Travel Request

I got a lot more information on my father's condition yesterday, and the prognosis is not goog. They will not be able to perform surgery on either the heart vessels or the lung tumors. They will begin radiation, possibly within a week once they determine how they will do it.

He has been cleared to travel, and it now seems likely that ALL of us will meet him in Las Vegas, probably one of the weekends that a lot of you other bloggers will be out there for the Summer gathering.

Thankfully, Harrah's was nice enough (or desparate enough) to send me some offers to stay for a reduced or free rate over the summer. The Flamingo might work, as that will keep the kids entertained. The Rio may work as well, since my father has some comps there and it's also a Harrah's property.

Really, I think the doctors cleared him to travel to essentially tell him to go out and enjoy himself - but that's not a questions I want to bring to the surface. I think he knows that, and I think he knows I know that, but neither of us really wants to put it in those stark terms. When you hear words and phrases like "lymph node", "metastasized", "fluid drained", and "inoperable", there are a lot of thing that can be naturally deduced without having to say them out loud. He knows it's less than a 20% chance of five-year survival, not factoring in the heart problems, so we both know it's not exactly a great outlook.

So, we'll all meet up, have some fun in the time there it is, hope for a miracle, and in the meantime he'll get to see his grandkids.

So, a question to you other folks who are heading out west: Have you been able to find any decent airfares? I've been plugging away at the major sites and haven't been able to crack 350 unless I select a multi-stop, overnight, pass-through-Timbuktu itinerary.

P.S. I am not too worried about the kids taking a 4 1/2 hour flight. Alex has flown that long before to Colorado, and Sammie will be fine as long as she gets to snuggle for the flight and it's close to her naptime.