Today was just another day. Dillon started with acupuncture again. Grandpa K was able to watch via skype. It isn’t fun to watch though as Dillon almost cries from it. The needles in the neck don’t seem to bother him – because his muscles aren’t tight there. The arms hurt a little (today was the first day he cried from the arms). But his legs hurt the most, but his legs are also the most tight. As much as it tears my heart out to listen to his crying, I know it is for his good.
A little later the translator, Jason, came in and of course Jay got him to read again. Jason was also teaching us some Chinese words. He is very good at explaining how to say it and what it means. He explained some of the Chinese characters and what they mean too. Mom and I are trying our hardest to learn a few words every day. Some of the words we now know pretty good are; head, hair, pillow, yes, no, bed, thank you, hello. Chinese is very hard to learn! Our mouths and tongues just don’t move like that!
Jason reading to Jay again
Dillon had PT again this morning, but it was pretty much the same as last time so I didn’t get any pictures. He had the electrowave therapy for 20 minutes again. He seems to be very comfortable during the therapy. Then we had lunch. Mom K wasn’t feeling like eating too much so I ordered something I thought would be pretty good. Vegetable soup and more of the rice we know we like. I don’t know what was in the soup. It was sour and spicy. And it had green leaves of some sort in it. We both tried a little, but it was not like our vegetable soup at all. The rice was good though.
Then, Grandma was trying to catch up on sleep since she was up most of the night with Dillon. I tried to write some Chinese words. I wrote a note saying “Hello, My name is Dillon K. I am American. Thank you. If you give me your email address I will write to you. ~Dillon” I want to hand write a thank you note when we leave and these were the only phrases I could find in my phrase book. I took the note to one of the translators to see if they could read it without knowing what I was trying to write. They could! He said it was very neat. He said my English handwriting must be neat – I showed him and he laughed and said no it isn’t! But then a Solider walked up and the translator handed him my note and told him it was my first attempt at Chinese symbols….he said my handwriting is better than his! 
The solider, who I have never seen before, then asked if he could take a picture of JayDonn. They all love him, even upon meeting him for the first time. So anyways, I found a website that lets you type in anything you want and it translates it into simplified Chinese. So I am going to work on writing a better thank you note.
Then we went to therapy again. We decided to let Grandma stay and rest while I took the boys. I went to another building first to get JayDonn some ice cream. He really is being a good boy considering we have been away from home for a week now and been stuck in two little rooms the whole time. The picture is Jay eating his ice cream while Dillon is working on therapy.
Ice cream
Dillon seems to enjoy the therapy. He was cooing during it and even trying to lift his head. He was moving his arms a little while on his belly too. They ladies are so good with him. They are teaching me different pressure points and ways to position him. They told me I can get the rolls they use for positioning at the supermarket here so I think I will try to find a couple.
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Relaxing during therapy
JayDonn – always the goofy kid. He is so sweet. I love him. During therapy in the morning he was on a little stool with wheels and was going over to Dillon’s head and giving him tons of kisses! He is a good little man (most of the time!)A couple people today asked us about Jay’s double crown. They don’t see that much in the Chinese people. They think it is cute.
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Being goofy
My other little man. Isn’t he beautiful? Most of the ladies comment on his beautiful skin, his long eye lashes and his “angel skin”.
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My beautiful little boy
More therapy…
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Dillon working hard
Dear everyone,
Please keep praying for me. I am working so hard everyday to try to get better. I am even going through 8 needles every day, not including the needles for the IVs and the spinals that I will have later this week. I am working in therapy every day too. Please keep praying – pray with faith. Pray believing that God can and will work a miracle in my life! Your prayers have been answered in that I am here, so just keep praying for me to make huge improvements! Remember, we are praying to the One who created everything, the Great Physician. He can do something wonderful in my life.
Love
Dillon
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- Look at my big boy!
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August 4th, 2009
Everyday we get to talk to Daddy, Grandpa and Grandma S and Grandpa K. We love skype! By the way if you have skype please add us, we would love to chat with anyone we know. So Jay has started kissing people on skype. You can see in the picture below…
- JayDonn kissing Pappa, he also kisses Grandma and Daddy!
They brought in a lamp to make Dillon’s bed area a sterile enviroment. We had to be out of the room for 30 minutes while it was cleaning the air and the surrounding things. It is pretty neat, this way they don’t have to take the patients to a different location they can do the treatments right in the room. Below is the lamp…
Making a sterile enviromentThe nurses were having a hard time looking for a vein for the IV. I started looking and they gave me a turnicate so I could try to find one. We found one in his leg and the nurses tried but the blood clotted too fast and they had to pull it out. So we gave Dillon 3 ounces (which is a lot for him) of water and waited about 30 minutes. They tried a vein in his other foot and the same thing happened. So they called in a nurse from the pediatric floor and while we were waiting for her I was putting hot wash clothes on his arms. The nurse was able to get it on the first attempt. Below is a picture of us trying to find a vein...Dillon's vein are very hard! And he is going to need several more in the next three weeks!Looking for a vein for an IV
The nurses tried so hard to get an IV
For lunch we ordered fried rice, it was the best thing we have had so far. It is so good! Plus it was enough to feed all three of us for only 0.50! I like the prices here! (well, of everything except the laundry!) Below is a picture of the first time JayDonn tried to use Chop Sticks! He was so cute and actually pretty good!
Jays first time using chop sticks
Liquid gold! I have heard that expression before but these umbilical cord stem cells are just that. They are clear but golden in color and hopefully will be more valuable to Dillon than gold! The first pack of stem cells are in my hand below
- The wonderful stem cells!!
Hanging the first stem cells! There they go! There was confusin about a medicine they wanted to give before the stem cells to keep Dillon’s body from fighting off the stem cells. However, it is a steriod and will cause his blood sugar to go very high which is very dangerous for his diet. So after Josiah confirmed with Dillon’s hospital back home that we can’t do that they wanted to do benadryl but the hospital back home said that may not be safe either. The Chiene doctor explained to me that it is just Chinese custom to give these medications but they aren’t needed. It is just to prevent a fever. So he decided we would give the stem cells and then just watch close to be sure he didn’t get a fever. They came in about once every hour at first, but his temp was perfectly fine. So he got his first set of stem cells! There are new, unidentified cells traveling in his body that are looking for a new home. His brain may be getting new cells right now!
The nurse is hanging Dillon's first stem cells
Celia is one of the nurses here that loves JayDonn pieces! She came in today, on her day off, in her Army uniform. She is a solider! Her husband used to be one, but is now a police officer. She wanted to get pictures with Jay on her camera so I got some one mine too. They just love JayDonn so much around here!
Celia and JayDonn
Celia and Jason with JayDonn. Jason is a translator and Jay just loves him. Jason was playing with Jay and throwing him up in the air and spinning him around. Jay wanted Jason to read one of his favorite books to him so he did.
Celia, JayDonn, and Jason
Celia started reading one of JayDonn’s book to him and he loved it. I think Celia liked his books too! I think they like to practice their English, not only verbally but with the written language. She is very good at reading. She said she doesn’t pronounce words right, but I told her so is so much better in English than I will ever be in Chinese!
Celia and Jay reading together
August 4th, 2009
