Momo’s Stem-Cell Blog

Our Final Days in China (3/15/08)

May 7th, 2008

It has been a while since I posted the last blog. Nothing much has transpired since then. Momo has had three more stem-cell transplants (SCT), all via lumbar puncture and with no side-effect – he seems to tolerate lumbar punctures pretty well. Meanwhile, one day, we visited West Lake, a large lake on the western fringe of the city surrounded by expensive hotels, restaurants, and shopping, and the heart of Hangzhou’s tourism district. I also had an opportunity to visit Zhejiang University, the largest university in Zhejiang province, with 39,000 students five campuses in the Hangzhou area. Dr. Jin Chen is the Associate Dean at ZU’s Yuquan campus and the Director for the Research Center for Science, Technology, and Education Policy at this university. He and his doctoral students research in the area of innovation management, and I presented a seminar in Dr. Chen’s class discussing strategies for publishing in premier research journals, based on my personal experiences as an author and editor.

Momo had his sixth and final SCT yesterday. This was done intravenously, and as with his first SCT, he had a mild fever at night. The temperature continued to fluctuate throughout the day today, and once became so high that Momo was put back on IV. I’m worried because we are scheduled to catch a long flight back home in two days, and I hope the fever subsides before then.

Our job here is finally done. Dr. Mike said that we should hopefully start seeing some improvements in Momo within three months. So all we can do now is wait. We also plan to do follow-up hyperbaric oxygen therapy in Florida to maintain a high blood oxygen level for the new stem cells to grow, and continue with the physical therapy regimen that we started here. If we see significant improvements six months from now, we may want to return to China later for a second series of SCT.

China is a beautiful country with rolling hills, serene lakes, and abundant scenery, centuries of history, archeology, and tradition, and all the amenities of the modern world. However, given Momo’s limited mobility and our hectic schedule, we didn’t get much of an opportunity to tour the region. Hopefully, if we return to this place and Momo is physically more able, we can get to tour the local area some more and the neighboring city of Shanghai.

That’s it for our visit to China. Until next time, ciao.

Hangzhou downtown from West Lake.

With Dr. Chen and his students at ZheJiang University. Dr. Chen is the gentleman to my immediate left.

Momo with doctors at ZheJiang Hospital. From left: James (physical therapist), a Chinese doctor whose name I don’t know, Dr. Mary, Dr, Mike, Dr. Drew, Dr. Jack, Kitty (nurse), and Christine (nurse).

Entry Filed under: Uncategorized