Well we have arrived! Very tired as I didn’t sleep much on the second leg for some reason, now the dreaded American immigration to get through, we were towards the front of the queue so didn’t have too long to wait but then a girl who was three people in front of us had an issue, then the immigration guy’s computer went down so we were left standing there for about 20 minutes while he persevered then gave up and went to the next terminal. He asked me why we had applied for B2 visas, I told him I was here for a medical procedure, he stamped our passports and sent us on our way, we collected our luggage and headed for the hire car place. The Dollar rent a car depot was a little way from the airport but the shuttle didn’t take long and we arrived there when it was pretty quiet, we went straight to a desk and were allocated a car, a Nissan Versa, we booked a Focus, at first I was ok with it, I thought it would be like a Pulsar in Australia but when I looked at it I thought it was smaller, put the luggage in the boot and we set about getting the gps to work on my phone. It took longer than we anticipated but while Denise was doing that I decided that the car was not as booked so we went back in the sort a replacement. The lady at the desk was perfect, she suggested a few alternatives but nothing really appealed, I said that we had booked a focus because I was familiar with them, I would have been happy with a corolla if a focus was not available but she mentioned that she had a Kia Soul, I immediately said that would do, it was obviously in a higher band but she was happy to help, great service!
we eventually got the GPS sorted and headed, we thought towards our accommodation, sadly that was not the case and finished up near a navy base, anyway we eventually got going in the right direction and found our accommodation easily, it’s small but ok and will do until we go into the accommodation at the clinic. Talking of which, after having a nice shower we headed off to Ardmore to finally meet the people who have been so kind to me at the clinic, we found it easily and went to the door. Meeting Kami and Heather was just as I expected and hoped, big hugs all round, they seemed as excited to meet me as I was to finally meet them.
It is all very real now, as much as I am not massively concerned about the surgery, all of the talk about the bombing in Manchester and then a I watched a couple of movies which were quite thought provoking I am very emotional at the moment, I just want this so much, more than I have ever wanted anything at all in my life. I know there are going to be some uncomfortable experiences over the next few days and a good deal of pain after the surgery but I so want to be the person I should have been from the start that it’s not important, I have had so much pleasure in the last few months telling the people I love my story that it pales into insignificance in the scheme of things.