Brooklyn finished another week of therapy and only has two days left. As I posted earlier we are leaving the hospital two days earlier for logistic reasons. She will have her last therapy Tuesday morning. She is back to her all therapy in the morning schedule – thank god. She does much better at therapy and napping when it is all in the am. She had two hours of therapy this afternoon and didn’t make it very far walking, but yesterday she made it all the way around the floor and wanted to do more. We are planning on the hitting the traditional market tomorrow and the local market. I have checked the internet to see if there are any sights I have not seen but I have hit all of the recommended ones in hangzhou.
Scott and syd leave tomorrow and are hoping for no unexpected stops this time. I am sure they will be fine and I hope they will adjust to the time change before I get back. I am not sure how brooke and I are going to do – it took her a week coming over – I hope it doesn’t take that long when we get home. I could be one tired puppy if that is the case.
I am trying to gear up for coming home and getting back to my crazy schedule. We have brooke set up for speech therapy and are waiting to see when they can get her in for PT. It looks like Wednesday will be a therapy day this summer.
Syd will be going to school 4 days a week in September in the morning – that should be fun trying to get everyone up, fed and out the door and to school by 8:30. I am not looking forward to that!!! I can’t believe it will be half through June when I get home. i think the summer will fly by!
The weather is hot here again – in the upper 80s, low 90s. I should get to bed – i am getting a cold – don’t know how, but I am getting one and don’t want brooke to be sick.
until tomorrow – love heather & brooklyn
June 8th, 2007
Sorry for the short info on her treatment – time crunch. I have about 10 minutes before she starts therapy. Her last treatment went ok – they had to stick her 3 times to get her IV started. That was not fun at all – I made Scott stay and do that. I had to suffer through the blood draw which was about that bad. Dr. Mike ended up carrying her back to the room as she was crying. She slept pretty well after that and through the night. We didn’t do anything yesterday except therapy. They are so busy with the floor being full now and therapy is usually running behind – yesteray it was 1/2 hour.
We have tomorrow and sunday free – not sure what we will do – trying to figure that out. Scott and Syd head back home tomorrow. I hope their trip back is uneventful and safe. Not much more to say – our canadian friends leave tomorrow so we are going out to dinner tonight. I know brooke will miss christopher, but they live in toronto so it is not that far.
Gotta run – love Heather & Brooklyn
June 8th, 2007
Brooklyn made it through her last treatment and she did well. I am hoping that today will be a lazy day as it has been in the past after her treatments. I have yet to read Scott’s blog from yesterday so I am not sure what it says. We will do fine without him here and will be leaving the hospital on the 13th instead of the 15th. That will give me some time to get things organized in shanghai for the dreaded flight home. It looks like the weather will return to the normal hot and humid once Scott has left. Brooklyn will continue to receive therapy until we leave.
Thanks for all of the support during this adventure. We are hoping we will not need to return but feel comfortable coming back if we had to. Everyone here has been great and I have met so many wonderful people.
Until tomorrow – heather & brooklyn
June 7th, 2007
I can not believe almost a week has gone by. Heather has arrived on her train from Shanghai and I leave on a 7:00 train tomorrow evening back to Shanghai to return home on Saturday. Brooke will have her last stem cell transfer tomorrow. She has been really great since I have been here, as long as she is moving. I have seen Brooke progress and change in the quick week I was here. Heather has done a wonderful job planning and preparing for this trip. All to come out very well. I was not quite sure what to expect upon coming but it has more than exceeded my expectations. I am hoping Brooke’s progress does the same thing.
We have met some incredible people from all over the world since we have been here. Scotland, Romania, Singapore, Canada, and even Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana. All their stories are different, and their hopes and dreams are different but all trying to improve the quality of life for them or their children. We are blessed to have Brooke the way she is when I look at some of the other people. But we are doing the same, trying to improve Brooke’s quality of life.
The support and prayers from family and friends has been overwhelming. I could list all the neighbor’s, co-workers’s, etc. but you are all our friends. A big thanks to my parents and Heather’s for all their love and support through all this. A special thanks to my sister for making Shanghai our home base through all this. You have been a tremendous help, more than we could thank you for. Even though the trip got more expensive with all the shopping spree’s, that includes me. I also want to mention and say thanks to those that contributed to the fundraiser that Dennis orchestrated. What a relief.
No, I have not forgetten Heather. Brooke will never remember any of this, but we certanly will. Your love and sacrifice has already given her a better life. Not only through this treatment, but the treatment you give her every day. You are an exceptional mother and one day both Sydney and Brooke will realize the same thing I know. I love you and thank you every day.
This is my swan song for posting in the blog. This experience has been incredible. Definitely makes you take a different look at life. Brooke is doing great and progressing every day. Our adventure is almost over, and in no time we will be back home. Thanks again to everyone for the comments, prayers, and encouraging words. We are truly blessed!!!!
Goodbye for now.
June 5th, 2007
Just finished all the therapy for the day. She continues to improve on all her therapy. Went to the temple and lake yesterday. Drove by Ferrari, Porsche, amd Maserati dealerships. It was very nice around the lake.
She will have her last stem cell transfer on Wednesday. She has been sleeping and eating well. She continues to love her walks around the floor. Good thing it is summer whne we return because I think she will continue to enjoy the walks. We may have to rent the neighbor’s time to walk her.
Heather returns tomorrow after her exhaustive shopping spree with Sydney and Michelle. Then we are in the home stretch. It will be nice to have everyone home. Gotta go, need to walk more. Was going to the market but it is now raining. Saw the sun yesterday, it was a beautiful day. Goodbye for now.
June 4th, 2007
Brooke’s therapy was again good yesterday afternoon. She walked in the walker about the same distance. I need to make one correction, it was about 200 FEET not yards. Either way I thought she did great. Going to a temple today since Sunday is a free day. She starts a different schedule tomorrow so we will see how that goes. Might be better for her but will not allow excursions in the afternoon. Not a big deal to me but it may curtail Heather’s visits to the markets. Gotta go, she can only sit here for so long. We’ll try an update tomorrow after therapy.
How’s the weather in Michigan? Summer should be in full swing by now. I think I have seen the sun for a total of about 5 hours since I have been here. Very humid and hazy all the time.
June 3rd, 2007
I know the last post was more about what was going on so this one is more about Brooke’s progress. Yesterday after her afternoon nap she finished up therapy by walking in a walker roughly 200 yards. It is a sling type walker and with the therpist moving the walker, which is all on wheels, she took every step. She is not as stable if she does it on her own but she is putting one foot in front of the other much better. I have seen many differerences from when she left May 9th to when I arrived. It is very encouraging. Many of her motor skills have seemed to improve also, including her finger dexterity. We have therapy again this afternoon so I need to get fussy britches for a stroll aroud the floor before we go to therapy. She has been sleeping and eating well.
Thanks to everyone for the encouraging words and prayers. It is nice to read everyone’s comments. Tomorrow is an off day but I will get something penned at some point. Going to try and visit a temple. Goodbye for now.
June 2nd, 2007
The parenting duty has now switched at the hspital. Heather made it back to Shanghai and I made it through the first night and Brooke slept through the night. She was up around 6:15 but she took 2 naps yesterday for almost 1.5 hours each. I understand this is pretty typical the day after her treatment. We did our morning laps and said hello to everyone that was up and moving. She is now getting a little restless while I compose my first blog entry. She has the patience of her mother.
I can see that after a day here, Heather’s trip back to Shanghai is well deserved. OK, gotta go before she jumps out of the stroller.
June 1st, 2007
Brooklyn is sleeping now and we hope she will sleep through the night. She did not do as well this time with her treatment. She was up when they brought her back to the room and it took us a while to get her to sleep. I even crawled into the crib with her. Yes, I did say we – Scott did make it here in one piece. I am leaving tomorrow afternoon and will be back on Tuesday at some time. I am curious to see if Scott has noticed any changes in Brooklyn. I have a quick run down of everything and he will be one his own.
Need to get back – they are probably both asleep by now!!
Oh – I keep forgetting – for those of you that have seen brooklyn’s pacifer trick – she is a hit with the dr’s. Every morning when they round they grab her paci and put it in upside down. Once she flips it they all laugh and clap for her – they just think it is the greatest. One of he dr’s told me that is a sign of intelligence.
Gotta run – love heather & brooke
May 30th, 2007
Brooke will have her 3rd stem cell treatment this afternoon. Yesterday she only had therapy and that was all we did, except for a trip to the market. This morning she does not have therapy, but my stomach is not doing so well today so we are stuck around here this morning. Scott will arrive this afternoon – i hope i feel well enough to go pick him up. Brooklyn’s dr here expects that she will see much improvement from her treatment. They think she is doing well. Will try to write more later after her treatment.
May 30th, 2007
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