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Update on Nate 8 months after stem cell therapy… Nate continues to work hard on his strength, health and balance. He has a trainer in the gym who puts him through the paces with the weights and cardio also he is also being trained at the Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu school on balancing mind, body and spirit. He has made a commitment to his diet and has cut out junk food opting for fresh fruits, veggies, meats and drinking lots of water. He has really made his health his number one priority! Nate will be turning 18 soon and will be heading off to college this summer. Nate has given up his drivers license, actually he hasn’t been driving for about a year now so we will have to figure out transportation in college, luckily we have great support of family and friends. Thanks for checking in on us! Nan
February 16th, 2010
Hello, I just wanted to expand on Nate’s experiences these pase couple months. We finished up the summer playing on the lake and going to Colorado, Nate continued with physical therapy and occupational therapy. With the start of school and an after school job for Nate he has not been as faithful at the 3 a week PT schedule but he has remained active by excercising at the Y and getting out walking on his own. We have noticed a little regression from the improvements we saw this summer, we don’t know if it is the lack of pt or the added stress of school and work – who knows. School is going good and his friends, teachers and class mates give Nate lots of support and encouragement. He was able to attend a science camp in August at the University of Maryland and was sponsored by the Nebraska Federation for the Blind and Low Vision. He met other teens with blindness or low vision so it was a very enriching experience for him. So, that’s a summary of our last 2 months. We hope that everyone is happy and healthy! Love, Nan
September 9th, 2009
These are some pictures from a vacation to Colorado. Nate is doing great and made the 1700 foot ascent, it wasnt easy but he did it!
- climbing in Winter Park, Colorado
Nate and his dad
Nate and Aaron - great job!
Continental Divide in the background
September 9th, 2009
Home now for 9 days, the local news wanted to follow up with Nate. They did a nice job, we certainly appreciate their interest and support of our family. Here are the links if you would like to watch them. We are thankful for stem cell therapy and research. Our hope is that the therapy will continue to improve as more people learn about it and understand the potential.
http://new.khastv.com/videoplaylist.php?playid=17814
http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=10709963&nav=menu605_1
Love, Nan
July 12th, 2009
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Nick, Nate, Alex, Aaron
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swimming in the lake
Our trip home went very smooth and we have enjoyed getting back into life in Grand Isand. Nate has been feeling good, I honestly haven’t seen much of him because he has been with his friends 24/7 but that’s good. Both friends and family have noticed improvements in his speech and balance, we are going to wait a month for an eye exam to see if there are any changes either way there. Overall, the experience has improved his health and given him more self confidence. We began our routine of PT and OT on Monday and have substituted cold laser therapy for the accupuncture to stimulate the brain. Nate continues to be brave and have a good attitude as he plans his senior year of high school, senior pictures are in 2 weeks! I miss hearing from everyone and greatly appreciated the messages and support. Thanks…Love, Nan & Nate
July 8th, 2009
This is a beutiful city and one that I would recommend visiting any time 
We have had so much fun, Nate has been headache free which is great and we even got in an hour of PT in the pool. I was using my memory of water exercise to work him out - he was very good to try all the stuff I could remember. We also went to Silk Street which is a famous market in Bejing, famous for all the ‘great deals’. It was a lot like Mexico except that the sales people were very polite, they called Nate ‘handsome boy’ and me ‘pretty lady’ – I’ll buy anything from someone who calls me that! Not really, we were good bargainers I think. Also, Tianamen Square and The Forbidden City are just a 20 minute walk from our hotel. It was really crowded though and long lines so we decided to get up earlier tomorrow. We saw our first Americans too, a church group from Pennsylvania. They were fun to talk too….it was sweet to hear English with no accent! Well, we leave tomorrow and will be glad to get home although it means keeping up with exercise and PT for Nate and his senior year of High School will begin in August.
We will update this post weekly or monthly depending on progress for those of you following for health reasons of your own. I will speak for both of us when I say this trip was definately worth the time and money for the treatment. While it is great to be a pioneer in stem cell research we have both recieved personal growth from this experience too. Thanks for the support, prayers and good wishes – it has meant A LOT to us. Love, Nan and Nate
A Subway!!
June 30th, 2009
Hello, we made it fine to Bejing and have been enjoying the hotel this evening. The first thing we wanted to do was go swimming, that was great! The hotel package included 2 massages so we also did that and had dinner. We can add rabbit and shark fin to the list of new things we have tried. We haven’t decided what will be our first American food, there are so many things we have missed.
Nate is feeling good today, I believe his balance is truly better. It’s the small things we are noticing, the tremors in his hands have stopped and also he walks faster and with his feet closer together. It was sad to say goodbye to all the good people we met but it also felt good to have finished. The end picture is our friends from Alabama, Lana (the mom) is being treated for stargardts disease. Last night Dr. Hung and her husband surprised us and took us out for dinner, it was so good..we had dumplings, rabbit and pork. The pork looked like a pyramid, it is filled with some kind of vegetable but it is one long continuous piece of meat (reminded me of bacon) shaped & served with steamed bread. We were stuffed! One thing we noticed already is that things in Bejing are 3 times more expensive, I think we spent more today than we did all month. Tomorrow will be site seeing..Yeah!
June 29th, 2009
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Nan and Dua
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friends from Hungary
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Yesterday and today have been full of visits in the hallway and exchanging of addresses. Each patient here is addressing their own issues yet we have found strength in sharing this part of our journey together – a side benefit from stem cell therapy in China you could say. The people from Alabama along with the mother and son from Egypt will share our van tomorrow, though they are each leaving to go directly to the airport. Also, our guide Frank is leaving China to move to Australia to begin his own massage business, how exciting for he and his wife. Today we went to the ‘curiosity shop’ which was really just a market of all things Chinese. We didn’t get to stay too long because it was so hot but we were treated to the preparation and service of Chinese tea. The owners wanted me to pay them with American dollars so through our guide we came up with a fair price, unfortunately that leaves me with $3 to come home with. I am sure I can exchange Yuan for Dollars at the airport.
Nathan is feeling good today, only a slight headache when we were on our way home from shopping., probably the crazy taxi ride. I would never try to drive in China. After he laid flat for a while, it went away..we will have to be careful while we are sight seeing. Well, take care and I will write more from Bejing! Love, Nan & Nate
June 28th, 2009
Boy, it seems like I have been waiting a long time to write that!!! It was a good day, uneventful and quiet. It was spring cleaning on the floor and they washed windows so of course we are having a thunder storm tonight. Funny how that always works out. Nate is feeling good, I can always tell because he starts to get smart..ya know-anxious to get home too. We were able to plan our trip to Bejing and will be staying downtown close to the Forbidden City and Tian’an Men Square so we can be tourists our last days, how exciting! I just hope the headaches stay away, today was free most of the day so that’s encouraging.
When we get home, you may be wondering what to do or say. We have had quite a blow so we understand that it is difficult to know how to react. Just remember, we are the same friends you had before and we plan to always be. We are approaching this with a positive attitude and we will always appreciate your concern, comments,support or advise. Never hesitate to say hi or just talk, be at ease. Thanks again for everything and especially for caring about Nate & helping him feel supported and strong through this. Love, Nan & Nate
June 26th, 2009
Peking duck has been in China since the 1330′s and is a national dish of China. It is a specialty of the Bejing region. The ducks are bred just for this meal so not just any duck that can become a peking duck. The restaurant we went to was quite a ways from the hospital and it was good to see a new part of the city, it wass very modern and classy. We saw the art district - I would love to go walk the streets, maybe if Nate feels good on Sunday we will go there. We began our dinner by choosing the duck which are hung and glazed before they are cooked in the open fire. We then picked some dishes to accompany it, I am posting pictures of some of the dishes that we did not choose. The duck is sliced thin and served with rice pancakes (tortilla’s) spring onions and hoisen sauce then you roll small burritos. We had shrimp, beans, corn, and eggplant with pork. Fresh corn juice is also a specialty of the restaurant. I have never heard of this but we should try it in Nebraska we certainly have lots of corn! We were stuffed and it was a great evening with new friends.
Today has been uneventful with no headache. Our friends from Hungary left this afternoon and there are new patients coming from America on Saturday so I am anxious to see where they are from. Also some people from Ireland will be here, the world is just coming to us isn’t it? But we are leaving soon too. Max has asked us if we would stay a night in Bejing before we leave on Wednesday, we are excited for that experience-our last hoorah! We told him we want a 5 star hotel…we’ll see what we get. Love, Nan & Nate
June 25th, 2009
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