So we had this weekend off and we are just as tired as the days we have been working. We did a lot of sight seeing and roaming around this weekend. Saturday morning we got up early because we rented a bus with some of the other families and we were heading out at 8am. As I was getting ready and making grilled cheese sandwiches, Mom was making Kyle do his homework. When we got downstairs to meet the other families we were able to see Mr. Chris off, one of the patient’s dad who played cards with Kyle. He left for the airport leaving his son and wife here for another month. We loaded onto the bus and it was much nicer than riding in the taxi, it couldn’t go as fast. Our first stop was the Buddist Temple. There was ALOT of stairs. It was interesting. They have huge statues of the different gods that they pray to. It was beautiful, but since I know nothing about that religion, or how to read Chinese, it wasn’t the best stop. Next we went to Pizza Hut and Star Bucks. Pizza Hut is a delicacy here so it was a very nice restuarant. There was a salad bar and the Chinese people piled their salads up, some looked like the had ocd with the way they were stacking cucumbers and carrots. I told mom after looking at their bowls that she didn’t get her money worth with her salad. Next we went to Star Bucks and Kyle got a frozen frapaccino. So far Star Bucks is the only place that we have found that has souvineers that have CHINA written on them. We loaded onto the bus again and we wanted to go to the tents by beach no. 1, but the driver insisted because it was sprinkling they wouldn’t be there. Luckily one of the girls at the hospital who is here with her mom is chinese and she also speaks English, so she got the driver to take us where we wanted. We looked around at the tents and got something that we really needed to get, but it’s a surprise. Next we went back to Jimo Mart and got a few more things we wanted. Then the day was over and I was glad because I had a headache, which is why I didn’t write yesterday. Kyle was glad too, because he only liked going to Star Bucks. When we got back to the room I went to sleep and mom and Kyle went downstairs to celebrate Kate’s birthday. They ate cake and ice cream. I don’t think he did his homework last night!
This morning started out slow. It was nice to sleep in and lay around some before we had anything to do. We made several phone calls and actually had a little time to talk to everyone. We got dressed and went across the street to KFC. Today was the grand opening for the one right across the street. We got a taxi and went to look at a hotel for Mrs. Sandy and Mr. Dennis. We found a beautiful hotel about 5 minutes from the hospital. Next we decided since mom is leaving soon we have to go check out the Wal Mart. So we went back downtown, whick is about a 45 minute drive, and found the Wal Mart. This ride was worse than the other one. We almost ran over a dozen people and about 10 cars. Before we made it to Wal Mart the taxi had a flat tire. We just paid him and got out, we felt safer doing that. The flat tire occured by a McDonalds, so that was good. We were actually right by the Wal Mart so we walked right to it. It was nice to go into Wal Mart and see the yellow smiley face, it reminded us of home. We went to McDonalds and it tasted just like McDonalds at home. It was so good. We walked all throughout the shopping center. It amazes me how many people there are and how much stiff they have to sell. People just set up on the side of the road to sell things. It’s a very different world than ours, but not in a bad way, just different. Now that we are back in the room Kyle will have to do his exercise. Our schedule was on our door and we have another spinal stem cell Wednesday and an IV Friday. Remember, I mentioned adding another stem cell treatment, so it looks like we have it. The schedule works out pretty good because we’ll have the day off that Mrs. Sandy and Mr. Dennis come , so we can show them around.
Well, Kyle will be back to work tomorrow and I hope I’ll have some new and good things to write about!
July 12th, 2009
Today Kyle had his 3rd stem cell treatment. He had another spinal treatment. The treatment was scheduled for 3:30, so that meant Kyle could not eat anything after 9:30 this morning. We went to morning therapy, but skipped standing therapy so he could eat a big breakfast. He ate scrambled eggs, oatmeal, toast, and half of a DO]ove candy bar. He was pretty full for a while. Kyle passed the time away playing the Wii and Battle (a card game) with Mr. Chris, one of the patient’s dad.At about 2:00 the nurses had us come upstairs so they could start the IV drip. So Kyle laid in the bed as the IV dripped. I kept checking the time and 3:45 rolled around and the still hadn’t come to get him. At 4:00 they came to get him. We went down to the 4th floor and they wheeled him away, which is very hard to watch. About 30-40 minutes later he came out to me and he was more groggy this time. He was awake, but he wasn’t as talkative. When we got to the room he wanted me to lay down with him because he wanted to go to sleep, but he never could fall asleep. He constanly calculates the time that he can eat, drink, and sit up. I told him that he can eat a little at about 7:00 if he is hngry, but he can’t lift his head. I know he has to be hungry, but he told me that he will just wait until the six hours to eat so it won’t be so hard on us trying to feed him while he is laying down. How sweet is that? He has been poked with needles today and been put to sleep, and he says he doesn’t want it to be hard on us. I am so proud of him for being so brave. Heis ready for a day off tomorrow. We are renting a van that the hospital has with some of the other families and a driver is going to drive us to the Jimo Mart (again), the Temple, Pizza Hut, and Starbucks. Kyle is excited about Starbucks because I explained that it is a coffee house! I’ll update tomorrow on how he feels after the stem cells.
July 10th, 2009
Today we actually had to wake Kyle up. He slept until 7:00 and I had to wake him up so he could get ready for therapy. He called Maw Maw Sandy to tell her Happy Birthday, because today was Thirsday here and it was her birthday. He did ok in morning therapy. He didn’t have anywhere near as much energy as he had the morning after the stem cells, so maybe the stem cells give him energy. The other day we bought some zip ties from the Lotte Mart to fix his old silver walker so the handles won’t keep pushing out. After we rigged it we went walking. We went to the 8th floor and played kickball. Later I put him in it without the seat and in my opinion he did better without the seat on, but he was scared. Before we went down to play the wii Kyle was laying on the bed and we was so close to sitting himself up. You know if you’re laying on your back and you use your arms and elbows to get up, he was doing that, only with his right arm, but if he would have just straightened his arm out he would have been able to sit up. That is something he has never even attempted. He can lay on the edge of the bed with his feet hanging off and pull himself up, but he was laying in the middle of the bed and tried to sit up. I cheered for him, but he didn’t quite make it up, bt I’m going to keep pushing him to do it now that I see he is trying. His therapist corrected me on the way I was having him walk to the stander. She told me today the last day to hold him under his arms. She told me to get in front of him and hold his hands instead of holding his entire upper body, I’m telling you she’s working him. Tomorrow Kyle will have another spinal stem cell treatment tomorrow at 3:30. I’ll keep everyone updated!
July 9th, 2009
Ok, I cheated a little, I wrote yesterday’s blog today and I’m also writing today’s blog. Today we did therapy and as I say Kyle is really working and getting stronger. We are learning many tricks and tips as well. I videoed him sitting on the edge of the bench going down and then coming back up. He is starting to use his trunk muscles to come up instead of using his head like a turtle. This is one thing that Mrs. Patsy and Kristy really wanted to change. The video will be on his website, www.karingforkyle.com. We ventured out again today. We went to the Jimo Mart. This was a place that could be compared to the jewelry show, but not as nice. There were tons of purses (Coach, Prada, Louis Vutton, etc), sunglasses, bras, clothes, shoes, booksacks, and tons of other things. We picked up some souvineer items. When we take a taxi the translator usually writes on a piece of paper for us to take the freeway, well Jack did not write that and on the way home the driver drove us through the city. For those of you who have ever rode in a vehicle with Jacob, he may be a better driver than the taxi drivers. They just weave in and out of lanes and honk the horns for other cars, trucks, vans, or people to move out of the way. If the street has lines to divide the lanse it means nothing to them. I had to look out the side of the window and not the front windshield because I was so nervous. Kyle did much better with acupuncture today. He cried when she put the needles in, but was fine after that. HE says he’s scared when he sees the needles. In afternoon therapy we are working on his trunk muscles a lot and also him using his left hand. Jasmine has him grab a peg with his left hand and try to put it in a hole on a board. He’s trying really hard, you can just see his brain working trying to control his hand. He is able to straighten it out and lightly grasp the peg, which is really good for him. We have talked to Dr. Tony to see if we should add one more stem cell treatment through IV. He is going to get back with us after he looks at the schedule. When we signed up it was recommended to do 6 treatments and add more after the doctors saw the patient and how well they were doing, so we’ll see. They just have to make sure they can fit it in to our time here, cause I don’t want to stay any longer! We had a BBQ chicken pizza for supper, it was ok, still better than the chinese food. 
Now Kyle is watching Indiana Jones and drawing pictures in a notebook. Hopefully the picture is better than the last one that said, I don’t want to be here anymore! That is what he wrote in the taxi the other day! So I guess he’s a little homesick too.
July 8th, 2009
After the spinal stem cell treatment Kyle said he was dizzy. I thought that he would be groggy and tired, but I was wrong. He kept asking how many hours until he could have something to drink, how many hours until he could have something to eat, and how many hours until he could get up. He had the treatment at 3:30 so he hadn’t eaten anything after 11:30, so finally at about 8:00 mom feed him some noodles and chicken and he went right to sleep, but he was not going to sleep without dinner and he made that clear. He lifted his head once and started crying because he said his head was hurting, I think it was because I was talking to Jacob and he was sad that he couldn’t come to the computer and talk to him, but we gave him some tylenol and he was fine. The next morning he has a lot of energy during therapy. I don’t know if it was the stem cells or because of the fact that if he did well he could go play the Wii. He is getting stronger because of the therapy everyday. I love it! He is working everyday even when he has stem cells. I guess when we get home we need to work 5 out of 7 days a week. He is really doing great as far as his attitude. He doesn’t whine to go home. He’s being a trooper. We had to trade acupuncture for acupressure because he tensed up sp bad when Jasmine even walked in the room. We are going to alternate between acupunture and acupressure because he is so freaked out with the acupunture. Now that Kyle is playing the Wii on the 8th floor (our room is on the 9th floor and the living room is on the 8th) I am able to go sit in the living area and chit chat with other families who are here. It’s nice to be able to talk to families who are here for the same reason we are, because they want to help loved ones. So things are going good, and we’re awaiting another spinal treatment on Friday!
July 8th, 2009
Today was Kyle’s first spinal stem cell treatment. He did his morning therapy and then had time off until about 2:30. His SCT was scheduled for 5:00, but then it was moved to 3:30. After therapy we went downstairs and got the Wii hooked up. Kyle had a good time playing that with a little girl whose brother is here for SCT. Kyle did good when they put the needle in for his IV, they got it on the first try. At 3:20 the nurse came and i carried Kyle to the fourth floor to the operating room. They quickly took him to the back and within 20 minutes he was back to me. He kept tlling me that he was dizzy, but he was awake. He asked me if he had his stem cells yet. He did great and it only lasted a few minutes. Now the hard part is keeping him laying down flat for 6 hours. I figured afterwards he would be tired, but ofcourse he’s not. It’s been 2 hours and he is still wide awake. Tomorrow is another day of therapy. Wish us luck!
July 6th, 2009
Today was a day filled with therapy. Kyle woke up at about 5:00, but then he went back to sleep until 7:00, Praise the Lord! But ofcourse, I was up at 5 and could not go back to sleep. Kyle put his tooth under his pillow and the tooth fairy left him 5 yuen. In morning therapy Kyle did much better on the balance board. Jasmine sat on one side and I sat on the other and we used our feet to rock him back and forth. We started to go faster and he shifted his weight back and forth. She said he was doing much better. She has had him standing in the stander without his braces on. That worries me because Kyle’s ankles don’t seem strong enough to me, but he tells me that it doesn’t hurt. I see that his left hand is open more, but he is still not that interested in using it. Jasmine repeatedly tells him to use his hand and exercise it. We had about a three hour break in between therapy and just laid around. We went downstairs and got some ice cream. It was supposed to be cookies and icecream, but I don’t know what else was in it. Kyle ate the rest of mine for me. Accupunture was horrible again. Kyle just screams before Jasmine even touches him. Another patient says it does hurt when the needles go in, but after they are in it doesn’t hurt. Mom told Kyle stories to keep his mind off of the needles after they were already in. I hate to hear him scream about them, but I researched acupuncture and it has been practiced for over 2,000 years, so there has to be something to it. For supper we had the best meal ever! Chicken spaghetti with boiled eggs, YUMMY! We used our can of HUnts tomato sauce we bought at the RT Mart. We have almost decided to jst buy food and cook it rather than ordering out, at least we know we like it. The American families are going to meet in the living room for a Fourth of July celebration. Someone is ordering a cake. I’ve promised Kyle that he can have fireworks when he gets home. But, other than that all is well and we’re planning to go to the beach tomorrow. Other families are planning to go to the zoo, but because Kyle saw the beach yesterday that is the only thing he can think about.
July 4th, 2009
Today was our first day off, no therapy today. Kyle was very excited. We found oatmeal at the Lotte Mart so we had oatmeal for breakfast, with sugar! The doctor came in and asked how Kyle was doing. He gave Kyle an eye test today because we told him he wears glasses. Mom and I really wanted to spend the day off at the Jimo Mart, which is a market type shopping mart, but Kyle wanted to go to the Polar Ocean World. We took a taxi to downtown Qingdao to the Polar Ocean World. One of the interpreters, Sweetie, cam with us. The ride was about 50 minutes and we took the freeway. It was a little scary riding in the taxi because the honk at other vehicles all of the time. We made it there safely and the taxi ride was 80 yuen, which is about 11.oo US dollars. The Polar Ocean World was very neat. It was a big aquarium with dolphins, beluga whales, seals, sea lions, sharks, and much more. We watched a dolphin show, whale show, seal show, ans walrus show. Kyle’s favorite part was the sharks. We ate lunch a KFC right next to the Polar Ocean World. We also discovered the beach next to POW. Kyle wanted to go out to the beach, but there was another family with us so we couldnt just change our plans, but we will go back. Kyle has been working hard and he deserved a fun day! We went to the RT Mart after the POW and Sweetie showed us the international section of the grocery store. We found Hunt”s Spaghetti Sauce to m ake some spaghetti, Frosted Flakes, Sun Maid Raisins, Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup (Kyle spotted that) and Land O Lake American cheese. It was very expensive, but it will be a little taste of home. When we got back to the hospital a girl walked up to us with a UPS package, the MRI arrived sooner than we thought! Thanks Aunt Jodi! Now Kyle is asking for chocolate milk and watching Peter Pan. He is about to do his homework exercise. He threw a fit this morning when he had to do them because he said it was his day off, but he eventually did it.
July 3rd, 2009
Today Kyle woke up between 4 and 5 o’clock in the morning, AGAIN! He told Meme that she was our professional cook and asked her to cook him some scrambled eggs. After breakfast he learned that his bullriding game worked again and he played that. He was so excited. Next it was on to therapy. He got punished from the game while in therapy. He was being very lazy. He kept rolling his eyes at Jasmine, me, and mom and sticking his tongue out at mom. So because he did not want to work he could not play the game on his break. Then he had standing therapy and he did ok with that. He got to play with the balloons we bought from the Lotte Mart. We didn’t go anywhere today, we just hung around the hospital. Mom and Kyle went walking around the hospital, inside and out. When I found them on the 8th floor Kyle was as red as a beet. He said he was hot and tired. They walked a pretty long way. Jasmine came in to do the acupunture and Kyle tensed as soon as she walked in the door. She put a needle in each foot and each leg, and then a needle in his left arm and left hand. There was less crying today than yesterday, but he was so nervous. He was afraid that he could not keep his left hand down by himself so he had mom hold his legs and hand down and I played the Nintendo DS for him. He kept tensing today, but he said it didn’t hurt. He did better in evening therapy and did fine in electric shock wave therapy. Thanks to Mrs. laura Hano he kept himself occupied with his MP3 player while he was doing electric shock wave therapy. He lost a tooth yesterday and we forgot to put it under his pillow. We’re wondering if the tooth fairy will bring chinese yuen or American money. We’ll see. We got the schedule from the doctor about when Kyle will get stem cells. Dr. Tony reccomends the last 5 treatments be lumbar treatments. We’ll see how he does before I decide if all 5 will be lumbar. Here r the dates July 7,10,15,20, and 24.
July 2nd, 2009
Today was our first day of stem cells. The day started out with therapy. Jasmine had Kyle moving today. She gave him homework to do. When mom told him he had homework he said, “Meme I am not in school.” She told him that he is in China school and has to do his exercises for homework. Jasmine had Kyle sit on a balance board and put his hands on his knees to balance himself. Yesterday he could not hardly grab onto his left knee with his left hand to stay balanced, but today he did better. He was able to open his hand on his own and grab his knee. He still could not hold it on there for long, but he was opening it and holding it there for a few seconds as he rocked back and forth. I’m thinking maybe the accupuncture in his left arm helped some yesterday. Because we had stem cells we didn’t have anymore therapy. We walked down the street to a park and then went back to the Lotte Mart for lunch. Kyle ate another hamburger and I ate chicken tenders, very good. Also for breakfast we ate scrambled eggs and toast, it was really good too. When we got back from the Lotte Mart we came to the room and the nurses were ready to put Kyle’s IV in. They always have a hard time finding his veins, so they tried both hands and it ended up in his right hand, which he is not excited about. At 5:00 we were brought to the Stem Cell IV room. I brought the Nintendo DS again to keep Kyle occupied. First they gave some medicine that was a low dose steriod. I can’t remember what they said it was for, but it sounded good when they told me. Then we started the stem cells. The actual stem cells only took about 15 minutes to get into his body, and the other 20-25 minutes was with the solution that they give before and after. So we finished up and Kyle just wanted his Kit Kat bar. He says he doesn’t feel any smarter yet (because we told him he was getting smart cells).
July 1st, 2009
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