Austin’s CP Blog

Third Stem Cell Treatment!

June 30th, 2008

Hi. Sorry I have not updated in a few days. I am much more busy than I thought I would be here. On Thursday, I had a caregiver for Austin and was able to go out for the day with some friends. I did not think I would be comfortable with a caregiver but another child in the hospital has one and she is wonderful with the child. So I decided that I deserved a break and should give it a try. I also thought that with Austin being busy with therapies and feedings that he would do well. My friend Bonnie and a few others checked on him throughout the day. They said she seemed very attentive to him. It probably gave him a nice break as well. It was only about $20 for the day. I also felt safe because there are many people here plus Austin’s therapists. It all went well and I had a fabulous day! Six of us hired a van for the day. It ended up costing less than $10 a piece. The driver waits for you and you tell him what time to pick you up. One of the ladies (Shelia) who went with me actually lives here. Her husband designs golf courses and they have lived in different parts of Asia for about 25 years. They have lived in Qingdao since Oct. It was great having her around. We went to a market where you can buy all kinds of goods. I got a few gifts for family members. It is neat you are able to deal with them. They always tell Americans higher prices because they think we are rich. So you tell you will pay about half as much. Then they try to work a deal with you. Most of them if you walk away will come back and say ok. It is fun. One of the ladies who went with us was so good at that. Some of the people here are really missing American food so Shelia took us to a little place that carries imported foods. It was very expensive. I decided I could do without. I am really enjoying the Chinese food. But I have learned I have to be careful because they put MSG in lots of foods.  Anyway, a couple of the ladies bought stuff to make tacos so on Friday night we had Mexican Night for all the families here. That was fun. That day we also got to glimpse the ocean. It is beautiful. Hopefully next weekend I will get to the beach. All these places are about 40 minutes from where we are staying but can be longer depending on traffic.

Austin is doing well and seems very happy. The other night I put him to bed and went out to the family room. It is just a few feet from our room. We had a small ladies night. When I walked back in the room, I noticed that Austin had his right hand above his head and he was sleeping soundly. His right hand is his bad hand and he does not ever put it above his head. It was so good to see. He looked so healthy. I wanted to take a pic but was afraid the flash would wake him. I am just so happy about his hand. Hopefully he will do that more. It is the simple things that are so easy for most but when they happen for Austin make his life much better. We just want the simple things.

Austin had his 3rd stem cell treatment yesterday (Sat.). We had a harder time with this one. The docs decided that it would be best for him to have anesthesia and go to the operating room for his spinal treatments. So now he has to go without food and water for 6 hours before the treatment.  He was supposed to have treatment on Friday so he did his 6 hours and we were waiting for him to be called and a doctor came to me and told me that his stem cell package had been damaged in transport so they could not do the procedure. That was so upsetting. It is just one of those things and I am so glad that they are careful and did not use the cells. To make a long story short he ended up having his treatment done on Sat. This time the nurses had trouble getting an IV in him. I now think it was because he did not have food or water for 6 hours two days in a row. My friend Tonya (she is here for treatment for her husband who was in a motorcycle accident and now is paralyzed) came up with that hypothesis. That makes the most since to me. It was a very hard day but it is over now and Austin is doing good. He has done well this time with just a very slight fever for a few hours. We went for a walk this afternoon and out to dinner this evening. Quit a big group of us from the hospital went to eat at a Korean restaurant. It was different but good. I had big shrimp that were very delicious.

Thanks so much for being Austin’s Angels. Sending blessings your way!

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