Today, the 7th of November, Saturday, Lee Qiang called in the morning that he will pick us from the hospital around 10.00 in the morning to bring us to visit down town mat 4 th SQUARE..
He came with his family at around 10.30 am, his wife presented a special jade hand band to mymom,, it is very special as she bought it from one of the monk in Tibet when she visited Tibet recently, not only that send also presented a beautiful scaft to my sister,
I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to Lee Qiang and his family for their kindness , concern and effort taken for taking his time and his family time to visit my mom at the hospital on several occasion, we are very grateful for what he has done and would like to say thank you to you and your family Lee Qiang.
MAY 4th SUARE, a large public square located between the new municipal buildimg and Fushan Bay, it was name after a nationwide protest movement
The scenery here is so beautiful and the MAY 4th QUARE is facing the sea , there are lots of people doing different kind of activities, such as playing kites , fishing , sight seeing etc, this is the place where 2008 Olympic yatch racing was held.
Below are some of the pictures taken around that areas:-
may 4th square
After having our lunch, Lee Qiang sent us back yo the hospital.
Here , I would like to say thank you again to you Lee Qiang and family for making us feel at home, thank you,
November 7th, 2009
A day after the fourth treatment, my mom is sitting at the middle bed after her theraphy by Dr Kao, Two Dr from the hospital(sorry for not taking note of their name replacing Dr Tony Tao for two while he is on leave visited my mom, I briefed them my mom conditions and since we my mom last treatment is on the 13th of November 2009 which is friday and we have booked our flight to Shanghai on the 16 th November, they plan to have my mom eye test again at the Shangdong eye institute on a day before the last IV injection which is on thursday instead of the following monday.
After they left, out of suprise my mom told me that she can see two figure(shadow) of Dr in front of her( facing the sun light),on which previously she only can see shadow of her fingers especially the right eye which is much clearer.
In orderto make sure she is telling me the true, I decided to do a small test on her by stand at different corners and ask her to show me where I stand, to my surprise she is able to point exactly where I stand! I can’teve it the improvement she had within just four stem cells shehad, she told me that she only can see a black figure with the (sun light)facing her, at normal light see is only able to see her fingers, for me that is good enough at this moment and I must be grateful for everything here , as our only hope is for her to see us and her grandchildrens (on which is unable to see us for more than 20 years),
We hope the eye test report on the 12th November 2009 will show improvement compare to the one she had earlier and we are very sure and have the utmost good faith that the stem cells will work on her eye sight and other parts of her body for the next three to six months .
November 7th, 2009
Today is Wednesday 04th of November 2009, while I am writing this blog, my mom just had her Lumbar Puncture (Spinal) injection from the operation room, now she is back at our room, falling asleep due to sedation from the anesthetic injection she had before the injection, the injection when smoothly as schedule at 330pm, she is require to lay flat for the next 6 hours, only allow to wake up at 10.00pm, we will prepare some food for her then.
Her condion after the treatment;-
Fall asleep after the treatment
November 4th, 2009
My mom’s third IV treatment is on the 30 October, which is on the last friday, she had her IV injection at 3 25pm , which 25 minutes delay from the schedule times of 3.00pm.
We are happy that after the third treatment, there is slightt improvement on her left eye, she is able to see some shadow of her finger when facing the sun light (which she can’t do it before she came to this centre), we hope and have faith that with continous stem cells treatment implant into her body , she is able to see us not in the now but 3 months to 6 months later when the stem cells fully function.
The weather at Qingdao is getting cooler and cooler since 1st Novemeber, we saw some snow coming down from the sky in the morning , it is wonderful experience for us as we never have a chance to experience the snow at our country in Malaysia, wow wonderful!
We only realised that yesterday snow is record breaking (earliset )snow fall since 48 years ago at Qingdao:
local paper
The report of snow fall in Qingdao by month for the past few years
Report of the snow fall in the local paper
We are expecting her fourth treatment which is lumbar Puncture (Spinal) injection which is schedule on this coming wednesday 4th of November., we done with the increase stem cells in her not only will treat her eye sight but also helpful to rejuvenate other parts of her body.
November 2nd, 2009
My mom had her second injection lumbar Puncture (Spinal) on the 26 October 2009 Monday,the injection is schedule at 2.00pm and the nurse came one day before and informed us the process, on that day my mom had to fast 2 hour before the injection , so we ordered our food at 10.30 am and the food came just nicely at 11.30am and my mom had her lunch just before 12.00pm.
.At 2.00pm sharp, two hospital’s assistant moved my mom together with her bed to the operation room, she had her second lumbar Puncture (Spinal) injection with a dose of anesthetic, we were not allow to enter the operation room.
After 20 minutes , the operation is over and my mom is being moved back to our room and due to the anesthetic effect she is fully sadate and only awake at 730pm. She had her dinner and rest for the rest of the day.
So far after the second injection, we still didn’t see any developement on her eye sight.
We attacthed herewith her current picture so that we can compare the differentiation later maybe after 3 months or 6 months later her developement or improvement not only to her eye sight but others parts of the body with the stem cells implanted in her body, we are grateful so far everything is running smoothly, here is her current pictuture
Current situation, Right eye can see some shadow of her fingers facing the lightcurrent situation of my mom's face
My mom current situation
close up my mom's face
October 31st, 2009
We are very fortunate our close associate visitors has visited my mom recently:-
Mr Lee Qiang , my brother's company lawyer
Mr Lee Qiang not only took his hectic life to spare time to pick us up from the airport, visited my mum 3 times and took us out and treated us special dinner at downtown of Qingdao,
The Restaurant where we had our dinner
Dinner hosted by Lee Qiang
Lee Qiang with my brother Mario They
we really appreciate what he have done and would like to say thank you very much for you Lee Qiang for the sincere effort.
The second visitor is Mr Chang Chong,one of the the manager of my brother’s company at China.
Mr Chang Chong with my mum and brother
We also would like to thank him for taking his time and effort to visit my mom. Thank you Chang Chong.
On last Saturday which is 31st of October, Lee Qiang had planned earlier to bring my mom and two of us to Laosan for sightseeing, unfortunately on that friday night till Saturday morning, Qingdao for the fistr time of our visit started to rain, as such my mom have informed my brother to request Lee Qiang to have the trip postpone or cancel until further notice, further more my mum had to undergo the Dr Kao theraphy in the morning and afternoon.
We are very grateful for Lee Qiang for constantly visit my mum dispite his busy schedules.
Even with the cancellation of the trip, he came all the way from his house at downtown which is 45 minutes away together with his family(wife and daughter) to visit my mum and hospital, they brought along three bowls of “CHOW CHE” for our lunch and bananas , in return we present him for his kindness some gifts which my brother bought from Shanghai.
Enclosed please find the picture taken during their visit at the hospiatl room:-
Lee Qiang and Family
Lee Qiang and Family
October 24th, 2009
Qingdao is located on the east coast of China and was the site of the 2008 Olympic sailing competitions. The hospital is in the Chengyang district of the city, about a 30 -minute taxi ride from downtown Qingdao. The airport is also located in Chengyang and is only a 10 minute taxi ride from the hospital. The stemcell treatment center is located on the 8th and 9th floors of the central hospital building.
The Hospital
The shopping complexMy mum , brother and sister posting infront of hospital
The hospital stem cell centre is at 8th and 9th floor
nearby shopping complex
naerby shopping complex
shopping complex infront of the hospital
shopping complex in front of the hospital
beautiful scenery
scenery inside the shopping complex
My mum , sister and brother posting in front of the Stem Cells Hospital
open market
open market
October 24th, 2009
On the fourth day of our arrival which is 24th October 2009, Dr Tony Tao had arranged my mum to do her eye test on VEP and OCT at Shandong eye Institute at Qingdao downtown at 2.00pm, the hospital cordinator
Shandong eye's hospital
brought us with the hospital’s van to the hospital which take us 45 minutes to reach the hospital.
At eye's hospital, cordinator is arranging the registration
At the hospital the eye’s specialist Dr doing the VEP and OCT test on my mom
testing in progress
OCT Report otrophic maculapathy reading on left eye 63
OCT Report atrophic maculapathy reading at 66
- Flash VEP Reading left eye Amp 06.1/157.5 (time) Right eye Amp 05.6/144(time)
Dr Bing has evaluated our Malaysian’s eye’s specialist report that my mum is having Bilateral retinits pigmentoswa atrophic Maculopathy, we have informed this to Dr Tony Tao.
October 24th, 2009
The next day on the 19 October 2009 , Dr Tony Tao gave us the stem cells treatment schedule with Umbilical Cord Blood usually takes 2-3 days after arrival, the total treatment to be given to treat my mum is 6 times as follows:-
- 21st October 2009 Fist V1 (Intravenous Injection)
- 26 th October 2009 Second S2 (Lumbar Puncture ie Spinal)
- 30th October 2009 Third V3 (Intravenous Injection)
- 4th November 2009 Fourth S4 (Lumbar Puncture 1e Spinal)
- 9th November 2009 Fith S5 (Lumbar Puncture 1e Spinal)
- 13th November 2009 Sixth V6 ( Intravenous Injection)
Treatment Information
There are three methods of treatment ie Intravenous Injection IV ,Lumbar puncture Spinal injection and local injections, Usually for IV injections there are no specific rules to be followed but as for lumbar puncture, bone marrow treatmnet the doctor will advice you to stop eating and drinking 3 hour before going to the surgery room and no food for 4 hours and no water after 2 hour after treatment, further you should lay still or flat on your back for 6 hours,laying flat and not eating or drinking is designed to help avoid bad side effects such as headache, vomit, back pain, etc , you are require to spend some time in bed and avoid showering for a couple of days (to prevent infection on the puncture sitezzz).For bone marrow extraction the local doctors will usually prescribe a lung test inorder to check respiratory functions which my mum did two days ago. A lumbar puncture (LP) is also commonly referred to as a spinal tap. It is a procedure used to access the cerebrospinal fluid of the brain and spinal cord and helps to deliver stem cells directly into the cerebal spinal fluid, directly bypassing the blood -brain barrier. this is the least invasive method for delivering stem cells directly into the central nervous system. Before the lumbarpuncture procedure starts, the patients will first be asked to empty their bladders, they will also be offered a mild sedative such as valium to help calm them and keep them pain free during the procedure. The bone marrow is extracted from the hipbone, so some patients will have their backs shaved before going to the surgery room. Nurse will ask you to take a shower beforehand and wear the appropriate sterile gown, the patient will be be put under general anesthesia for the duration. The operating room has an oxygen tank and an emergency cart as a safety precaution against the rare case that there is an emergency. The time needed for the procedure will vary from case to case, for some patients 20 minutes may be enough, for others doctors may even take more than an hour. When the lumbar injection is finished you will be kept under observation for a couple of minutes and the nurses will monitor your vital signs, when they are sure everything is fine you will be escoted back to your room.
Treatment with Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cells usually take place on Mondays, Wendesdays and Fridays. According to Dr Tony Tao, the cells are sent from Beike labs and arrive in Qingdao by olane or train; this is to guaranttee the patient receive fresh cellls(cells that arae never frozon during the whole process).
As for the local injections , it can be utilized to treat a variety of conditions. These include diatbetic , foot and muscular dystrophy. For local injections, stem cells processed from either the patient’s own bone marrow or from umbilical cord blood are implanted by multiple local injections directly into and around the injury site.
My mom’s first IV
First IV on the 21st October 2009
Before my mom’s first IV treatment, a nurse came to our room and take us to the IV room which is (situated on the 9th floor) and prepare for other procedures. The room contains two comfortable sofas where my mum get the treatment, relatives can choose to stay in the IV room during the IV administration, as the entire process take us less than an hour to complete.
The Intravenous (IV) delivery method is a simple process , a line with catheter tip threaded over a needl is placed into the patient’s vein,
my mom's veinOnce proper placement is obtained, the needle portion is removed and the flexible plastic catheter is left in place in the vein with the tubingattached. It is through this tube that the stem cells are transferred into the blood stream We are patiently waiting for the second injection on 26th October 2009, at the same time in between the treatnment from monday to friday , Dr Gao the rehabilitation treatment and acupuncture doctor will be doing the therapies on my mum , the timing of the therapies as follow :-830am to 930am1500pm to 1535pmBelow are a few pictures taken during the theraphies:Therapy near the my mum's ear
theraphy
acupunture in progress
theraphy in progress
therapy for the eyes nerves
October 24th, 2009
We scheduled our journey on 18 October 2009, which is on Deepavali day for the Hindu,
We took this picrture at our Malaysian's KLIA Airport
Together is my little sister accompanying my mum at the Malaysia KLIA 
Airport, our flight schedule at 9.00am in the morning,the airport procedure require us to be at the airport 2 hour before the flight time.
We started our journey from Malacca one of Malaysia state little town call Kuala Sungai Baru, the journey from my home town to the airport is about 1 hour 30 minutes, we have to wake up as early as 4.30am in the morning, taking a little breakfast andstart our journey around 5.15am in the morning, we arrived at KLIA Airport around 6.45 am, and amongst the first to checked in, as the time is still early, we had another breakfast at the 2 nd floor of the airport
Cafe Garden at the second floor of airport
Our flight MH388 took off without delay at 9.00am sharp and we reached Shanghai Airport around 14.15 pm .
Shanghai Aiport
We were received by my brother Mario who has been working at the China for the past few years, had bought our flight to Qingdao with the local flight China airline schedule to depart around 18.50 pm, as the time is still early, considering my mum conditions (which she is old and can’t walk for a long time, she need to use a wheel chair to move around and also after a long journey flight from Malaysia to Shanghai)my brother had took initiative to book a nearby hotel near by the airport for us to rest,
Motel 168
Our flight suppose to start at 18.30pm but it has been delay to 1920pm, we have to wait at the entrance hall before departure as below:
- waiting for local flight to Qingdao, flight delay
We arrive at Qingdao airport approximately 20.00pm, we were received by the Qingdao Hospital staff /translator Mr Jack and my brother company’s lawyer at Qingdao Mr Lee Qiang , the hospital van fetched our luggage to the hospital and Mr Lee pick 3 of us up in his new AUDY to the hospital,
Beautiful Qingdao Airport
In the hospital we settled down in room number 31,and Jack brought me around the hospital for orientation purpose, this stem cell center is located at the 8th and 9th floor and we stay at 9th floor.
At the hospital, Dr Tony, (my mum Doctor in charge) came and visited us, he roughlybriefed us about the hospital surrounding and the requirements, he too asking us about my mum medical background for him to better understand and to plan the treatment properly.
On top of the above, before we came, my brother have done his survey at this hospital , he had met Dr Bing the MD of Qingdao Chengyang Hospital , Dr Bing request us to do the three report which is ERG, VEP and OCT for him to evaluate , we have sent these three report to him and he has evaluated that my mum is suitable for the stem cell transplant at his hospital.This is the remark from Dr Bing”仅从检查结果分析,老人有黄斑变性, 白内障,VEP提示视神经萎缩.视神经萎缩为干细胞移植的适应症.可以入院治疗”.
Dr Tony Tao told us that he will seek Dr Bing further advice before prepare the schedule of stem cell transplant, he also request me to send him the all the three report for him to understand better. I forwarded the reports to him at the same night.
Dr Tony checking my mom condition
October 23rd, 2009
