James’s Ataxia Blog

First Stem Cell Treatment

March 13th, 2009

PT was first today. Leg weights were strapped to Jim’s ankles, 1.5 Km (3.3 pounds) each. Climbed and descended stairs trying not to use hand rails. Jim did well on the stairs, remaining upright and on his feet the entire time. Next, came the balance board. Again the goal was not to use his hands on the railings and of course to remain upright. He did very well on the balance board. Acupuncture and electric wave treatments were canceled today as today is a stem cell treatment day.

We ventured out of the hospital today. Decided to take a taxi to a Holiday Inn where we were told by staff that they serve Western Food. Taxi drivers don’t speak English and we don’t speak Chinese. Taxi drivers also can’t read Roman alphabet like you are reading now. The only way we can work a taxi is to have a Chinese person at the hospital write the word Holiday Inn in Chinese characters and this is what we show the taxi driver to get to where we want to go. Taxi’s are small in this city. Mostly VW rabbits. It is hard for three people over six feet tall to fold up and get into a VW rabbit, but we got ‘er done! Lunch was good. Kathy and Jim had a hamburger and fries. Roy had sea bass and a local beer called Tsingtao. Turns out this city of Qingdao we are in is also the home of China’s own Tsingtao beer brewery. You can buy Tsingtao beer in the states but it tastes better fresh from the source.

Jim had his first stem cell treatment after lunch. First treatment was administered via IV drip. It took an hour for a bag of fresh stem cells to drip into his body through the IV. Fresh stem cells are delivered to the hospital 3 times a week on Mon, Wed, and Friday. The first treatment is administered via IV in case the patient has an adverse reaction to the cells then application can be halted quickly. Jim had no adverse reactions to the IV so the remaining 5 stem cell treatments can continue about every 6 days. The rest of the treatments will be via direct spinal injection.

Stay tuned. As we learn how to Blog we will be posting photos and maybe some video as well!

Entry Filed under: ataxia,Uncategorized