Denise Blea
Just another Stemcellschina.com weblog
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Most Recent Posts
- It's Monday, March 21st around 6:30 am and just 2 more days until we go home! We leave on Wednesday, March 23rd at 11:25 am and get back home on Wednesday, March 23rd at 3:58 pm, but we actually have around 20 hours of travel time. This whole time difference because we are on the other side of the world is so confusing. We have been so busy pretty much every day that the time has flown by, but we are definitely ready to get back home. Uncle Bob tells us that Junior is so proud of Denise, but that he misses her very much. Today and tomorrow Denise has her regular therapies and tomorrow we also go back downtown to the Qingdao Eye Hospital so they can check her eyes again. They will give me the results of both tests so that I can bring them back home with us. This has without a doubt been the experience of a lifetime and many of the parents, especially the ones who are here for the second time, have told me about what improvements their children have had as a result of stem cells. Denise has always taken her time at showing us what she can do so I imagine that whatever results she gets from her stem cells will take some time and be so subtle that we have to be careful not to miss them. Here are some pictures of Denise's doctors, nurses, our translators and a few more families who are here right now. I will go for now, but take care and have a great day!
- Right now it is about 7:00 pm, Friday, March 18th and Denise had her last two stem cell infusions today. She was scheduled to have one of them through a spinal, but it was too much for her and she couldn't stay still enough to allow Dr. Tony to do the injection safely so we decided to give both infusions to her through her IV. It was pretty traumatic for her and I felt terrible that I had put her through that. She calmed down maybe a half hour after we got back to our room and I got her walkman with her music set up for her so she could listen to it while her stem cells were going in through her IV. Tough day, but we both got through it okay and now we are relaxing and watching some Scooby Doo movies. She is doing much better this evening and playing with her toy, listening to her walkman and listening to the Scooby Doo movies. We had Japanese Fried Rice for dinner and munched on some popcorn just a little while ago. We have a couple of free days coming up on Saturday and Sunday so we may walk across the street and get our hair cut. I wonder if we will be able to tell them how we want it cut? Hmmm, we'll see. So long for now. I will post some more pictures over the weekend. Ta Ta for now.
- Good morning everyone! Denise had back-to-back stem cell infusions through the IV yesterday so that covers her 3rd & 4th ones. She is feeling pretty good, but the only change so far is that she keeps opening her eyes like "big eyes" when she is just sitting around and says that she has "bed bugs" in her eyes (not that she has ever had bed bugs but that it comes from the saying "sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite"), so I know that something feels different to her. We have to remember that this is a "regeneration" process so it could take 6 months to a year before we see how much Denise will get from the stem cells. We are getting ready to have breakfast and then will start our rounds of therapies soon. Have a GREAT day!
- Yeah ... We are back online! Denise had her spinal infusion Friday and it was pretty rough for her, but she got through it with flying colors. Afterwards she had to lay flat on her back for six hours. She was pretty tired after the spinal but she wasn't ready to sleep so we went through some speech therapy, watched movies and after a few hours she fell asleep. I pulled my chair up next to her bed and stayed right next to her the whole time which is good because she woke up a couple of times and automatically tried to lift her head but I caught her and made sure she did not lift it. The next day Denise had a headache and I gave her some Children's Tylenol, but luckily she did not have any nausea and her back was fine. Saturday we pretty much just stayed in our room and Denise laid in bed, got up to eat and laid back in bed. Her headache finally got better on Sunday around 11:00 am, then she was back to laughing at the movies and her music or any other noise that tickled her. I am putting pictures of some of the people who are here for stem cell treatments. There is Chris, Wendy and Michaela from Australia, Lynn and Davis from Georgia, USA, Angel and his dad from Equador, the three sisters and their mother from Spain and there are more but I don't have pictures of everyone yet. I will post more as I get them. Sunday morning after Denise was feeling better we took Michaela a little present for her birthday and within 20 minutes there was quite a few people who showed up to do the same so we had an impromptu little get together which was really nice. Saturday I had mentioned to Lynn and Debbie (from Florida) that I wanted to go to the American Market to get some supplies and they decided they wanted to go also so we planned a trip for Sunday. Lynn told me that the markets get pretty crowded and fast paced on the weekends and she had arranged to have one of the nurses stay with her son Davis so I knew Denise would not enjoy it and she stayed with Davis and Nurse Tessie. Then it was ladies shopping day out so Lynn, Debbie and I went with our driver Charlie to the American Market where we went a little crazy getting items that were "familiar" and after that we went to the Jimo Market which is very much like a Flea Market, but more stuff and more crowded. This took several hours, but we all found some pretty cool stuff to buy that didn't really cost too much. I guess I better sign off for now. Denise starts her therapies again tomorrow morning at 8:30 am and the doctor will be coming in before that. Then she will have her next round of stem cells in the afternoon. Have a GREAT day and we will talk to you again soon!
- Good morning everyone! Well, it's almost 6:00 am on Friday, here in China anyway. Today Denise is scheduled for her second round of stem cells and she will get this one through a spinal injection. Denise will have to fast for two hours before the procedure, she won't be able to drink water for two hours after the procedure and she won't be able to eat until four hours after the procedure. She also has to lay on her bed without a pillow for six hours afterwards. I will sit right next to her the whole time to make sure that she doesn't try to get up or move her head the wrong way. We will spend time watching movies or I will read to her and she can listen to her music. Whatever it takes to make sure she is safe and comfortable. There is also a birthday party today for a young girl from Australia so we'll see how everything goes later to see if we can make it to the party. We could just wheel Denise's bed right near the common area which is right outside our doorway so she can feel like she is at the party because she has really been looking forward to it. Oh yeah, Denise is handling the acupuncture much better now. She says that Junior would be so proud of her! I guess that's it for now. I will put more after she can move again later tonight. Here are some pictures of Qingdao. Have a GREAT day!
- Today has been another crazy day, but it was also Denise's first "stem cell" day! Woo Hoo! We started off the day with electric wave therapy, then acupuncture (which Denise really doesn't like), then physical therapy, then the nurses came in to put the needle in her hand to prepare her for the IV and then from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm we went up to the 9th floor to the IV room and Denise got her first stem cell infusion. She handled everything very well and now we are hanging in our room just enjoying our quiet time. She has her next round of stem cells on Friday and they might try to give them to her through a spinal injection, but if they feel that there is any chance that it will be dangerous to Denise we will switch back to the IV. I guess that's it for now, but I will report more after her next round of stem cells. Take care everyone and have a great day!
- Wow! Denise had such a busy day today and it looks like that's the way it is going to be until Saturday. She had Electric Wave Therapy, Acupuncture and Physical Therapy. Then we went for a 40 minute drive downtown to the Qingdao Eye Hospital for some eye tests. Then we came back and she had a Massage, Fire Cups and Ear Points. Whew! We just finished dinner and now we are watching one of the Shrek movies. I will post pictures of the therapies and more later. Have a great night or day, wherever you are!
- OMG! We are really here in Qingdao, China! Actually, we got here yesterday morning but I had to get us all settled in, Denise saw Dr. Lisa for the initial checkup and then I was just too exhausted to blog. We're back online now and Denise has a very busy schedule ahead of her which will include her stem cell treatments and lots of different therapies. Right now we are watching a movie and relaxing while we have a chance. Take care everyone and talk to you soon.
- We have had quite a journey so far and on our plane from Denver, CO to Los Angeles, CA we met a very nice lady named Kathy who was very interested in what our journey is all about. We had a really long walk to the international terminal in Los Angeles and then we boarded our plane for Seoul. Now it's early Sunday morning and we are at the airport in Seoul, Korea waiting for our plane which will take us to Qingdao, China! It's been a very long trip, but Denise has been such a trooper every step of the way and we are almost to our final destination. Yeah! Talk to you all soon!
- On Sunday, February 28th, Grandma Della, Grandpa Tilo and the rest of our family put together a going away party for us. It was so much fun and everyone brought lots of delicious food. Everyone who was there (and many more) have helped us so much so that I can go get these stem cell treatments. Thank you all very, very much!
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