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Dr. Wong and Cincinnati Children's Hospital

I was talking to Traci last night and we thought it would be a great idea if we all posted when we were going to see Dr. Wong so that we can arrange ahead of time to get together with all the families while we were there. I am still contemplating the best way to do this whether by discussion or group so any discussions would be great and dates as well. I am taking Jared for the first time to see Dr. Wong November 11 - 14 but we will be there the entire week from November 8 - 15 or 16. I know several of you will be there also but remind me who and when exactly. I am so looking forward to getting together with other families during our trip!

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Permalink Reply by Gina Manning on September 16, 2008 at 11:15am

We will be in Cincy Feb. 3-5 anyone else there during that time.
I would be great to meet up with others there at that time
Gina

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Permalink Reply by Karen Barnett on September 16, 2008 at 11:52am

Kari & Rhiannon,
I will be there with my son Daniel Nov. 12th and 13th. We only have one day of appts on the 13th. Please let me know where your all staying and I'll try and book at the same place. I have not made any reservations yet. Polly, Daniel can't wait to see Cole again! I liked the Crowne as well (indoor pool) but if your staying several days or a week you can't beat the Hannaford Suites with that kitchen in the suite.

Karen

Rhiannon Traigle said:

Polly,
Yeah! Ya'll will be there the same time as Kari and I! We are trying to stay at the same hotel. If you are interested, contact Kari about where they are staying. I will probably just follow suit, I have not made accomidations yet.

Rhi

Polly Sundeen said:
We'll be taking Cole to CCHMC the week of 11/10. Our itinerary isn't finalized - but I expect the appointments will be spread over 3-4 days. This will be our 4th annual visit - haven't thought about where we will stay this time. The Crowne Plaza was nice last year - but it will depend on if my husband can take time off of work and travel with us or not.

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Permalink Reply by Karen Barnett on September 16, 2008 at 12:02pm

Polly,
With only me and Daniel going and it only being one night my preference is for the Crowne. I liked the atrium restaurant/buffet right there and Daniel really likes the hotels with the indoor pools but I'm open to staying somewhere else.

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Permalink Reply by Kari on September 16, 2008 at 4:03pm

We have made reservations at the Hannaford Suites since it was a condo with a full kitchenette so we don't have to necessarily eat out all the time. The only drawback is there is not indoor pool. I will stay whereever but it was recommend to me to not stay right in the big city and that this was a nice place to stay. We will be there the week. We are planning on flying out on Saturday Nov 8 and flying back on Sunday Nov 16. Jared's appt's are Nov 11 -13 and his 8th birthday is on Nov 14 so we would like to do something special like the zoo that day. We wanted to try to make this visit more than just 3 days of testing so it would be a positive thing and not negative. I imagine we will be staying at the Hannaford on Sunday night through Saturday and then we are going to go to my friends church about 2 hours from Cinncinnati. We have not seen their family since they left our church here in Burbank to pastor there. Anyway, we would love to try and stay together with all your other wonderful families and really develop friendships even across state lines as we are still bound by MD. Check airfare rates for those that have to fly. I was able to find a great deal from LAX into Dayton for $700 total for the three of us which I am told is a great rate. I have set up a non profit called Keep Jared Jumping to help us with those expenses also as people wan't to give and then they can get the tax deduction as well. So, we are Cincy bound and can't wait to meet you all.

Polly Sundeen said:

Karen,
Cole is looking forward to seeing Daniel too!! Still don't know if there will be 3 of us or just Cole and I for the trip - guess it's time to start figuring out where to stay and how we are getting there. Do you have any preferences?
Polly

Karen Barnett said:
Kari & Rhiannon,
I will be there with my son Daniel Nov. 12th and 13th. We only have one day of appts on the 13th. Please let me know where your all staying and I'll try and book at the same place. I have not made any reservations yet. Polly, Daniel can't wait to see Cole again!

Karen

Rhiannon Traigle said:
Polly,
Yeah! Ya'll will be there the same time as Kari and I! We are trying to stay at the same hotel. If you are interested, contact Kari about where they are staying. I will probably just follow suit, I have not made accomidations yet.

Rhi

Polly Sundeen said:
We'll be taking Cole to CCHMC the week of 11/10. Our itinerary isn't finalized - but I expect the appointments will be spread over 3-4 days. This will be our 4th annual visit - haven't thought about where we will stay this time. The Crowne Plaza was nice last year - but it will depend on if my husband can take time off of work and travel with us or not.

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Permalink Reply by Polly Sundeen on September 16, 2008 at 4:19pm

Kari,
You'll like Hannaford Suites. We have stayed there before and it isn't very far from the Crowne Plaza. There is a large mall across the street - as well as a grocery store to stock the kitchenette. If we don't stay at the Crowne Plaza we will probably stay @ Hannaford again. $700 for 3 RT tix is a good price - are you flying into CVG or Dayton? I haven't started working on our tix yet - but need to get moving on that soon. I've just been waiting to find out if my husband is going to travel with us this time or not. Can I ask how difficult it was to set up a nonprofit for these expenses? I'd appreciate any information you could share about this - our family has been asking me about this just recently and are planning on contributing to help with our trip in November.
Thanks,
Polly

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Permalink Reply by Karen Barnett on September 16, 2008 at 5:27pm

Kari - or anyone else that has done one...
I too would be curious about how you went about setting up a non profit and the cost involved. I have a Trust set up for my son. It can recieve donations but they are not tax deductable to those contributing to it like it would be to a non profit. The trust will allow him to have money to help with his expenses when he is over 18 and still be able to get full government benefits - without leaving him penniless first.

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Permalink Reply by Jenny Garofalo on September 16, 2008 at 9:24pm

HI Guys,
we will be there for appts for Danny on Nov 13th all day. Karen, Rhi And Kari did you book at the crown? would love to stay at the same place. Looking forward to seeing everyone again.
Jenny

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Permalink Reply by Karen Barnett on September 16, 2008 at 10:29pm

Wow! I can't believe you are going to be there too Jenny! I'm really leaning towards the Crown. If I were staying longer and coming with all my kids it would for sure be the Hannaford (kitchen & Krogers). I have stayed at both now. Daniel always wants the hotel with the indoor pool. The good thing is that both of the hotels are very close to each other. Only one exit away I believe off the freeway.

Jenny Garofalo said:

HI Guys,
we will be there for appts for Danny on Nov 13th all day. Karen, Rhi And Kari did you book at the crown? would love to stay at the same place. Looking forward to seeing everyone again.
Jenny

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Permalink Reply by Rhiannon Traigle on September 21, 2008 at 11:59pm

Ok, I am always behind, so I have not made any of our reservations yet! I was waiting for my daughter to decided if she was comming and then with the storm, I kinda lost a month of my life...sooo, I just looked at both the Crowne and Hannaford Suites. My kids want the one with the indoor pool of course, but I still have not decided...I will book something this week though! My question is why these two? They both seem far from the hospital? Even so, I will book anything closest to all of ya'll! lol! I am thinking we will fly in on the 10th...we have appointments on the 11th, 12th, and 13th, and then we'll leave on the 14th. I figured we'll try our best to make a 'vacation' of it since it's our first visit and the whole fam will be going. I was hoping to go to the zoo, aquarium, museum, and what ever else seems fun or we have time for. Other parents told me that they generally got out of the hospital early afternoon some days and had time to hang around?? I also have another question for you all....when we went to Disney (which was our first through the airport and long distance walking trip with Riley) we used a wheelchair at the airport and used strollers in the park. Do you think bringing a transport wheelchair is necessary? I have this picture in my head of us tring to haul bags and hearing Riley say "Daddy hold me, I just can't make it." Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated! I have been debating getting a cheap transport chair for these types of situations, but didn't know if it would be beneficial or more of a hassle having the chair to lug around too.

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Permalink Reply by Karen Barnett on September 22, 2008 at 12:54am

Rhiannon,
Both the Crowne and Hannaford are only about an exit away from each other and right off the same freeway. They are not that far at all from the hospital - only about 15 minutes - but that can vary depending on the traffic. Cincinnati traffic can be busy at times - especially morning rush hour. I like these hotels because they were in a good area of the city. Restuarants, movie theatres, shopping and everything was close by. The drawback to the closer downtown hotels in the city is you have to pay high parking fees to park in the garage structures and the restaurants and shopping, should you need to go out and get anything are not as accessible, especially at night. The museum, zoo and everything is not that far from these hotels (the Crowne & Hannaford). The hotels by the hospital are not in the best area. We stayed at the Vernon Inn the first time there and we were not happy with the room at all.

We brought a scooter for my son this last time and it was a must for the museum and zoo. He really suffered the first time we went with nothing for him to ride on. The zoo is very hilly and strenuos to walk through. No way my son could have done it. I did notice that the zoo had these big strollers you could rent. Same with the museum - lot of walking. Not sure if and what they have as far as equipment to use for mobility there. You might want to check with them. The hospital is a lot of walking as well to get from the parking to the clinic and then to the various lab appts. They do have wheelchairs that you can use there. I haven;t made reservation yet but am leaning towards the Crowne - pool and atrium restaurant were nice as well as the rooms. The Hannaford is nice because of the kitchen and 2 room suite. The one room with the bed was comfortable but the fold out couch that my daughters had to sleep on in the adjoining room was terribly uncomfortable.