James’s Ataxia Blog

5th Treatment

March 31st, 2009

Jim had his fifth treatment yesterday – IV.  All is well.  There is nothing new to report in the way of his treatments so will just have to chat aimlessly along.  If you begin to nod off, I’ll understand.  I think I am beginning to see a little more strength in his left arm.  Right one isn’t responding yet.  His legs seem to be a little stronger as well – that is until he gets cold.  When the cold hits him it’s just like you stuck him in an ice bath.  Nothing responds.

We got a picture of our translators.  Roy will post it on the Blog for me.  They are all young – 21 to 27 years old.  They love to practice their English on us.  As you can imagine, some do better than others.  The guy in the middle (Jack) is a real character.  He does excellent with language.  Most of the others don’t understand what you are asking when you need something.  You must use sign language and anything else you can think of.  Wendy and Amanda usually translate for the doctors when there is a consultation.  They do real well.  These kids and most of the other young girls we see over here wear jeans with lots and lots of embroidery, glitter, and sparkles.  One of the girls had on camoflauge (I don’t know how to spell it)  jeans with embroidery all down both legs.

Our Translators

We also got a picture of Roy in front of an entrance gate with a lion.  Pretty cool.

Roy in China

The only other notable thing I can think of is we have been without hot water for 3 days now.  Can you imagine a hospital without hot water?  They said a pump or something went out and they have been working on it.  They turn ALL of the water off about 9:00 pm and we get cold water back about 8:00 am.  Sponge baths were getting a little old but you’ll be glad to know that we got hot water this morning about 10:00 so we smell a little better.

Roy got us hooked up with Skype and we were able to talk to Jim’s brother, sister-in-law and mother this morning.  I couldn’t get my camera to work but we could see them.  They didn’t need to see me anyway.  Again, Roy will have to come to my rescue on that one.  Skype software is FREE. If anyone wants to download Skype so they can commuicate with us in China you may download the software from here: Skype If you wish to Skype us be aware that China is across the International Date Line and 15 hours ahead of Arizona time or 12 hours ahead of US East Coast time.

We are fascinated watching the people from our 8th floor window.  Many many many ride small motorbikes and there are also many bicycles.  You can’t believe the loads they can tie on a bicycle and still get down the road.  Bicycles, motorbikes, pedestrians, buses, etc. share the same space and there doesn’t seem to be any rules.  Anyone can go anywhere.  The intersections are a riot.  They are turning and going every way from Sunday.  Pedestrians are just on their own.  They do have crosswalks but they don’t mean a thing.  Cars do not slow down for anything.  Of course they are not driving as fast as we do in the first place.

We have a little boy here from Canada who has spinal bifida (his spine didn’t close in the womb).  He is 4 years old and just a little doll.  He had his treatment with Jim yesterday.  He is paralized from the waist down and as you can imagine, cannot walk.  He has an older brother and they keep us entertained from time to time.  It is good to have someone around that you can actually talk to.

More later.

Entry Filed under: ataxia,Uncategorized