If we had to climb 4 flights of stairs to make it to our destination in Texas Children’s Hospital to have a sleep study consult, so be it.  I preferred the elevator but it was clear Josiah did not.

He wasn’t too crazy about the stairs either, but with some positive reinforcement (his favorite edibles), he was more compliant. Every few steps, I’d pop a tiny piece of something yummy in his mouth and we’d keep climbing.

I was relieved to be alone in the stairwell, away from the crowd of people.  At least here, Josiah was calm. At least here, I felt I had regained some semblance of control.

Whereas a few minutes before I was defeated, overwhelmed and frustrated, now I was feeling empowered. We had made it through the harrowing elevator escapade and now were on the move again. This wouldn’t be so bad.

Sure, we’d have to stop every so often.  Each level had 12 steps for a total of 24 steps per flight. With 4 floors, that was nearly 100 steps.  But the edibles worked.  “Great job, buddy! We are almost there.” I encouraged, fearful he might decide he was done with the stairs if I didn’t.

By the time we made it to the 9th floor I was ecstatic.  Sweaty, and tired, but ecstatic.

And then I saw this.

I was stunned. I hadn’t noticed the signs announcing no re-entry, which apparently were posted on every floor.

Through the small window on the door  I could see people just down the hall sitting in a waiting room. Banging loudly on the door and calling out, I was sure someone would come let us in.

No one did.

Quite obviously, this boy was done with the stairs. While he rested, I made some calls.  It took 3 attempts to actually connect to a person who was able to help.  I explained what had happened and where we were and was assured the door would be opened for us right away.

It wasn’t.

What an incredibly unfortunate situation to be so close and yet so far. We just needed to get through that darn door.

A few floors below, I heard someone enter the stairwell.  “Hello?”  I hollered out.

“Did you forget your badge?” came the reply. “No, I’m trying to get my son inside for an appointment. He had a very difficult time on the elevator so we climbed the stairs and now we’re locked out.”

This sweet man used his badge to open the door for us.  Hallelujah! We were free!

Just a short walk to the receptionist for our check-in and we could get this show on the road. We had made it.  It wasn’t easy, but here we were on the 9th floor of the hospital, ready for Josiah’s appointment. A victory for sure!

I sheepishly explained to the receptionist that we had just had a very difficult time on the elevator, which resulted in being locked in the stairwell for over 15 minutes.  I told her we were IN the building on time, just stuck, waiting for someone to rescue us.

She wasn’t very sympathetic.  She had us sit in the waiting room for 10 minutes, then called me over to say, “You were late for your appointment.  They aren’t able to see you. You will need to reschedule.”

At that point I was ready to burst into tears.  I knew if I stood there a second longer, I would not be responsible for my actions.  I managed a quiet, “I’ll have to call later to do that” before leading Josiah back to the dreaded elevator.

There’s much more to the story.  We had a short, very eventful ride down to the third floor, where Josiah decided to get off.  There was a chase down a long hall way, a very abbreviated wait in line for a snack (Josiah decided he did not want to wait and ran off), some table and chair tossing in the lounge area and a long wait while I figured out how I was going  to get us out of that place.

Praise God we were planted not far from an Information desk.  I managed to work my way over, Josiah dragging behind, to ask for help.  I said we would need an escort to get down to the 1st floor.  I said we would need a wheel chair if one was available, preferably one with a seat belt.

I should have said I needed a Valium, but I just didn’t think of it.

We waited another 15-20 minutes for the wheelchair and escort to arrive, had a very easy elevator ride to the 1st floor (I thanked that young man profusely and told him we would have never made it down to the lobby without him) paid $13 for the valet to bring our van to us and drove 45 minutes back home, through the rain.

Have I called to reschedule the sleep study consult appointment?  Not on your life.  This one did me in.  I’ve been through some challenges with our boy, but that day at Texas Children’s Hospital took the cake.  It changed me.

Today, Josiah had an appointment with a different specialist at Texas Children’s Hospital.  It was a different location, further away from home than the main campus.  I almost didn’t go.

But, we’re learning.  Rick came with me and this time we had a game plan.  Now that we know it works, this is the only way to travel. Today’s appointment was a breeze!