Things have seemed to happen very fast the last few days. Jeff is finished with treatments and seems to feel a little stronger each day. We went out sight seeing on Saturday. That was a fun time to see some new places.
We finally packed today…it was harder than I thought it would be. We did not buy much of anything, but we still have 7 checked bags. The only thing we did do is put one carry on bag into a larger on. That will make getting on and off the plane easier with only 3 bags instead of 4.
We will head to Beijing in the morning for what I am calling our vacation. We will visit some wonderful places and have some great family memories to top off this unforgettable summer !!
See you soon in Helena:)
July 12th, 2010
Jeff had his last spinal today. We are finally able to get on the computer. The internet has been down and I have not been able to get on to post.
Everything went great and he is up walking around and feels fine.
I had a great suprise….a few of the others here made a scratch cake and icing for my birthday. It was awesome and probably the first time in my life i have had a suprise party. Emily and Hannah both knew and said nothing…Jeff was out cold so he didnt talk 
We are going to do some sight seeing tomorrow. The walls start closing in if you don’t get out.
I have made myself not pack yet…I am cleaning and getting rid of stuff, but not actually packing yet.
I have videos to post but we have so much trouble with You Tube here. I will have to post when we get home.
He is feeing much stronger and seems to gain something new each day.
I will say that this has been a wonderful experience for my family. Yes, there are moments where we want to kill one another, but over all I think we have all grown closer and stronger. I really have a couple of amazing children and a pretty wonderful husband…sometimes you have to get away from everything you think is important to truly appreciate the things that ARE important.
July 9th, 2010
So far so good…he has 2 more hours before he can get up, but he seems to think his back is OK this time.
Hannah is on round 2 of the antibiotics and they gave her some cough syrup…hopefully this will knock out what’s left of her cold!
Will add more to this post after Jeff gets up!
July 5th, 2010
Time flies when your having fun…right??? It is hard to believe that next week is our last full week here at the hospital.
Last Wednesday Jeff had his spinal, as Hannah reported earlier. However, he did have some severe back pains afterwards. He was given some meds to help the pain and it did. By the end of the 2nd day, he was feeling much better. The doctors saw it is a sign the stem cells are working. Supposedly some of the cells just collected near the injection site and stimulated the nerves there. That caused the pain. Once they moved on, he was fine:)
The doctors did the standard ataxia tests on him. They look a lot like a field sobriety test. He had to touch his fingers to the tip of his nose, run his heal down the front of his shin, and stand with his feet together-eyes shut-and arms outreached. The doctor said he did better on all three of these tests.
He is feeling better, but the improvements are much more subtle and slow coming compared to last time. He is gaining more fine motor skills, but the gross motor skills are still struggling. He says he feels better–less dizzy. He is able to do some “smaller” tasks easier-like brush his teeth and button his pants.
We have 2 more treatments next week on Monday and Friday. Please pray for no headaches or backaches–or other side effects we have not experienced yet:)
After his treatments, we will travel to Beijing, starting the following Tuesday. We will visit the Great Wall, Forbidden Palace, Summer Palace, and a traditional Chinese village. This will be a nice ending to our trip. Life in a hospital can be tough on us all.
13 days until we are in Atlanta Hannah wanted to know if it was too early to start packing.
July 3rd, 2010
heyyyyyy! its hannah.
okay Gigi, my grandmother, you asked for a post so hear it is.
They put the fluids in slow so that was good. it went by faster this time because it’s only 8:50 and he can get up.
We watched a couple movies today and that was about it. I’m super exited beacuse when i got on the ccomputer a little sidebar thing popped up on Yahoo and said that ECLIPSE PREMIRES TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that means that in like three days i’ll be able to buy it at the Jimo Mart!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it might be a bad copy but i don’t care!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i’m super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!: ) : ): ) : ): )): ): ): ): ): ): ): )): ): ): ): ): ): ): ): ): ): ): ): ): ): ): ): 0: )): ): 0: 0: ): ): ): ): ): ): ); )): ): )): ): ): ): ): ): ): ): ): ):: ): ): )):: )): ): ):: ): ): ): ): )) and all the smileys are happy too!!!!!!!!!!
June 30th, 2010
hey!!!!!!!!it’s hannah
we miss EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!! only 15 more days in the hospital!!!!!!!
Ms. Gammon: i can’t wait to see you!!!!! i miss every one in HIS!!! i hope you and your family have been doing well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Katie: we miss yall too!!!! I’m glad to hear Conner is happy to be home:) Emily is so upset because Shalee and Sandy left, yall left, and her newest BFF’s, the Brewer’s, are leaving Friday. oh well. after they leave, we move to next in line to leave!!!!!
Gigi: Oh my lord we all feel better. we bought new pillows today so i hope they help momma. we miss yall so much!!! me and Emily all ready have the meal we want when we get home and the meal for breakfast. Steak, twice baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and mac-n-cheese for dinner. Bien-yays(?) for breakfast. i can’t spell it but they are the puffy doughnut-type things with powered sugar on them. they come from Louisiana.( haha, katie!)
Debbie Veitch: not sure i remember you entirerly… i know your my great- aunt but that’s about it:) but thanks for the prayers and keeping us all in your thoughts.:):)
Thanks so much for all the comments!!! i’m trying to write back to each and every one of them!!! ( wow, BIG job!!!)
hannah
june 28th
June 28th, 2010
This weekend Jeff had off from Treatments. As Hannah had written earlier, my back was killing me. The beds here are SO hard that I was in in pain from sleeping in them. I wish the hospital would splurge and get mattresses for the box springs we lay on
We went Saturday to the Holiday Inn a few blocks away and spent the night. We all went swimming in their pool. The kids were happy to have water to play in. We then ate dinner there at the hotel. They have a buffet, which is pretty good. Then we went back tot he hotel and watch TV–in English!! I honestly forgot we were in China for a few minutes The cars outside began honking at one another and I was quickly snapped back to reality.
On Sunday, we went downtown Qingdao with a group of patients. We had planned to eat at the shangri-La hotel’s buffett, but once we arrived we learned they were full and we needed reservations. We decided to go to the Crown Plaza and eat–it was ok. I am so pickly—most peopel really enjoyed it. I will say I am eating better this trip than the last time, but I am carefully monitoring to make sure I don’t gain weight!!
After lunch we went back to the water area. Hannah and Emily were disappointed that there were no rocks to climb on here–and they made sure we KNEW they were disappointed… Finally we found some little shops and began to look around-this perked Hannah up. She bought some new earrings. Emily got a turtle made out of shells named Shelly.
Today I know who celebrities feel when they are in public. People wanted to take our picture and would not really take no for an answer. Emily was being shy, but people kept insisting she take a picture. She hid behind me most of the time. we would just walk along and look over tot he left or right and see 2 or 3 people taking out photo. Weird. I know my children are beautiful, but this was kinda odd!
This week Jeff has only one spinal on Wednesday. He will have therapy everyday but Friday and Sunday this week. Then he has 2 treatments next week-Monday and Friday. Then we head to Beijing for some quick sightseeing Time seems to be flying by!!!
Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Now is the time the room starts getting smaller and tempers begin to get quicker. Please pray we continue to enjoy each other’s company as we all go through this amazing experience together as a family. My girls are getting such a life changing experience here. They are meeting people from all of over the US, but also the world. One family is from Ireland, one from Jordan, another from Romania, and one near Russia. They are also becoming more sensitive to people with disabilities. It is really amazing to watch I am so thankful that we have this experience, for so many reasons!!
June 27th, 2010
Hey it’s hannah.
So far so good!!! They went slow putting in the injection. Daddy said they gave him EXTRA fluids.
The two families we talked to and Emily really liked left this week. It was sad but that just means we are getting closer to our turn to leave. Say a prayer that Seth and Conner (the patients) get really good results!!!
Another prayer request: PLEASE pray that Mama’s back quits hurting tomorrow. I think it’s from getting a message yesterday and then moving around a lot and having Daddy push down on her shoulder. Daddy thinks it’s from the really uncomfortable beds. They have a mattress the width of a quilt. Then we have stacked up at least 6 comforters. Then they got a little plush styrofoam thing from one of the leaving families. Even though it’s made for a single bed, they have it turned sideways so they have more stuff under their backs.
Just in case you were wondering… my throat feels perfect!!! BUT: I have a stuffy nose, very constant, very loud, and very productive cough… and an ear infection!!! It stinks big time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Say a prayer that the medicine I’m currently taking works well!!!!!!!
Okay so remember to keep posting comments!!! I will tell you the rapid results from this treatment hopefully tomorrow morning!!!!!!!!!
hannah
june 24th
June 25th, 2010
we could not put them on here, but if you go to Jeff’s facebook page, there are LOTS of pictures on there… we will put more on there soon…
http://www.facebook.com/stemcellsforcrowe
June 23rd, 2010
Thankfully, Jeff is up today and having therapy. He feels great, no headache. We have a bit of a routine and it helps pass the 6 hours he has to lay flat on his back. He usually waits 7 just to be careful.
The girls are doing great! They have some friends that they hang out with each day. It is good they can get away from us for a little while. They can also get away from each other:)
Tonight we are planning to take a walk to a nearby park. It is all lit up at night and seems to be a popular place. There are always a lot of people out there at night. We try to get out of the hospital when ever we can. There is an open air market across the street and went over there last night. Just looked, didn’t see anything I wanted to buy. It was just nice to get out and walk around a little.
Please remember us in your prayers. We are close to the half way mark. 25 more days here. Emily is the countdown queen. It’s not that she is ready to leave, she just keeps track of the days. She is learning a lot over here. She is getting really good at counting money. She is very smart, just like her sister:)
June 22nd, 2010
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