We are thankful for all of your faithful prayers on our behalf! Adam has seen more improvement this past week. Now the distance in which he can see has nearly doubled in both of his eyes! God continues to be good to us as we are winding to a close here. I am getting more and more anxious to head home now. I am missing blue sky. The sky here is usually smoggy and even when you can see the sky it is not blue like it is at home. I am also missing the warm weather that the children have been getting at home. Today was the first day I could go outside without a winter coat on although the translators tell me that this has been an unusual winter and it should have been warmer by now. Not to mention the children!!!!
Four families have left this past week and two more are due to leave in the coming week. Although two new patients have arrived.
Adam and I spent the weekend sightseeing in downtown Qingdao. We had a great time walking along the beach for miles! We walked out on the pier and to the lighthouse, and to a castle. We also saw the may 4th square which is just a big red sculpture and the Olympic sailing center. It is fun to take in all the sights. It is also exciting for us to get some Chinese “street food!” We are planning to do some more sightseeing in downtown this coming weekend.
Adam had a lumbar puncture today which went well. This was his eighth treatment and it was originally going to be his last, but since his vision has improved quite a bit it was decided to add an extra lumbar puncture on Monday. Then we will head back to the eye institute to get his overall results. I am really looking forward to seeing how much he improved on the eye tests! We are due to leave here first thing next Wednesday morning and are due to arrive back in Charlotte around midnight Wednesday night.
April 5th, 2010
Hello Everyone!
Adam and I are so thankful for the opportunity we had to travel to Beijing this last weekend. Thank you for your prayers for traveling mercies! We had such a great time. We traveled there with another family from the hospital and with two representatives from Beike which was great because our Beike representative spoke mandarin and was able to be our personal tour guide. The other family from the hospital that we traveled with was the Morse family. Their daughter Macie is the one who came two years ago with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia and received treatments and her condition improved so much that she was able to get her permit when she returned home. She is one of the reasons why Adam decided to give stem cells a try. She is back trying to get a little more improvement in her “bad” eye.
We took the night train to get from Qingdao to Beijing, which was pretty fun. There were beds on the train for us to sleep on. When we arrived in Beijing there was a sandstorm! That was quite an experience! All the air was an amber color from all the sand that was blowing around. Every time there was a big gust of wind it would blow clouds of sand everywhere. Then we went to see the Great Wall of China, which was breathtaking. It is amazing to see something so humungous built by human hands. It was pretty cold up on the wall. There were still some places where the snow had not melted yet. We saw some great views!
We spent the night in a hotel and started early the next morning. We went to tian’anmen square and the forbidden city. The forbidden city is huge and the architecture is wonderful. Then we went to the old part of Beijing pronounced “who tong” sorry I do not know how to spell it. It was a section of the city where the old architecture was preserved. I love looking at the slate roofs that have these intricate paintings all around them and carved end caps. that was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Actually I loved the whole trip and each part for different reasons. It was one of the best trips I have ever taken in my life!
Adam had a lumbar puncture on Monday and did fantastic. He was tested on the eye chart on Tuesday and there was a little more improvement in his left eye. We are thankful for these little improvements as well as the big ones. He is noticing things that he has never noticed before, like numbers on his blackberry and the date on his watch! These might seem like little things to you and me, but it is pretty significant if you think about it! Adam has an IV on Friday and then two free days on Saturday and Sunday so we are hoping to go to downtown and get another bunch of sightseeing done then.
Sorry this letter is so long, but a lot has happened in the last week.
March 29th, 2010
Adam’s vision was tested again on Monday and he can see another 100cm further in his right eye!! That means that Adams vision in his right eye has double since we got here!! His left eye has also improved! Adam was scheduled to have eight treatments, but since he has responded so well it has been decided to add one more treatment before we come back home. Thankfully this will not prolong our trip at all. Adam has received his fifth treatment today and it went really well.
We were able to do a bit of sightseeing this past weekend, which was a bunch of fun. We traveled with another family from the hospital. One of our stops was UNDERWATER WORLD that was great!
This coming weekend we will be traveling to Beijing to see the great wall of China and the forbidden city. We will be taking the train there and back. I am really looking forward to this trip.
Adam has a lumbar puncture on Monday.
March 29th, 2010
Things are going well here. We feel as though we have started to really settle in. Adam has been doing more work this week so that is good.
The weather here has been awfully cold!
There has been no new progress this week, but that is okay because there has been no regression either, so we are happy with that.
Adam’s second lumbar puncture is scheduled for Friday. The lumbar punctures are hard because you have to lay flat for six hours afterwards.
We continue to thank you for all your prayers and emails. We hope you all at home are doing well.
Sorry there is not much news to report this week.
March 29th, 2010
ADAM HAS SEEN IMPOVEMENT!!!
After Adam’s first treatment the doctor tested his vision and she saw some improvement, but we wanted to wait to see if it was real improvement or just the lighting or something else.
After Adam’s second treatment the doctor tested his vision again and there has been even MORE improvement. Almost 100cm in each eye!!!!! That is about 3ft!!!!
The doctor is amazed! We have heard of others who have had improvement after three or four treatments, but we have never heard of anyone who has had improvement after their first treatment! Therefore the doctor is not only amazed by the fact that there has been improvement, but that there has been SO MUCH improvement with only two treatments.
March 29th, 2010
written March 3, 2010
Our first week here has gone smoother then we could have expected.
Adam had an IV stem cell treatment on Friday and he had a Lumbar puncture stem cell treatment today. He has done very well with both procedures. He gets acupuncture and electrotherapy five times a week, and a facial massage four times a week. (I am a little jealous of the facial massage!)
Everyone we have met has been very nice, helpful, and compassionate.
There are about eight families on our floor right now, all from different countries, that are receiving stem cell treatments. There is one woman, maybe a little younger than Adam, who has the same condition that he does. She has had all her treatments and can now see three times better than when she first arrived!! Adam was so excited about that! Adam is feeling very hopeful that these procedures will work for him.
March 4th, 2010
written February 24, 2010
Our flights went well. We had some peanut butter confiscated, some bags checked by security, and my hands wiped for chemical residue, but other than that our flights were uneventful. We arrived here around 11am on Wednesday which would be 12 midnight back home. So we were exhausted to say the least!!!!!
There are not many traffic lights in Qingdao, and if someone beeps their horn, you better get out of the way. The traffic is pretty crazy. People walking, bikes, mopeds, and cars all driving in different directions. It is a little scary!
There is a mall right across the street from the hospital so we went to check it out and everyone stared at us! It is strange to be the stranger.
Adam has to see an eye doctor tomorrow, and he is already scheduled for an IV treatment on Thursday. They will also be doing some acupuncture and electrotherapy for him.
March 4th, 2010
