Belinda and I are at the hotel in DC for the night. We are staying at Washington Plaza Hotel, just six blocks from the White House. The cost of the room was paid for the National Organization of Rare Diseases, which is a great blessing!

Ben took to us to the airport this morning and we got through TSA, then Belinda asked for Starbucks. I warned her it would be expensive at the airport, but then I went ahead and let her. She got the smallest sized chai latte, so it wasn’t that bad.

We were sitting at the gate when there was an annoucement that someoone had left their bag somewhere and it was with security. Belinda and I exchanged a look at that poor person’s plight. Then we noticed she didn’t have her bag! Turns out I thought she had taken it with her to Starbucks, and I came and followed her after a few minutes and left it there. But everything was in it safe and and sound and the security people smiled and thanked us for getting it. I’m glad we didn’t lose it!

Southwest gave us priority boarding again because of Belinda’s medical condition. I wasn’t sure we should do that since she’s not in a wheelchair or anything, but it was the best way to ensure we would be seated together, and I need to be there instead of a stranger in case she has choking issues. There was also a service dog on the plane that was a very good dog.

The flight was direct this time, and we didn’t have anyone in our row with us. That was very nice. I wrote my articles for the Tuttle Times and read. She looked out the window, read, and napped. It was a good flight. The pilot apologized for the turbulence early in the flight, when we were getting around the storms, but I really didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. The flight attendants were super nice too. Just a good experience all around.

Belinda had apple juice and pretzels on the plane and she ate slowly and didn’t choke. She also had a few strawberries that I’d brought from home.

We got an uber to the hotel and the driver was very nice too. He was listening to hip hop and a Will Smith song came on while we were getting to the hotel and I took that as a good sign, since he is one of my all-time artist faves. Belinda didn’t recognize the song and said she only recognizes music by Ariana Grande.

Hotel is swanky and a doorman brought our luggage in and opened the door for us. Concierge is super sweet and helpful. She is going to print our White House passes for me, since I didn’t realize they needed to be printed until today. I finished up my stories and sent them while Belinda ate more strawberries. She did choke once, but went to the bathroom and it was okay.

Belinda wanted fettucine for dinner, and we found a little place about eight blocks away and walked there while the sun was setting. The place was pretty empty but the people were great and the food was too. It reminded us of the Chinese restaurant in Tuttle somehow. Belinda ate slow and didn’t choke. We also got cannoli to take back to the room which I’m looking forward to. We saw interesting architecture as we walked back and a church next door to the hotel had a group of people singing outside. We also saw a dog that looked like Bond from SpyXFamily.

(The church is the National City Christian Church. Wikipedia says it was built in 1930 and is the national church and cathedral of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

We passed the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church on our walk, and I told Belinda how the Obamas had attended some services there. We also walked by the Saint Germain Foundation, and I informed Belinda I understood that was a cult. She’s getting so much learning here.

It’s only 7 pm but it feels later. I’m not sure what we’re going to do tomorrow. I didn’t expect the procedure to be at 5 pm so I didn’t plan anything for the morning. She said she might like to see the Library of Congress. She can only have clear liquids after midnight. I bought a box of the kind of broth she likes. There’s a fridge in here but not a microwave, so I don’t know what to do about that. Maybe ask downstairs? I do have a thermos.

Now she’s on her computer, looking to see if she has anything else due for her college classes. She’s got the inflatable wedge blown up so she can sleep (she can’t safely lie down flat anymore after her original surgery). This is the first time attempting to sleep on the inflatable wedge. I’m not optimistic but we couldn’t really bring anything better without a lot of hassle.

There were two complimentary bottles of water in the room when we got here, and she already finished hers and now she’s taken mine. Oh well, I still have water from the airport in Oklahoma City so I’m doing okay.

We’re looking forward to tomorrow. This procedure is basically a balloon dilation to open up the lower esophagus due to too much scar tissue forming after the POEM procedure surgery. This one is outpatient, so that’s great! I hope this helps for a long, long time.