Uneventful Days are Highly Underappreciated!

Billy was feeling better but still unsettled, so William and I headed to the Guest House for breakfast and let Billy sleep. Unfortunately, Will couldn't eat breakfast due to his impending metabolic study, but he was a good sport and went with me; we played Farkle while I ate. :) As has been their habit, the managers of the hotel wrapped food for William to eat later. This particular hotel management has been amazing!

The metabolic test was much simpler than what we had read. Will basically got to sit in a recliner with a bee-keeper-like hood (only much bigger!) that measured oxygen and carbon dioxide...basically, how many calories does Will burn a day? The quick read is that Will's metabolic rate is on the high side of normal...not bad.

The doctor was quite pleasant...very professorial. :) He was willing to explain in depth what he knew of Will's case and asked if his presumptions of what he read were accurate. When I asked what exactly he was looking for in his tests, he responded that he wasn't looking for anything catastrophic. That was a relief! He stated that William obviously was growing taller but was struggling to put on any muscle weight. While his weight gain has always been slow, the fact that it is specifically muscle weight that is lacking is a great point. I never even thought to pinpoint it as such. Combined with all of William's other diagnosis, he was looking for commonalities as well as genetic links. Dr Shoffner is truly a researcher, but he is very...human. While the visit didn't produce any new revelations, it did allow us a slightly better understanding of where he's heading. It also was wonderful to be told that William would NOT need a spinal tap tomorrow morning. Dr Shoffner stated that the information gleaned from the spinal fluid seldom yielded anything beneficial, so he saw no need for it.

After the doctor, we changed into jeans and headed to The World of Coke. It's a really cool Coke museum right beside the aquarium. We spent about two hours learning about the history of Coke, watched a 4-D movie, and then got to taste as many as 64 different products that Coke creates and ships throughout the world. There's even a section where Coke is bottled... It was a lot of fun...and it was really relaxing to just play for a couple of hours...something we just don't generally have the opportunity to do. While tasting 64 differently flavored beverages was entertaining, I'm perfectly happy to stick with my Diet Coke. Some of those flavors were...awful! :) But it was very cool to taste what other countries around the world enjoy...

We left the Coke museum just prior to a string of massive thunderstorms moved through the Atlanta region. Apparently, three miles south of Atlanta actually experienced softball sized hail. The news tonight is full of the severe weather.

We met Rick, one of our elders who works in Atlanta, for dinner at Fuddruckers. It was a lovely couple of hours of simply sitting still and chatting with a friend. William had only had one meal to that point and was also anxious over tomorrow's procedure, so by the time we left the restaurant, he was a bit...entertaining. :) By ten he was showered and in bed...which is where I need to head. We're supposed to be at the hospital by 730 in the morning and I'm traveling with two non-morning people. :) Other than the severe weather, including tornado warnings, the day was not only uneventful, it was actually almost calm. It was a lovely change over the last couple of days!