Al’s Ataxia Blog

Friday, November 21 finally arrived and they promptly took him out of our room on his hospital bed with an IV and took him to surgery at 2:50 p.m.  He was back in our room at 3:20 p.m.  It took 30 minutes for the whole procedure.  He was very groggy from the valium and had to lay flat for six hours.  He slept soundly (snoring the whole time) for the six hours.  I ordered a pizza which was delivered at 9pm. which we both ate very quickly.  I finished my fourth book during this time and could hardly keep my eyes open.  I want to mention that when Al was brought back to the room very groggy, I asked him if he wanted anything and he said “a kiss”, which I immediately complied with.-Joanne

 

Yesterday was a full day for me, a cadre of doctors stopped by to do the usual evaluation of Ataxia.  Then a videographer interviewed me at length as well as making a video of the whole process.  Apparently I am a good “before” candidate.  On tuesday he will return to film my acupuncture, p.t. and electrowave therapy.  He will contact us in the states for the “after” reesults. 

 

The  spinal stemcell infusion procedure started with a saline IV to keep the body hydrated through the whole process.  Frankly the worst part was the ride up in the elevator.  We squeezed a few Chinese against the wall since the bed filled the whole elevator.  When I got to the stemcell treatment room, I was surprised to see a female doctor since most of the doctors are male.  They injected a dose of valium into the IV which burned somewhat at first.  Then I became groggy but remained awake through the whole procedure.  The last thing I remember was the doctor saying “we’re done now, its finished”.  The first three hours was a piece of cake.  I was still under the valium.  The last three hours seemed to go rather slowly.  We had cold pizza at 9pm which reminded me what the crap we eat in the US.  compared to my favorite dish here which is vegetable fried rice with tofu.  The next day, no pain, no headache.  Some slight bleeding from the puncture but nothing more than that. 

 

We did hear some potential news this morning.  A patient who left sunday who apparently had minimal response to the treatment and was discouraged, Emailed someone here saying his speech has improved and they are thinking of coming back here in 6 months.  -Al