Archive for March 5th, 2007
Stem Cells China Days 6 + 7 03.03.07 + 04.03.07.
Yet again I had a very restless night but this was due to the outside temperature which as risen to 25 degrees and had made it very uncomfortable. I was woken at 4.00 am by the nurse to check that I was okay, which I could have done without and I again watched the clock go around before arising at 7.00am with no ill effects after my first stem cell injection. We then had a coffee before attending rehab with muscle massage, acupuncture and a session on the inversion table. I have just returned from shopping with Lynn and Richard today which has been by far the best and warmest day. During my sleep last evening I dreamt that I was able to write, a function that I’d lost some considerable months ago. I forgot about the dream until later this morning and whilst on my own started to write a few sentences with fluency and clarity I hope this function remains with me as it is the first real sign of function return. Whilst I am overjoyed I must still remain realistic and not build my hopes up too much. Later this afternoon I had terrible migraine and had to return to bed for the rest of the day.
I awoke on Sunday morning as usual but we don’t need to get up early as this morning as this was the Chinese day of rest. Soon after taking a shower I developed another severe migraine and returned to bed once more> I arose at 1.30pm and decided to put together my blog as I was feeling a whole lot better before going out for some fresh air and undertaking some further exploring, we were pleasantly surprised to be stopped by a Chinese business man called Daniel who stopped and chatted for some twenty minutes about his business ventures in England and later was welcomed to China by a Chinese lady we returned to the hospital to continue with my blog
March 5th, 2007
Stem Cell China Day 5 02.03.07
I did not have a very good nights sleep at all, almost watching the clock go round and I think it was the anticipation of receiving my first injection of stem cells this afternoon. The alarm went off but I didn’t really need it anyway because I was wide awake after not sleeping at all. I’m somewhat apprehensive at not really knowing what to expect .I have been advised to have a good breakfast as I have nil by mouth after 12.00pm I was not going to rehabilitation this morning but I didn’t want to miss the opportunities that were available to me and so I decide to undertake my massage and acupuncture as usual. Judy who is my personnel therapist is absolutely excellent in all treatments that she has undertakes. After returning from my therapy we both had a drink as it would be my last before I received my stem cells. I then watched a DVD to fill the time up to 4.00pm when my injection was due. Andrea delivered next week’s programme of events to be undertaken which would be hopefully not as rushed as I am now starting to settle in to my programme. I then prepared to take with me all my good luck items that had been given to me for a successful outcome plus my little lepricorn what Richard has put on the collar of my shirt. Right on cue the theatre technitions arrived to take me to theatre. I came from theatre feeling a little drowsy, I now have to lie flat on my back for 6 hours so I told Richard to go and have something to eat as the nurses would keep an eye on me. I passed the time my listening to my mp3 player and by the time Richard returned I must have heard the same Beatles album about 4 times so by now I new the words off by heart! During the evening Lynn from Australia also kept popping into my room to see how I was doing and at 10.30pm Richard returned so I got out of bed too eat a KFC it was great to have some English food!!
March 5th, 2007
Stem Cell China Day 4 01.03.07
First thing this morning we looked down towards the park outside of our bedroom window to see a few people undertaking Tai Chi exercises before they went off to work and start their day. We were led to believe that the weather would be cold in the evening and we would need to bring long sleeve shirts, but remarkably the weather is warm and during the day there is usually a smog over the city. After having my acupuncture today with the electrodes I found that my left arm was less stiff and in fact I could open my left hand more than before as it is always clenched tight. I just hope that it lasts. I’m off to occupational therapy just now at 2.30 and just wandering what I will have to undertake. 5.00 in the evening just came back from o/t where they massaged my arms and hands also gave me some exercises to do with my fingers then went on to have another session with the inversion table they then attached different straps and electrodes to my calf and ankles to stimulate my muscles even further. This made my muscles twitch every 3-4 seconds or so that lasted about 30 mins and then returned to our room. I’m hoping that Richard will take some video footage tomorrow and catch up on the days that I have missed filming. Richard and me went around the streets of Shenzhen to do a bit of shopping which turned out to be a bit of an eye opener, there were street beggar’s, fortune tellers, trinket sales and food stalls which were all extremely dirty. Amongst the items for sale were puppies in cages, ducks that looked as though their innards at been taken out and must obviously be a Chinese delicacy. After our shopping trip we went to the hospital restaurant but our appetite after our experiences were somewhat lacking and left half of our food. We then went upstairs to try and contact home and answer all of our emails etc, we then retired to bed at around about 11pm.
March 5th, 2007
Stem Cell China Day 3
March 5th, 2007
Stem Cells China Day 2 28/02/07
I had to get out of bed at 7.30 rather sharpishif I was to meet the appointments that had been made from 8.30 onwards. At this point I was frightened to wake Richard up as he had also had a long journey plus having to help me and the problems with the power chair at the airport, but he was also awake and managed to get me out of bed and both managed to get showered and at 8.30 prompt the door was knocked by a nurse , Doctor Woo went through my medical history just after Doctor Woo had left Doctor Zhang came with his delegation of students under and a series of medical examinations on all limbs were undertaken. No sooner had they left then the door went again and a phlebotomist attended to undertake a series of blood samples for examination and blood matching. Within another 5 minutes of her leaving then Camellia came who is a patient liaison nurse, who explained to us all that was going to go ahead and what was going to happen that day and about money exchange etc. We were promptly taken down to the second floor where I undertook ECG, MRI scans eye tests and Cardiac Doppler examinations which took us through to 5.30pm, we were both absolutely exhausted. After been pinched and poked and all sorts after all the examinations that I had undertaken and all in the middle of me and me and Richard suffering from jetlag I was understandably suffering the anxiety of being in a strange place, nothing being where I am used to it being, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. We went for something to eat at the hospital restaurant which is on the ground floor as we were by this time absolutely ravenous . We noted on our travels through the hospital the complete lack of wheelchairs and have had an audience looking over own power chair almost in disbelief as they had never seen anything like it before. It was from this point that I realised just how lucky I was!
March 5th, 2007
Stem Cells China Days 0/1 26.02.07
March 5th, 2007
