Archive for December 4th, 2008

Cranky curve ahead

Tuesday, December 2

Today was a little on the boring side.  There is always something to do but still boring.  Kevin is so fatigued that he needs a hand to walk everywhere.  Those baby stem cells are making him sleep like a baby….and he’s not alone.  It is a common theme here with the adults……and with the kids, they are the opposite, they are hyperactive.  Showers, breakfast, , doctor’s visit, electric wave therapy, physio (which is now 1.5 hours), butt dragging (otherwise known as returning to his room), accupuncture (Kevin calls it his 30 minutes of torture), more electric wave and now it is lunch.  Make lunch, wash dishes, tidy room, check email (when available), go to RT Mart for groceries (2 blocks but takes at least an hour even if I take the stairs…..) put away stuff in teeny weeny fridge, hand wash items, update shedule, figure out supper, update blog, visit other rooms, make supper, eat, do dishes….on and on until bed.  That’s a regular day.  Throw in a stem cell treatment or an outing and you have the “other” days here.  Today was a regular day until I was invited to go shopping with some others….it is cheaper this way as  we then split it 3-4 with the driver costs.  We left at 2:30 with full intentions of returning by 7…..it takes a half hour to get where we usually go IF the traffic is light.  This wasn’t one of those days.  I had bought a silk quilt and decided the size was wrong (we don’t have a great deal to talk about when it is the same people stuck together for days on end) so the Silk Factory was the first stop.  Two hours later, we left.  That whole time was spent waiting for 5 sales clerk to figure out how to charge me an extra bit of money as the new design was a tad more expensive….Jack, please tell them I want to leave now…this is ridiculous…..they are done?  Perfect….wait….where’s my discount??!   Never mind…..I know the answer…it’s not my lucky day…..lovely, just perfectly lovely.  Get in the car….next stop, Wushan square….Robyn needs a picture and Louise needs some tea sets…..A bit more luck here…..Jack barely pulled me out of harm’s way….two people fighting over some object they both wanted……thanks, Jack….I owe you one……What you mean Tracy?  Never mind….just thanks Jack.  Back to the car and another 15 minutes putting Robyn in the little car, wheelchair in the trunk, parcels back on top, the rest of us in and waving goodbye to the hordes that stop to stare……On to the night market for some Gucci purses or knockoffs of knockoffs!  It got cold quick and it took us forever to get to the market.  I used Jack’s phone to call the hospital to make sure Kevin was ok.  He was pretty weak today and laid on the bed and watched movies or listened to the IPOD….Terribly cranky today.  I told the girls I should get back and would have Jack return me to the hospital after dropping them off…..NO, NO, call and see if he’s ok, ….he was playing card with Clarence…ok….all clear to shop again.  Robyn knew exactly what she wanted and after checking out every spot, two hours later, she returned to the car with 6 jackets and 12 purses!  She was a happy camper.  I had picked out 3 too, but when I heard the clerk roaring at her, I thought….forget it …not tonight….I put them down and left with Louise, back to the car….I’m freezing…..At one point while we were there, Robyn had picked out a bunch of stuff and started bartering….guy wouldn’t budge….he was just yelling at her….no buy!  price no good…..so Louise stepped in….offered price…NO!  k…another price….NO!  She turned and told Robyn…this guy won’t deal at all….go to another spot….but I want those, Louise…..just walk away…..the guy yelled “  go look….you come back….no problem….Louise turned and yelled back….”We no come back!” ….the guy leaned into her and yelled ” NO PROBLEM!!?

His wife came running after us but we kept walking….later we returned, and he gave Robyn an amazing deal on all of her purses!  We returned back at the hospital at 9 pm and had snacks with Clarence, Louise and Leslie…..went to bed around 11:30….another one down.

3 comments December 4th, 2008

Technical difficulties are now a daily occurence….

Ok, so first the server crashes.  Back up.  Laptop dies an early death.  Shared computer has a virus.  Fixed.  Mouse has been stolen. Culprit returned it.  Doesn’t work.  New mouse….nope…not working …oh, look ,….keyboard is shot too….where’s Alf……

All is working now ….oh, great…Alf reinstalled windows and all of my pictures are gone….dang it….it took me 2 hours to upload them and resize them as the blog won’t accept them normal size.  Looks like I have more work to do.  DING! My time is up.  Shoot.   I’ll try back in a few more hours to do more. I have to go to the back of the line again.

Tell you what.  I’ll post the writings only.  As soon as I can redo the pics, I’ll add them to each post.  I will let you know when that happens.

One day, I went to the silk factory.  I purchased the same things as two other ladies….they got a discount.  I want same please…..  “No, not lucky day for you.  No more lucky days at silk factory.”……yeah well, it looks like luck isn’t on my side this week…..I think Kevin has it all…and that’s ok :-)

PS  For those people who have been wondering, I do not assign the security words.  It is a security feature of the Stem Cells China blogsite.  It helps to eliminate spam and other excess garbage coming back to your computer.  That’s my story….and yes, right or wrong, I’m sticking to it. :-)

1 comment December 4th, 2008

Stem cell Monday

Monday, Dec 1

Monday morning, bright and beautiful again……thiswas stem cell day #5 for Kevie…..lumbar puncture.  He had regular physio but no accupuncture today.  Dr. Mike and the team came in at 9:30.  They gave Kevin medication orally and told him to take it right away.  They didn’t think the valium was strong enough for him…not sure what the pills were….they told us but in one ear and out the other!  They came to get him at 10:20 am and he was in and out in a half hour.  I asked him how it was and he had a big smile on his face and was slurring his words….I looked over at Rick, who was sitting near by “I think that the drugs worked this time.”…yep…pretty sure they did!

Blood pressure check after treatment

Blood pressure check after treatment

They rolled him back to his room by 11:30 and he slept like a baby for 3 hours, waking only to use the bathroom….and no, he wasn’t allowed to get up :-) …..they kept checking on him every half hour to ensure his oxygen levels are ok, his temp is fine and his blood pressure is good.  No problems….Dr. Mary came in at 4:30 and told him he could get up to use the bathroom now but then straight back to bed for two more hours…..and to have something to eat….Tracy’s not feeding me Dr. Mary….oh, why you not feed him?  Feed him?  I’ll feed him alright…..hard to feed him when he’s sleeping, Dr.Mary…..

The Romanian sisters and their mom are heading home tomorrow so we threw a little party for them tonight.  They came in to see Kevin as they didn’t think he would be able to go to the party…..couple of kisses and the delivery of some food they didn’t need, and Mr. Jones decided he was up to party!  Turn up the music and open the wine…..party begins now:

We had so many laughs….these are some wonderful new friends we’ve made…..One of the interpreters, Lucy, got nurse’s hats for all of the guys and then made them dance to the little toy drum played by Susie…Oh my goodness we laughed…that was good for everyone….Lucy get up there and dance with the boys….”You no take pictures!”  No, I won’t take pictures, Lucy….shhh! me take video instead!  “Tracy! What can I do for you….laundry, cleaning….no show pictures….I have to work here for next few years!…..Ah, Lucy….I’ll think about it….not.  Oh look!  Christine and Joanne are dancing too!  Don’t tell the docs we were all partying tonight….as far as anyone knows, it’s night physio…..:-)

The party lasted until the last drop of wine was gone and everyone slowly wandered back to their rooms….lots of tears and goodbyes to Carmen, Christine and Mom…..(we miss you)…..NIght.

2 comments December 4th, 2008


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