Jackie Kay's Blog

Tuesday, July 11

July 11th, 2006

Hurray….. more stem cells at last. Sounds like I have turned into a “stem cell junkie”, but no, just eager to get on with life. The procedure went very smoothly again, only took 10-15 minutes from beginning to end. Again the most difficult thing is laying still for 4-6 hours afterwards.

Remember – there are always people worse off than ourselves. Our life in Sailability constantly reminds us of that. Our good friend, Sir William Deane (past Governor General of Australia and Patron of the Access DInghy Foundation) wrote in the forward of our little book, “…… Get Your Bum Wet Again (the name of the book) reminds us of some of the important things in life – of generosity, of courage, of friendship, of true achievements, of sheer enjoyment of life even in circumstances of often profound disadvantage.”

People with a disability can have a joyous life and bring joy to the lives of those around them…. it is their peception of themselves and life that makes the difference. I remember reading once, “the difference between a rose and a weed, is just but a thought.” It’s our choice.

So, it is the next morning and no, I didn’t miraculously stand up and walk, but I didnt expect, or hope for that. I have a much firmer grasp of reality than that. But my legs and feet are warm again and this afternoon I’m back to Rehabilitation and Shung Way. On Thursday morning, before leaving Shenzhen I will give a bit of an overall assessment of where I am physically and then again before heading back to Sydney, and again regularly on the blog as time passes. It’s impossible to give a day by day commentary because it’s on again, off again; two steps forward and one stem back. I know that Seeva, my friend back in the MS Exercise class at Lidcome, is eager to hear the news – but hang in there mate, I dont want to give you false information. We all need to be patient and see what happens to my symptoms over the next few months.

Our tickets have been booked for Qingdao for Thursday afternoon. Jon has very kindly arranged for Amy to accompany us for the first few days to ensure a smooth re-location.

For the want of anything else, here is a photo of the Chinese side of the moon. That was about all I looked at last night, waiting for the time to pass.

Entry Filed under: Uncategorized