Corey’s CP Blog

Coreys 4th Treatment Went Well

August 22nd, 2008

Last Monday, Corey had his 4th treatment which was another spinal (3rd spinal).  He did well.  It was in the afternoon again this time, following the treatment he had to lay still again for the 6 hours, this time we didn’t request any Valium as it didn’t make him sleep.  He was fine, he behaved and laid there, so long as I positioned the laptop playing Elmo where he could see it, he was happy.  (I think he’s become a TV junky).  After 2 hours I was persistent with the  water and after 4 hrs he ate well.  He finally went to sleep about 8.30pm.  The next day he didn’t have any headache, he did PT and over all was fine.  We still took it easy to ensure a full recovery.  The doctors came during the rounds and advised that when the did the procedure they found that his pressure was low from the previous spinal (which we already knew from his reaction) so upon replacing fluid they added slightly more to return the pressure back to normal.  It worked because his recovery was probably his best one yet.  The doctor that did it is a Doctor Ma, he’s slightly older, very pleasant to talk to and can speak some English.  He appears to be training the younger ones as they all follow him and after he has asked about Corey he turns to the rest of the doctors and speaks away in Chinese.  He did his first spinal and I am hoping he does his last spinal next Wednesday.  Corey has a IV treatment tomorrow, which isn’t as invasive and doesn’t require him to go without eating etc. 

Today, Corey actually leaned forward in his stroller to reach out and grab his balloon.  He’s never leaned forward in the stroller before.  What normally happens is his bum slowly slides out of the stroller.  This definitely confirmed that his torso is getting stronger.  I generally don’t strap him in the stroller if I am not going far as I know that he doesn ‘t lean forward, but today I had to strap him in because I was worried that when he leans forward he will loose his balance and fall forward head first into the floor. Currently Corey has had 60 million stem cells added to his system(between 10 & 15 mil per treatment)  Apparently it takes 6 weeks before the stem cells begin to differentiate (The process whereby embryonic cells acquires the features of a specialized cell such as a heart, liver, or muscle cell).  So technically the stem cells haven’t done anything yet.  However when they do the transplant they use Neural Growth Factors which can  give signs of improvements.  Its appears to make Corey  alert and energetic, he can’t  sit still.  So really it won’t be until early October before the stem cells really do their job.  But I am not complaining, its really great to see Corey so alert and energetic.

I have attached a photo of Corey in PT today.  Notice his cooperation, thanks to intense concentration on his teletubbies movie. 

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