Joanne’s MS Blog

Nee How from Shenyang…….well as the title says Sunday was kinda layed back and boring so Joanne and I decided to send a few Chinese proverbs from non other than Confucious  so here it goes

1. He who makes love on grass, get piece on earth.

2.War does not determine who is right, but who is left.

3.Man who farts in church sit in own pew.

4.He who thinks only of number one, must remember this number is next to nothing.

5.He who stands on toilet high on pot.

6.Man who walk through airport turnstile sideways going to Bangkok.

7.Foolish man give wife grand piano, wise man give wife upright organ.

8.Man who run behind car get exhausted.

9.Man who go to bed with itchy bum, wake up with stinky fingers.

10.Passionate kiss like spiderweb, soon lead to undoing of fly.

11.When called an idiot sometimes is better to be quiet then to speak and remove all doubt.

Gotta love the wisdom of the Chinese!

    Just thought we could make your day today with a little humour from China!!!!

Love Brian and Joanne

Hello and so another day gone. This weekend was a holiday for the chinese people , and so therapies etc. were cancelled with the exception of PT Sunday afternoon.  Everyone I asked did not know the name of the holiday , but it is celebrated by people visiting grave sites and leaving food and/or wine at the graves.

     Saturday afternoon was a little windy but nice and warm with sunshine . Carol, Joanne and myself took a long walk to middle street an area of town I had been to before but wanted to take a closer look.  Unfortunately the shops are not very wheelchair friendly, and Joanne didn’t care to go shopping so we toured from mall area(similiar to scarth street mall in Regina)and walked by the shops.  It was Saturday afternoon and the cobblestone court was jam-packed with people. It reminds me of the fairgrounds at peak times. Not exactly the best for pushing a wheelchair through but we managed without any problems. This area of town is very modern with clothing shops , eyeglass shops ,footwear shops,restraunts, small fast food outlets in the middle of the court. Very colorful . After touring this part of middle street we entered into an open market that resembled an endless hallway of meat and fish shops, were one could by many cuts of meat and an unbelievable assortment of seafood many of which were alive in tanks. These individual little shops were about 12 feet long and 8 feet deep all butted against eachother and about 300 yards from the beginning to the end of the market. After skipping over a few streets we ventured into anther open market where fresh fruit and vegetables , shoes , clothing , trinkets ,odds and ends and one of my favorite things beer. Now I have to stop and comment about the beer! In walmart I purchased beer , that is tsing toa beer , the 335ml. size for $1.25 CND and in this market I could buy the beer for 50 cents a bottle the 500ml. size…….and so I did. I was done my shopping. We also picked up some cherry tomatoes red and yellow ,they were delicious, Joanne loves those. We also bought some watermelon , it to was equally good. I forgot to mention that I purchased a roasted chicken for supper. It was basted in some kind of a sauce that was a little sweet but very tasty. That night for supper in our hospital room we had a feast, …..and the beer was good too! I remember putting in a movie to watch but fell asleep by 7pm …..Joanne woke me at about 9pm so I could get her ready for bed. I can’t believe how all that beer ..I mean walking can tire a fellow out.

     Joanne still has better feeling in her limbs , but no movement at this time. They are placing small weights in her hands near the end of her physiotherapy while they support her from behind as she sits on a exercise mat. This is probably done so she can experience the weight as it pulls on her biceps. Her over all appearance is better and she does seem more alert, although when she starts getting tired she does look exhausted . The improvements are minimal but she is going in the right direction,and we can only hope for more as the days pass. At the beginning the doctor’s here said it would take 3-6 months before we see any improvement but there is a chance we could see some sooner. Joanne has had no movement below her neck for over 2 years now , so I would think it will be a while before we do see any significant changes.  Those muscles must be stretched out again and with the physio and acupunture they are loosening up. Her arms and fingers are not as stiff and her legs are bending very easily now.

So bye for now and Joanne says thank you all for the words of encouragement and positive energy that is being sent her way.

Nee How (hello in chinese) i am a little late in sending this post because thursday was a change in plans. Joanne was to receive another stemcell injection on Friday ,however after walking about 3 miles away from the hospital and enjoying the sunny weather Joanne’s caregiver Carol gets a call from the hospital and we had to hurry back as they decided to do the injection ASAP. There is a lack of communication! So Joanne get’s her injection this time not on her air mattress (it is awkward for the doctor) this time on my bed. This was done at about 5:30pm, and then Joanne must lay flat on her back for 6 hours afterward and 4 of those first hours without a pillow. I can only describe the 6 hours as complete hell. Joanne was so uncomfortable I was moving her arms and legs ,massaging her neck etc. , I could not move from her bedside, she was not comfortable at all. We both didn’t get to sleep until after midnight when I switched her back into her own bed. The VODKA was good before bed. A short sleep up ,at 6am and back on schedule with bathing breakfast and physio. Then we both took a nap at around dinner time , that brought back a little energy. The afternoon was spent in the park across the street. The weather was absolutely gorgeous , it was warm in the high teens I am sure , and no wind. I took a lot of pictures yesterday mostly of the people and I will email them to the people that have left comments on Joanne’s blog. The reason I am not including them in the blog is because I found out there is a limit of 10megabites per blog. I maybe able to increase this I will investigate. Bye for now ……..we both sure miss home ……today is the halfway point of our stay in China.

Bicycle bed   Sitting area at hospital   Joanne with guard   Playing cards in the park   Walk in the parkHello it is Thursday morning in Shenyang , the sun is shining and things are looking up. Joanne was telling me lastnight how inspired she was by 2 young chinese men who were taking physio with her yesterday afternoon.  She had noticed how hard and unrelenting they were working to improve their physical handicap. She says that watching them grunt and groan and keep on going was a motivation to do the same. I am sure she will because she is a fighter. I asked her if my kicking her in the butt wasn’t motivation enough(LOL!!!)

     Joanne did not use an sleeping medication lastnight and she slept soundly. We both watched a movie and stayed up until 11pm . I slept good myself after a couple of voldka’s and this morning started off great. Joanne is presently in physio as I am starting this blog entry without her.

     This afternoon we plan on going to wal-mart which is about a 20 minute walk. The 3 of us will get some fresh air and enjoy the sunshine.Maybe we will take a different route and I will take my camera and send some more pictures. I will include some pictures that I have already taken. Bye for now and thanks to everyone for all the great comments and emails. Oh one more thing , the internet problem is still happening with this computer but I was able to connect my ipod to the internet and get all my emails and send emails and write into this blog if necessary. Thank you Steve Jobs for Apple Inc.

Outside Hospital Room Window   Shenyang Hospital 463   hospital group at ocean world   Wheeled transportation   Concrete Teapot   3 wheeled taxi    china-48.jpgHello from Shenyang a hustling and bustling city in northeast China. Joanne would like to say  that she is experiencing a slight improvement with feeling in her arms and legs. We will try to cut back on some of her medication to help her sleep at night time. This we hope will make her energy level increase because she feels that taking some of these meds keeps her a little drowsy into the day. We are trying this on our own as an experiment and we will see if this helps. We both hope that doing this will not make her sleep worse.  We have included some pictures as I have finally ( I hope ) figured this out. Bye for now …………..zzz….zzz.zzzz.zzzz