September 13, 2008
Hi everybody!
Just wanted to let everyone know that Jillian is doing very well. Her temperature has been up and down for the past two days, but it’s not been anything that is really high. Dr. Mike told me that the prednisone (that must have been the anti-allergen medication I was talking about before) can make them warm. I was also told by Dr. Hong that a raise in temperature is common after a stem cell injection…..although it’s not as common after an IV, but most common after a spinal. She doesn’t seem to have a cold…..there’s been no coughing or runny nose. So must be a side affect of her miracle mixture. So you can all rest easy because she’s doing great.
My wonderful friend Carole arrived tonight!!!!! You would think she just drove across town…she arrived all bubbly and full of smiles! Jillian just about jumped out of her skin with happiness to see her Aunt Carole! I hope we’ll be able to go to West Lake tomorrow. They’re supposed to do some special sanitizing thing in all the rooms with vinegar where the patients have to leave anyhow, and they’re doing some minor construction in our room also, so I think that would be a perfect day to do something touristy. BUT….it’s supposed to be horrible weather. Go figure. There’s some temples at West Lake that are thousands of years old that I think would be interesting to see, and there are museums too. But you know that I’ll bombard you all with pictures if we indeed get to do some sightseeing.
I have the schedule for Jillian’s spinal injections. This coming Wednesday (Tuesday night for you) will be her first spinal. The next one is the following Monday (Sunday night for you), and after that is Friday (Thursday night for you). Then we leave to come home on September 29th, which was our original departure date. Carole, bless her heart, is staying with us for the duration.
Jillian has been waking up in the middle of the night and staying awake for a LOOONG TIME for the past 4-5 nights…..I’ve lost count. Aaaaaargh! Last night she was awake when the nurse came in at 3 a.m. to take her temperature and was giggling at the nurse. I knew that wasn’t a good sign. She finally went to sleep around 6:30 a.m.
I just have to tell you quickly about the dinner we had the other night. I ordered braised chicken. Sounds safe enough, eh? Well……there was, um, a chicken foot in it. Claws and all. I had to touch it to get it out. Can you feel me shudder all over again at the memory?
A woman I met that is here, we were talking and discussing where each other was from…..and guess where she’s from? Stuart. We’re neighbors (well, when we lived in Florida, that is). What a small world!!!! There are a couple of families that left in the last 2 days from the U.S., but still four families left from the U.S.; there are two families from Romania, a family from Italy, a family from Denmark, and a family from Hong Kong. There are a couple more coming in the next few days. It’s a true melting pot here on the 20th floor of Xiaoshan Hospital!
For some reason, I can’t access any of the recent comments that you all have left for us, say within the last day. As that is the highlight of my day, it’s really bumming me out. But it’ll be like Christmas when I do finally get to read all of them at once! So keep ‘em coming please, because you have no idea how much encouragement you give us.
I’m sending back some love to all of you, and kisses and hugs too, from me and Jillie Bean!
11 comments September 13th, 2008
