Transplant Games 2010: Day Four (and Day Five: the journey home)

Our last full day at the Transplant Games was a hot one - and we (okay, it was really mostly me) had the brilliant idea to go to the zoo in town. It was a fantastic little zoo, but we certainly would have been better off just hanging out at either our hotel or the Scadlocks, doing some swimming and relaxing. Ah well! We did see some neat animals and the kids enjoyed themselves.

Alex and Ben played on the playground before we met up with Beckham and Co.

The kids check out the seals.

Beck relaxes by the lions.

Gwen, Beck and Ben are a bunch of animals.

In the afternoon Alex hung out in the hotel room...

Then Ben and Alex chilled in bed and watched cartoons.

In the early evening we got back together with the Scadlocks. The kids played and then we had a quick dinner near their hotel. Then it was time to head to the closing ceremonies - our last official Transplant Games activity.

I love Gwen's little pigtails!

Talking with Kim at the closing ceremonies. I'm wearing the shawl I received from Threads of Compassion after the donor recognition ceremony. The woman who started the organization is also a donor mom, and she and dozens of others began knitting these shawls. There are now over 100 people in the group and they've made thousands of shawls to hand out to donor family members.

Beck and Alex loved hanging out on this cover for the sound wires. Alex hugged everyone who walked over it when the ceremony was over!

Gwen and Alex gave each other tons of hugs... Of course I couldn't get the actual hug on film...

... Similarly, we tried to get a photo of Beck giving me a kiss. He gave me several, though. It was very, very special for me.

Ben and his friend Joey. Joey attended the games with his grandparents who were also donor parents. They were attending in honor of their daughter, who passed away when she was about 11 and became an organ donor. They were amazing people we met at our hotel on day 2 and saw several times over the course of the games. We will definitely look forward to seeing them again the next time!

After the ceremony we headed back to the Scadlocks hotel for a brief visit and to share birthday cake. As you can see above, Alex and Beck were both excited about having some cake!

Beck also enjoyed playing with the bowls. This is the last shot I have of him from the Games. He was one tired little guy! I'm so impressed by how well he did despite how rarely he meets new people and his age. Andy and I are both incredibly inspired by Beckham and his remarkable family.

Wednesday morning we packed up and headed back to the airport to make our trek home. It proved to be a rather dramatic journey. Although the weather was beautiful in Madison when we arrived at the airport for our flight (scheduled to leave at 11:30), the weather overnight in the region had been very tumultuous. In fact, the downpours and thunderstorms in the Chicago area shut O'Hare down for a period of time earlier in the day, and because our layover was there, the flight kept getting pushed back.

The good news is, we were able to spend a lot of time with other Transplant Games families who were scheduled for the same flight. We reconnected with Joanne, a supporter wife (her husband Jorge is an athlete) and recent donor aunt from Connecticut, who we met on our very first shuttle; talked to Christen, a support person from Team Upstate who enjoyed spending time with the boys on Monday; and met: a kidney recipient from California and his family (his business partner and living donor was there with him!); a recipient who is expecting her first baby in October through a surrogate mother; a donor mom from Florida who emigrated to the US only to lose her only son, who became a multiple organ donor; and a mom and her recipient athlete daughter.. It was great getting to know these other people affected by organ donation!

Our flight from O'Hare to Rochester was scheduled to leave at about 2:50. By the time our plane arrived in Madison, we were two hours behind - effectively disintegrating our nice layover. By the time we finally loaded onto the plane it was probably 1:45. As we got on we immediately realized there was no working air on the plane - it was beyond hot and stuffy. Add that to my terror that we wouldn't make our connecting flight (and I had already been told that we couldn't be confirmed on another flight to Rochester at all that same day, leaving us stranded in Chicago if we didn't make our flight!), and I felt extremely ill the entire flight to O'Hare. And the flight was delayed at take off because one of our fellow passengers, a kidney recipient, cut his arm and had to be bandaged up (badly enough that he would need stitches once he got to O'Hare). It was a nightmare!

We landed and checked the board - it was 2:50, but thankfully our flight had been delayed to 3:10! We ran to catch a shuttle, needing to go from Concourse F to C. We were the last people to get on the shuttle, and we had to book it down to (where else?) the VERY LAST GATE! I swear it was like something out of a movie. We literally were the last to board. We made it though, and I was feeling MUCH better on this flight (which was, thankfully, air conditioned!). Needless to say, I was so relieved when we touched down in Rochester.

Alex was done traveling... This is him pitching a fit in baggage claim, wanting to be anywhere other than stuck in a stroller!

The 2010 Transplant Games were a remarkable experience. I wish I could pay tribute to all the amazing people we met while we were there. Meeting so many grateful recipients, so many donor families who knew our pain, so many thankful supporters - it felt like a homecoming. And of course meeting Beckham. That first hug was everything I imagined it would be. I love him so much... After all, like Kim said, his heart grew in me. It was great to give that boy a hug.