Bradley’s Severe Cortical Visual Impairment Blog

We’re here!

May 23rd, 2009

Hey all,

We made it and we’re so glad to be done with 26 hours of traveling.  The kids were awesome, whew! It still felt never ending and we’re glad its over.  They are very concerned about the “Pork Flu” over here in china! When we landed in Beijing we couldn’t get off the plane right away.  Two guys came in with masks on and this contraption that looked like a “men in black” gun.  They went through the entire plane and pointed it at each persons head.  It took our temperature.  They wanted to make sure no one had a fever or they quarantined them.  Then again in the immigration area of the airport they had you stand in line to pass through and while you stood there they had some infrared cameras video cameras that were taking everyones temperature.  When someone’s temperature was too high, the computer would start beeping and  they’d pick that person out of line and take them… somewhere?! yikes! It was serious CSI like stuff. Some hospital staff picked us up at the airport and it has been all smiles and kindness since.  We are in the biggest room and we’ve done our best to make it comfortable and our own.  It’s quite different here, obviously.  The city is very pretty and is green and lush.  There’s a Market right across the street that is very convenient.  it’s a lot like a glorified Wal-Mart. It has 3 levels, one is home furnishings, one is a grocery store, and the other level is clothes/perfume/toys.  We took a little trip over there this afternoon and were able to find all the little things that we realized we needed. We got charged 30 cents per plastic bag at the checkout which was a little strange. 

Bradley is doing pretty well.  The doctors came in yesterday after we arrived and did a quick overall evaluation.  They checked his eyes and reviewed his past medical history and set up a plan for the next few weeks.  This morning they drew his blood and I was too emotional to stay in the room.  jason stayed and helped but it was still tough to do.  He will have his first IV Stem Cell Treatment on monday and another one on Friday.  The “off” days consist of 2 hours of therapy in the morning along with 2hours in the afternoon.  They planned on doing acupuncture but Jason and I told them we didn’t want that.  Imagine poking little needles all around Bradley’s eyes for an hour.  yeah right!! We didn’t feel good about it, so they changed it to acupressure.  It’s just a deep pressure massage like we do at home.  He did well with therapy today.  His therapists name is Andy and he is very nice.  I can already tell that he really likes Bradley.  He loves to smell him and gave him a couple of kisses throughout the session.   It was very sweet and a little weird too! Bradley did well but I’m sure he’ll miss all his wonderful therapists back at home. 

We’re trying to adjust to this new life we’re going to live the next few weeks.  It’s been a little rough and jason and I both are doing our best to stay positive.  We just need to get a little time under our belt and then I think it’ll be good.  We’ve already met wonderful people who are foreigners also and here for treatments.  It seems we have an instant bond because we’re all in this together.  Some have told us that they had a really hard time at the beginning of their stay and wanted to leave and now after a couple of weeks feel adjusted and comfortable here.  We’ll get there.  Tyler is already asking if he can play with “his new friends”. The Chinese people love to stare and come right up in the kids faces when we’re out!  You see them tap their friends on the shoulder and say something and point.  We seem to draw quite the crowd.  We’re celebrities around here! 

We miss our family/friends dearly but know that we need to be here and can’t wait to see what progress will come.  Love to all~ Jason, Evonne, Tyler and Bradley

Entry Filed under: severe cortical visual impairment Blog,Uncategorized