borderline.  In full reality - Aaron's left arm did not qualify AT.ALL  and his right arm's range of motion was way under what they desired.

And his hands definitely didn't pass the test!!

But we sent in video of Aaron showing off what his arm could do. He actually had a cast on in the video which meant that they COULDN"T see what his right arm could do.  But despite not being able to see his range of motion (which we were very honest about), he won over their hearts.  I think they could not turn down his dimples.  NO ONE CAN TURN AARON'S DIMPLES DOWN!!

We were overjoyed that they accepted him but worried a bit that they would regret their decision when they saw how little range Aaron had in his arm and once they saw his hands.

So we did not share with very many people about our plans because we did not want to get our hopes up for our little guy and have them dashed to the ground.

On Monday we met the Research assistant in the department.  After examining Aaron he admitted that his range of motion was by far the worst of any children they had worked with so far. 

I can't tell you how hard those words are for Rob and me to hear.

Despite his range they began the fun task of designing the contraption....

It involves temporarily casting him for a body brace....

....then temporarily casting him for an arm brace....

It then involves waiting a day or two while they create the braces that will hold the 'robotic' contraption....

So that meant Aaron and I had 48 hours to 'play' at the Ronald McDonald house.

Aaron played while Mama worked....

....to be continued....