10 days and counting
Well, only 10 days to go. Can’t wait to come home. Rohan is doing very well with his daily physical therapy. Yesterday was a very emotional day for me as Rohan lifted his head right up and turned his head from side to side to look at a red toy. When we first arrived in China, Daisy the physical therapist came to assess him and she performed an exercise which assessed his reflexes. This particular exercise involved him lying face down with his arms at either side and legs straight. She rubbed her thumbs either side of his spine and there was no reaction. She said that ‘normal’ children react by pulling their legs up and their hands up to their head. Last week Rohan slowly started pulling his legs up and yesterday for the first time he pulled his legs right up and his right arm came half way up. This was HUGE. I burst into tears with emotion as this was the first real glimmer of hope for Rohan. It showed that by having intensive therapy daily things can really change. In this short space of time I am amazed at how Rohan has come on. All these little tasks one takes for granted with healthy children when in fact it is a big deal. I didn’t appreciate every little thing that Lily did and now when Rohan does anything I am ecstatic. Rohan is doing well but I feel like I am Jack Nicholson in the movie ‘The Shining’, where I am trapped in a huge house surrounded by snow and slowly going psychotic. The staff are very nice but their english is very minimal. My patience is deteriorating daily by the constant questions like ‘Kaka how many times?’ (Rohan not me), and the doctors ward round resulting in Rohan being diagnosed with sputum. The cleaners come every day with no cleaning products and run a filthy mop around the floor and damp dust with a filthy cloth. I am in the last room that they come into so I am getting everybody else’s germs spread round my room. The other day, there was an horrendous smell of sewage coming from my bathroom and when I complained about it, one of the interpreters was sent in to fix the problem with a small screw driver. I politely sent him away. The people who I have made friends have almost all gone home and those who are left don’t speak any english, so the evenings are getting very long as there are very few people to talk to. There will be a new batch of patients arriving next week so I can look forward to that. I get to speak to Lily and Girish through skype. Whoever invented this technology was a genius. It really helps me to be able to see Lily and she kisses the computer screen every time she sees me. I still feel guilty about leaving her as she must think that I have abandoned her but she seems very happy. Girish’s Mum and Dad have done a fantastic job in looking after her for me. Rohan is having stem cell No. 5 on Monday so will update then.
1 comment February 8th, 2008
