- Today Kyle finished his last therapy session. He worked hard and was ready to get it over with. Wendy and Dr. Tony stopped to ask us what we thought about the stem cell treatments and they told me to be honest. I told them that I don’t know if the stem cells did him any good or the therapy, but it was a big accomplishment that he could pull himself into a sitting position. Dr. Tony seems to think that it is the stem cells. Whatever it is I plan on working him so he can continue to make more progress. Dr. Tony said that the stem cells have not settled yet and we should see results for the next several months. So that sounds good to me. I would much rather see the results at home with all of my family and friends. Now, our China family was very supportive as well. They know how important the little achievements are and they were not afraid to tell Kyle how proud they were of him. We will miss all of our new friends, but we’re so ready to get home.
- We loaded up all of our stuff from the hospital and told everyone goodbye. Georgina cried and Lawerence said she does that everytime. We wish everyone at the hospital lots of luck! We came to enjoy our last night at the Holiday Inn. Although we don’t get to sleep late the sun still will not shine in at 4:30 because the curtains are so dark! We’ll also get to take a bath. We’ve been taking showers for a month so I’m going to soak in the tub and it’s so big Kyle will probably swim in it.
So this is the last time I’ll post from China! Next you’ll be reading updates from Louisiana, and maybe Tennessee if we ecide to go on a good old American Vacation one day!
July 27th, 2009
Today was our last stem cell treatment! This treatment was an IV treatment so it was short and sweet. Dr. Tony came to our room after the treatment and told us that tomorrow they will take a blood sample because the treatments are over. Hearing those words; “the treatments are over” was music to my ears! That means that we will be on our way home soon. Tomorrow we will have a full day of therapy. I hope Kyle works really hard tomorrow because I am not sure if he will have therapy on Monday so tomorrow may be his last therapy day!
July 24th, 2009
Kyle did fine after his final spinal stem cell treatment. He woke up in a good mood and ate some of the cereal that Aunt Ann and Uncle Geno sent him. We did ok in his morning therapy, but he didn’t do his best, he was a little lazy. Jason had hand weights on Kyle’s hands while he was in the stander today. He raised his hands up and down while in the stander. After therapy Dr. Tony checked Kyle’s eyes today. He said that he did worse on the eye test than last time. I am not worried though because I don’t think Kyle even knew what letter “E” Dr. Tony was pointing at. The eye test is done in the lobby and there was a lot of distraction, so we’ll take him to the eye doctor when we get home.
After the eye test we had Sam, the driver from the hospital take us downtown. It was so nice, we rode in a new Buick instead of the taxis. We also listened to Britney Spears on the way there, how more American can you get? We went to the Jimo Mart and I finally found Kyle a souvineer from China. I got him a silk Chinese robe and a pair of Chinese pajamas. I was so excited that I finally got him something. Mrs. Sandy changed behind a curtain in the Jimo Mart. The Chinese ladies wanted to make sure that the dress she wanted fit her. It was so funny, Mr. Dennis took a picture of her behind the curtain! Next we went to the Tsingtao Brewery. Kyle didn’t want to taste the beer, he’s such a good boy. Then we went to Star Bucks, but Kyle did taste the frozen coffee. He really wanted to go to Pizza Hut, which was right beside Star Bucks, but I don’t love the Pizza Hhut, so we went to McDonald’s instead. We finally made our way back to the hospital. We went downstairs to hang out with our Louisiana friends because they leave tomorrow. We’re sad to see them go, but we know how excited they are to leave because we are leaving in just a few days.
Tomorrow we will have our last stem cell treatment at 3:30. Kyle is very excited that it is an IV so it doesn’t interrupt with his eating. Saturday will be a full day of work and Sunday we are going on a mountain tour with Mrs. Diana and Matt. I’m not sure if he will have therapy on Monday, but I do know that we will be headed home on Tuesday!
July 23rd, 2009
Wooo Whooo! Kyle just had his final spinal stem cell treatment! It went so much better than last time. I talked to another parent last night and she told me that when her daughter was put under she was still in her wheelchair and they just gave her the anesthia through her IV. So I talked to the translators and the doctor so they can do that for Kyle as well, because last time he screamed and cried. This time the anesthialogist (Kayla that may not be spelled right) put the medicine into his IV while I was holding him and he went out and I laid him on the bed and they wheeled him to the back. He was only in the back for about 10 minutes and then we were on our way to the room. Kyle thinks he stayed in the operating room waiting area with me the whole time. Whatever makes him feel good about it, he can believe. After the treatment he went to sleep. This is something new. Usually he is wide awake! We were very happy that it was the last spinal and I am so happy that he did well. So we will spend the evening relaxing.
Yesterday Dr. Tony came in and I was explaining to him that Kyle has been scooting to the edge of the bed and pushing himself up to the sitting position. He asked if Kyle did his therapy that day and I told him yes. He said that Kyle had lots of energy. I said yes a lot. I just wish they could see him at the Chris Shivers Rodeo. He stays up until 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning jumping around with all of that energy that he has! Yesterday and today in therapy Jason has been making Kyle roll to the left side to get up, because that is harder for him. I love to see him do this because he actually puts his left hand down to push up some. The left hand doesn’t do as much work as the right hand, but it is away from his chest. Also today Kyle used the stander that is in the OT room. While he was standing we had him putting pegs into the pegboard with his right hand and taking them out and putting them into a bucket with his left hand. It’s very hard for him, but he did try. He got frustrated a few times, and I had to help him some, but once again he is trying. It’s neat to watchi his face as he is using that left hand. You can see the gears in his brain turning. Tomorrow will be another day full of therapy and Friday will be our last Stem Cell Treatment.
Last night we went to a nice Italian restuarant called Napoli’s with several other families from the hospital. It was a very nice place. They had a piano player in the corner playing. I thought I could get used to that nice of a place! They brought out tons of appetizers; garlic bread, caesar salad, tuna salad, meats, and cheeses. Then after we ate all of that stuff they brought out the menu for us to order. We ordered the lasgna. It was good, but the sauce wasn’t as sweet as Barbara’s and Uncle Geno’s. We had a nice time, but we got in lae so that is why I didn’t uppdate last night. Well, 6 more days and then we’ll be home!!!
July 22nd, 2009
Today was a full day of therapy and sight seeing. We were tired this morning because we were up late getting Maw Maw and Paw Paw from the airport. We got up on time and made it to therapy. Now we were on time but our therapist wasn’t, shame shame! Kyle was not overjoyed about therapy, but when is he ever? He stretched and worked on sitting up. During standing therapy he bounced and threw the ball. We had our regular break time and we took Mrs. Sandy and Mr. Dennis to the Lottie Mart. We ate at the Lotteria and Mr. Dennis ordered the squid rings. They look ike onion rings, but they are squid and it tasted like fish sticks. Kyle tried one with ketchup. He said he didn’t really like it. Mr. Dennis tells him he has to try a locust with him. I tried the squid, but not sure about a locust.
Kyle had acupressure today and I thik that hurts him more than acupressure. His therapist showed me how to do acupressure on Kyle’s left hand. I am not sure what it does, but I’m going to ask a translator. He taught me and mom how to relieve hiccups using acupressure. I may have a new career. Jason asked if acupuncture is used in America, and I told him not very much and he wanted to know why. I told him that in America we just use medicine. During electric shock wave Kyle thinks it’s funny because the electric shocks make his arms jump up and down. The therapist says that it’s supposed to do that. We watched Jasmine have acupressure on her hand today, she says it’s feeling better. Instead of another round of PT today Jason had Kyle do OT. He had him do a lot of things using his left hand. He did really well. When he is using that hand I can just see his mind working to try to get the hand to do what he wants it to do. He got really frustrated a few times, but he did great and he kept trying.
We came to the room to do Kyle’s homework, well after he watched a movie Aunt Jackie sent him and ate Snow Caps. We finished his homework with minimal fighting. After we finished Kyle flopped onto the bed and I told him that I was not going to get him up. Well, he can sit up on the edge of the bed if someone holds his legs down. I didn’t help him at all and he worked himself over to the edge of the bed and then wiggled until he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He did it all on his own. It took him some time and I kept telling him to put his left hand down to help him, but he did it. Actually, as I was sitting here typing this he did it again! Now he just has to learn to sit up without hanging his legs off of the bed, but he’ll get it!
We walked down to Century Park this evening. It is a park that highlights the Olympics. It’s a very pretty place. Lastly we went to the Holiday Inn to eat supper. Kyle chowed down on BBQ ribs, again! Now we are about ready to go to bed and ofcourse watching another movie that Aunt Jackie and Angelle sent us! 8 more days! We will leave here on Tuesday morning and be at home on Tuesday night. Because of the time difference we will leave and return on the same day. Kyle’s still having a hard time understanding that! 
July 20th, 2009
Today was a very sad day, mom left us! The waterworks started when we went downstairs to wait for the driver to come get her and another family. Kyle was very upset! He cried and cried. I didn’t realize how lonely it would be without her, but that’s ok because Mrs. Sandy and Mr. Dennis will be here soon to keep us company.
Kyle and I laid around in the room the majority of the day. I tried to take a nap, but Kyle wanted to eat all day. I think the stem cells make him hungry or something! Later during the day we went to the Lottie Mart and ate Korean food. It was pretty good. It tasted like chinese food from home. I think that is funny because the real chinese food doesn’t taste like American chinese food.
I told Kyle that we still had to do his homework/exercises even though MeMe is gone. So we are going to do that and then go to the airport to pick up Maw Maw Sandy and Paw Paw Dennis. 9 more days and we’ll be on that big bird coming home! We’re in the single digit days now!
July 19th, 2009
Today Kyle was off from therapy, but he did have a spinal stem cell treatment this afternoon. It was the worst one yet. Not because Kyle had any pain, but because he did not want to have the spinal. I was telling Jacob this morning how brave Kyle was that he doesn’t even cry when they take him to the back to put him under anesthesia. Well, today I ate my words. Kyle has been very brave and he has gone through and done a lot. He was not happy about this spinal today. He was fine all of the way to the fourth floor. When we actually got into the OR room the waterworks started. He cried and screamed and begged me to take him out of there. It broke my heart and I wanted to just take him out of there. When the nurses came to take him for the anesthesia he screamed and cried, which made me start to cry. But, the spinal SCT went fine and he came out with groggy eyes. It’s been about three hours after the SCT and he’s wondering when he can eat, so he’s fine! He wants me to ask Dr. Tony to change his next spinal to an IV. I think because the doctor switched Wednesday’s from a spinal to an IV he thinks we can change them at anytime. We have one spinal SCT and one IV left so hopefully he can stick through it!
Well today was my birthday and Kyle and mom ordered a birthday cake for me. Kyle says it was my birthday in China. The translators ordered the cake for us. It was like a spongy cake with whipped cream and chocolate syrup on it. It was very nice. Many of the other families sat on the couches with us and ate some yummy birthday cake. Kyle actually kept it a secret for a day, which is something he has a very hard time doing!
July 17th, 2009
We are so depressed today! We really miss Jasmine! She didn’t speak much English, but I think she can speak more than our new therapist, Jason. Jasmine really made Kyle work, but yet she was very gentle with him. Jason is not as gentle and he doesn’t want Kyle to cry or whine. When Kyle started to whine he said ok baby, and gave Kyle his cell phone to play with. Everyone who knows Kyle knows what happened next, Kyle whined and acted like a baby the whole time because he got sympathy from someone.
He did ok with his therapy, but he just didn’t do the same things with Jason that he did with Jasmine. I am going to talk to the translators and tell them what we were doing with Jasmine, and maybe he they can explain it to him. Jasmine is still around though, she did Kyle’s acupressure today, so we still get to see her.
Dr. Tony has switched tomorrow’s IV stem cell treatment to a spinal IV treatment. Ofcourse Kyle was not happy about this, but the doctor doesn’t want the last stem cell treatment to be spinal since Kyle had been having headaches. So he will have spinal tomorrow, spinal on 7-22, and an IV on 7-24.
We spent a lot of time downstairs today. I am almost finished with the book, “My Sister’s Keeper” and Kyle has played the Wii and the Nintendo DS. We feel more comfortable around the other familes now. They’re like our best friends because they are the only other people around who speak English.
Last but not least, we received Maw Maw Flo’s package today!!! Kyle was very excited. She sent him some chocolate pudding, peanut butter crackers, cheese and crackers, and a checkers game. He said Maw Maw knows what he likes! He is still waiting patiently on his cereal from Aunt Ann and Jessica. He is very excited about what Maw Maw Sandy will bring him from Aunt Jackie! We love and miss everyone and we’ll see you in 12 days!
July 16th, 2009
This morning I went down to find Jasmine to tell her that we would be late because Kyle was still sleeping. Dr. Tony told us to skip one of his PTs so he could rest because he had been having the headaches. When I got down the stairs I saw Jasmine with her wrist wrapped up. It looked like she had two chopsticks and gauze wrapped around it. For about a week and a half now she has told us that her hand hurt and we have helped her move Kyle around a lot. Well, I guess she finally got it checked out and it is broken. That really stinks because she was such a good therapist and we really liked her. Now Jason will be our therapist. Which stinks because it’s kind of like starting over again. Jasmine knew what he could and couldn’t do, so now Jason will have learn all of this. I watch the other therapists with other patients and it seems like they do basically the same things, but we’ll be there to fill him in on what to do.
Since Kyle had his IV stem cell today he didn’t have all of his therapy, and we didn’t get therapy with Jason because they didn’t give us the schedule until about 10 minutes before therapy was scheduled to be over. So, he’s had a pretty good day. He’s played the Wii, the Playstation, and played with some of the other kids. We did do standing therapy today and did some homework, which we’ll do again some more later. The surprise is that he has not complained about a headache at all today. Could it be because he has done what he wanted to do all day? As the translators say, “He is very clever.” Maybe a little too clever. But, we haven’t been out today so maybe that is why he hasn’t complained of a headache, I don’t really know.
His IV treatment was fine. He really enjoyed it because there was no restriction on eating. Actually he and Rayanna sat on the couch together eating Pringles and gummy snacks as they got their stem cells. They are the two Louisiana kids witht he strong accents that everyone likes to listen to. I have pictures of them on the www.karingforkyle.com website.
I wanted to let our family memebers who have sent us some necessary food items (cereal, gummy worms, pudding, etc) that those items have not come yet. I promise when they come everyone will know! I think things get held up in customs and they check all of the boxes and packages. If there is anyone who is reading this and you are thinking of coming to China for stem cells you may want to pack some of your own food. Maybe things like oatmeal, grits, cereal, mac and cheese, pop tarts, and rice a roni (things that would easily fit into your suitcase). You can find plenty of junk food like chips and candy that are American. If this is something we had known we would have brought some breakfast foods and things like that, but you live and learn and we are making it just fine on scrambled eggs, grilled cheese, and chicken and noodles.
July 15th, 2009
Today Kyle woke up and he was fine. He did his morning talks on the phone and then headed out for therapy. He started his therapy very lazily. Kyle is not a morning person so the 8:10 therapy session is not his favorite. I walked out of the therapy room to get a cup of ice and when I came back mom sent me ot again because she said he perked up and did better when I wasn’t in there, surprise, surprise! He did really well. He was able to balance front to back on the balance board and he said that was easy. He did great in standing therapy. He clasps his hands together and hits the ball somewhat like a volleyball player does. The doctor came in and looked at him and said he was doing good. He asked if Kyle was getting heavier because he is big. After standing therapy Kyle wanted to play the Playstation, but he started crying saying that his head was hurting. He laid down and skipped lunch, well he ate it a little later. We went for electric wave therapy and he was fine. He played the Wii for a long time and then did his acupressure. He did great in evening therapy. We take a walker and put it next to the bench and we help him pull up where he is kneeling on his knees. He is able to be sitting on his knees and pull himself up on his knees. Jasmine helps him to control his body and shift his weight back and forth. I rigged up the walker next to the bench and we put a stand up mirror in front of him and Jasmine says, Oh, you mother so clever.” I know how to rig things up to make it work for Kyle. After therapy we had it planned to walk across the street with 4 other families to the Lottie Mart to get frozen coffee. When we got into the coffe shop Kyle started whining saying that his head hurt. He eventually started crying and wanted to go back to the room. I figured his head must really be hurting because he skipped out on a frozen coffee to come back to the room. Dr. Tony says it may be a smell that is at the Lottie Mart to try to keep him in. So it looks like we’ll be homebound for the next few days. I just want him to feel better because he normally doesn’t complain about his head hurting. I really think it is sinus so we’ll stay around and have him get good and well. He was scheduled for a spinal stem cell treatment, but he conned his way out of that. We asked the doctor if we should switch Wednesday’s spinal with Friday’s IV and Kyle overheard us talking about an IV and he started chanting, “IV, IV,IV.” So the doctor said that he would switch tomorrow to an IV and keep Friday as an IV as well, since that was the treatment that we had added anyway. So he’s excited about not having another spinal tomorrow. I am hoping that he will feel better soon and will keep everyone updated.
July 14th, 2009
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