The first visit to any doctor is always one that is nerve-wrecking because you never know what to expect. This visit was no different. Kaitlin's first appointment was scheduled for 7:30am. We got to the security gate at 7:15am after dropping Kaleb off at my parents' house. If you've never been to St. Jude, it's an experience in itself. Rest assured, they don't let anyone on that campus unless you're supposed to be there. It's almost like you're going to an exclusive event at a museum with all of the high-tech buildings and equipment but when you see the children there for treatment, you get pulled back to reality really quick.
Once we checked in at the Admissions desk, the admissions receptionist handed us this laundry list of visits with a whole bunch of people and then directed us to get our blood drawn in the lab assessment triage clinic. We met two nice ladies that drew our blood without issue. One of which still draws Kaitlin's blood for checkup visits if she is not off work. Thankfully, that is rare for now. Once that was completed, we met with a social worker to give us information of what to expect for Kaitlin being a patient at St. Jude. After that meeting, we went to H-Clinic for the rest of our visit. One thing you find out about St. Jude, they're very thorough but it can and sometimes will be an all day appointment. Which is why they have the cafeteria open all day.
All in all, the first visit was not as scary as we thought. It was actually pretty cool for it to be a doctor's visit. We saw a mirage of staff during this one visit. They provided us with a lot of information and resource materials to look over but the one thing that everyone told us that stuck with me is that no two sickle cell patients are the same. This is something that we found to be very true with Kaitlin.
