Angela’s Brain Stem Injury Blog

the day after my 3rd stem cell injection

some of you have asked me questions in your comments about if i can see any difference now that i’ve had 3 stem cell injections. i mentioned this in one of my first blogs, but stem cells need 3 to 6 months to develop into their new roles, so NO, i cannot say that i see any difference in my body since i’ve had 3 injections. however, many patients see great improvements from just their IVs they receive in the hospital. for example, celinewith her ayi(=helper) in that picture, just receives IVs and hasn’t received any stem cell injections yet. they took a bone marrow sample and and they grow that for one month and then inject them into patients. celine has improved greatly from just her IVs; for example, she is paralyzed from the neck down but since she’s been here at the hospital, she has feeling in her tummy area when people touch there. she can also lift her right arm and that was an amazing improvement because she couldn’t move it before! i’ve become close with celine and her mother isabelle so i am very pleased and happy for them!!! yea!!!
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here’s dr. xi, one of my junior doctors, who comes to see me every morning.

my IV needle was in my right hand yesterday morning, but it was hurting so i knew it would have to be taken out soon.

i got all my snack foods out before they took me to the OR yesterday.apple cinnamon poptart, nutrigrain bar and popcornwhich mom brought me from seoul because chinese popcorn is sweet which is sick. so i got all my snacks ready because i can’t move after i get my stem cell injection.

they finally came to pick me up around 10:45am yesterday. i wanted ajumma(our cook/maid in our apartment here) to take a picture of the nurse with me on the way to the OR since william wasn’t here to video the event. so here we are on my way for my 3rd stem cell injection!

again it was dr. han who did the whole procedure from the anasthetic injection to getting the stem cell solution injected into my cerebral spinal fluid (CSF)…..i think that’s what it’s called. in any case, i love dr. han because his english is excellent and he’s great and he listens to me. this time, i’d have to say, was the best one out of the 3. why, you ask? because i felt absolutely NO PAIN!!! i got into the OR around 10:47 and he was done at 10:57.

he first injects the anasthesia which hurts immensely! of course, i’m sitting there lying on my left side so my back is facing dr. han. this time, the nice OR nurse who came to get me let me hold her hand! that’s the nurse in the picture above!!! when he was injecting the anasthetic, i was squeezing her hands very tightly!!! but then afterwards, dr. han was pushing on my back asking if it hurt. it didn’t hurt; i could just feel him pushing on my back.

he then showed me the stem cell container which he was injecting into another container with other fluid or something. he injected that into my spine also and i was expecting some pain or numbness or tingly in my legs because the first two times made my legs feel pain and tingle. but NOTHING THIS TIME!! very very pleased!

as i was waiting for some pain and/or numbness and tingly, dr. han announces he’s finished! i was like, huh? what? you’re finished? i was lying there waiting for the pain….but nope! nada!! so pleased i was!!!
i was a bit in shock actually because that was the best experience for me!!! it was nice that the nurse let me grab her hands during the injections, too! so that was another blessing!!!
they wheeled me back to my room where ajumma was waiting and i took a picture of irene (i think it’s irene) who started my IVs on me then. my IV needle was originally in my hand but that went bad so they had to stick me again.this time in my right leg inner ankle area.

it was nice that ajumma stayed with me during the 6 hours i had to lie flat on my back. luckily i could turn my head and body side to side so i could chat with william over skype (www.skype.com) and he could see me on my bed since i have a webcam installed in my laptop here! hehe
ajumma was nice and fed me some dduk bokki (korean spicy rice cakes) which mom brought me from seoul when they were here over memorial day weekend. i had some of my popcorn too and i finished that 1 apple cinnamon poptart, too.

celine came to see me just as my 6 hours was finishing!!!we had a nice chat. she’s funny…she’s very happy that the standing table machine is broken so she hasn’t had to stand in over a week. i remember i had to use the standing table machine in tokyo and i would pass out because i had such low blood pressure and couldn’t handle the pressure of standing up! that was 4 years ago!!! amazing how much i’ve improved since then, don’t you think?

celine had to go back to her room for something so then ajumma and i had dinner. i requested she bring me some korean food and she brought me bulgogi which is basically marinated beef. i did a slideshow of the food so you can see all the food i had!

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Add comment June 7th, 2007

my 3rd stem cell injection is tomorrow!

i originally thought that it would be on thursday but then esther, one of the nurses, told me this morning that i have my next injection tomorrow! i was shocked and i said, no, i think it’s on thursday. so she called xi, one of my junior doctors, who came by my room later and told me that it’s true, i have my 3rd injection tomorrow at 10am!! shocked! i’m sad that william won’t be here for it, but luckily i haven’t had any problems for the first 2 so i’m hoping i don’t for this one also! no fevers, no reactions, nothing….let’s pray.

i took pictures of alice and tony and put them on the previous post, but i’ll show you again. here’s one entrance to the PT room.this is the place where they have this awesome device to check your equilibrium and balance, etc.see that in between the silver bars? it’s there you can test your balance and stuff. i’ve done it once with tony and then i asked to do it again with alice. it’s great! it’s just unfortunate that the printer doesn’t work so i can’t get a copy of my test results and compare. sigh. oh well….

here’s the PT room from the other side of the room. my favorite balance boardhere’s the treadmill i walk/run on for 10minutes every day. ok, i have to go to bed so i’m not too tired for my injection!!

wan an! (=good night)

1 comment June 5th, 2007

lily, my SLT, and alice, my PT

hi there, some of you have mentioned that it takes forever for this page to load! i wanted you to know it’s the same for me. it takes forever for this site to open so it’s not very appealing for me to open it either!
as for you leaving me comments, you just go to the bottom of each entry and it has a box where you can leave me comments, so please do! that way, i’m motivated to keep this updated, ok? i’ll be expecting TONS OF COMMENTS THEN!!!

let me show you my speech therapist, lily. she comes every morning to my room at 9:30am. she told me this morning that she’s on duty tomorrow also so i’ll have a speech therapy session on saturday also! yea! she’s from mongolia and she told me it takes her 33 hours by train to go home, so she only goes home twice a year. crazy stuff! she told me how much it costs on the train also. if she just gets a box seat, it’s the cheapest and costs about 240RMB. a plane ride costs 1800RMB and she said she cannot afford the plane so she takes the train and uses the sleeper bed. the soft, comfortable bed ride costs 700RMB, i believe she said. interesting stuff.

i really enjoy working with lily because she’s very enthusiastic and her english isn’t bad. she uses her cell phone to look up words. i also like that she teaches me chinese words in our sessions because she learned speech therapy in chinese and i don’t mind! i actually like having a chinese lesson in our sessions. she brought a japanese pop song this morning for part of our session. it’s good for me to start singing because it helps with my breath control also. so i’m very happy to be learning a song. i’m not very good at it though.

chinese learn songs through do re mi fa so la ti do, so they can just write 33 666 43231 and they can make sounds from the numbers. i had to write it down so i would remember what 4 is (it’s fa); 1 is do, 2 is re, 3 is mi, etc. you get what i mean, right? so the japanese pop song is called oriental cherry in english. lily has a great voice also, so it’s fun to sing with her.
i also have TCM (traditional chinese medicine) with mr. guan at 1:45pm; you can see his picture in the previous post. the point of TCM is to help keep my body relaxed and at ease, so because my back’s been hurting me, mr. guan has been doing a cupping massage on my back. then i turn over and he massages my neck and shoulder. wendy comes into my sessions because his english isn’t very fluent yet, so wendy comes in and translates for us.

i got dr. xi to take a picture of my back when the bandaid came off last weekend. no mark on my back of 2nd injection can you see? i’ll have to check after i post this blog.

***** no that doesn’t show, so here…no mark, so that’s good! here are my IVs after my 2nd stem cell injection.and i am the worst for the nurses since my veins are so bad; they keep having to stick me with needles because my veins go bad and they hurt because the IV liquid ends up going into my skin instead of my veins. i’m jealous because basil has only had his IVs stuck in 2 places!!! i think i’ve been stuck about 10-15 times already!!!it’s in my left arm now when yesterday it was in my left hand top. they have to keep changing places because my veins go bad.
walk into the rehab center.that’s susan at the front desk in the center.

also i wanted to take a picture of alice, my physiotherapist; that’s an occupational therapy room. i used to see tony but i’m more comfortable with a female since ….well, it’s just more comfortable but i’ve learned that tony is actually more experienced and stuff. alice is actually an occupational therapist however it’s still pleasant to have her as my physiotherapist. i’ll have to take a picture of her tomorrow to show you. (i put it in above.)

this is the doorway into the PT area.if you walk in that way, you’ll see this. that gadget tests your balance and equilibrium. i did it 4 times while i was in the hospital, and it’s interesting that it shows i favor my left leg and foot. i put more weight on my left side. that’s also probably why i was a left wing in soccer in high school. when alice and i play soccer on the balance board, i score more with my left foot too!
this is the PT room.from the other end of the room.

my brain stem injury caused me balance problems which is what alice works on with me. i first get stretched out and warmed up; alice moves my legs around to warm them up. then she has me do some balancing exercises to work me and then we go to the PT room which you can see above where tony is working on a patient.

i then get on the treadmill for 10 minutes. i choose to walk or run by myself…whatever i feel like. alice lets me do what i want. some days i feel like adding some running so i will. i like to work out on the treadmill — get me sweating so i can stay in shape.

it’s cool they have a balance board and i am thrown a ball and try to score. alice is by the door which acts as the goal and i’m good! hahaha i score between 8 and 10 a day with alice. she’s not a good goalie. hehe she also has me run/walk on the treadmill for 10minutes; i decide if i want to run or not. we also work with the big swedish balls to help me with my balance. i’ll have to take pictures so you know what i’m talking about tomorrow.

i am different from the other patients here because william and i live here in beijing part of the year, so we have an apartment here in wangjing, the korean area of beijing which is in northeast beijing. since isabelle, celine’s mother, invited some people from the hospital to go to a music show in wangjing last night, i went home to sleep instead of returning to the hospital. i just have to sign a leave permission form from the nurses so they are not responsible for any injury when i’m outside the hospital. i invited zsuzi to join me and she happily accepted since we have 2 bedrooms in our apartment.

i took some pictures of the group that went to the show entitled shadow so you can see here.

If the

2 comments June 3rd, 2007

today’s the day for my 2nd stem cell injection

ok, i’m thinking NO ONE READS THIS! so i’m very unmotivated to keep this updated.

IF YOU’RE READING THIS, PLEASE LEAVE ME SOME COMMENTS SO I KNOW SOMEONE OUT THERE IS READING MY BLOG! PLEASE! OK????
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ok, i just finished my chinese breakfast of zongzi and the gruel. i didn’t eat the hard-boiled egg and the rest. zongzi is the rice wrapped in the leaves.that’s what it looks like when you take off all the leaves.

i’m just in my room waiting for the stem cells to arrive at the hospital. my friend down the hall basil will also get his injection but his injection is going to be injected into his brain, so he is not allowed to eat or drink anything. luckily i have the lumbar spine injection so that’s not a problem. i can eat and drink beforehand.

these are 2 of my junior doctors and that’s tina the head nurse on the far right.

the doctors told me that the stem cells should be here by 10am but last time they were late also. i didn’t go into the OR until 11:15, so we’ll see. william’s still not here yet also, so hopefully he’ll get here before the stem cells arrive.

let me tell you….my TCM (traditional chinese medicine) doctor changed. rose left this hospital a while ago so i’ve been seeing dr. guan. he doesn’t speak much english so wendy comes to my sessions and translates for us. plus i like having her in there with me since he’s a man. this is dr. guan. he’s nice. it’s just sometimes difficult to talk with him if wendy’s not there with me since his english is basic. but he’s good and i believe more experienced than rose so that’s great!
ok, since he’s a guy, i was worried and the first time i was treated by him, kamee told me to wear something so i didn’t have to undress in front of him. i borrowed her sweater which has buttons so i wore it backwards so it was easier for him to get to my back which is where he’s treating me.

yea, william’s here now! it’s 10:30! i’m hungry so we’re gonna have some frosted strawberry poptarts now. i’m starving! ok, i do hope the stem cells arrive soon because i want the 6 hours on my back done and finished!!! ok, i’m off to eat my poptarts. stay tuned and i’ll fill you in later on how i am after my 2nd stem cell injection!

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howdy! it is 19:16 now and i just had a cup ramen which my parents sent over with william when he got back from seoul last friday. i didn’t get to eat since i was on my back for 6 hours!!!! this time wasn’t as bad because the head nurse tina told me that i could move my head from side to side, not just look straight up for 6 hours!!!! that was sooo tough last time.

let’s see, this morning, the OR nurse came at 10:45 and (on my face=not looking forward to the pain…) took me on the operating gurney instead of a wheelchair this time. i begged dr. han to make it hurt less this time so he told me he’d put more anesthetic in me. it was much better this time! i also asked if i could see the stem cells again and he showed me. they are in this tiny little bottle container. amazing that that little amount can help people so much!!!

this time my right leg went numb and hurt whereas last time for my first stem cell injection, my left leg hurt more and my right leg went tingly. this time, it was all my right leg. now you know i just kept praying to god the whole time again and thank goodness he held my hand and kept me calm again. whew!!!!!

i’m so silly. i was looking around the OR this time and i found the digital clock behind the operating table so i know that dr. han finished injecting the stem cells and then waited for a minute or so before he said we were all done!!! that was 11:02!!!! hahah that way i knew exactly how long i had to be flat on my back for 6 hours.

i got back to my room on the way to OR and william was here waiting and working on his laptop. i think he took some pictures and videos. i’ll check my camera later. luckily my digicam is like me and indestructible! it’s come so close to dying many many times but it keeps chugging along! that’s the spirit!!! haha
so this time i finished my frosted strawberry poptart while i was flat on my back. i had to chew slowly and be careful. luckily i have an IV tube which i use for a straw, so i got to have some water also. i’ve been reading celeb magazines like cosmo, people and us. i brought all the ones i had in our beijing apartment and another patient brought some so in the computer room there are lots! good stuff!!!

it’s funny that i am so darn tired and sleepy so i am going to actually get ready for bed!!! i can’t take a shower because again the area on my back with the bandaid needs to stay dry for 2 days, dr. xi said last time. so ok….

also i got 5 IVs (happydot with me on my shoulder) when i came back to my room. remember i told you that my veins are realy thin? so after the 3rd one, my left vein wasn’t cooperating and my arm was hurting and it looked like the IV liqiud was going into my skin tissue!!! OUCH!!! it was so the nurse esther had to do a quick IV into my right hand top. luckily it didn’t stay. so now i am free of any needles and such! YEA!!!!!!!!!
let’s summarize my day with my 2nd stem cell injection. i didn’t have any adverse reaction again , no fever, no aches, no pain, and i am soooo happy and praise god for watching over me!!! yea!! so

ok, it’s now 21:20, hubby wants to watch a grey’s anatomy show and then i’m going to bed.

more later!!

Add comment May 24th, 2007

my next stem cell injection is this thursday the 24th

so i’m getting my first IV now this morning. i am only getting 3 IVs since yesterday. they were giving me 4 after my first stem cell injection but dr. xi told me they have to give my body a rest before i get my next stem cell injection. if you plan on coming here to do this treatment, i do hope you have good veins. sigh. since i have such small veins and taking steroids make them even thinner, the nurses have trouble finding my veins. i have bruises all over my arms from places i’ve had my IVs. tough…
let me tell you what my IVs are suppose to help me with.

one is to repair my nerves.
second is to improve my blood circulation and change the microenvironment of the brain.
the third IV is suppose to improve my blood pressure.

they added another IV for a couple of days to help my blood pressure. you see, i have very low blood pressure and i’ve passed out because of it! that’s why william always makes sure i have water right away when i get up. but it’s impressive that after they’ve added this IV for my blood pressure, my blood pressure has gone up! to like normal!! usually i was about 79-84 over around 50 or 60-something. but now that they gave me that new blood pressure IV, i have like normal blood pressure! around 100 over something. i think that’s so interesting that the IV can help improve my blood pressure!

the fourth one i was getting after my first stem cell injection which was to help the stem cells grow in my body, but they stopped that one so it gives my body a rest before my next injection tomorrow.

this is all interesting stuff, huh?

i am simultaneously excited and worried about my next injection tomorrow. i just talked with zoltan down the hall whose helper is zsuzi, his translator help. he just got his FIRST stem cell injection, also via lumbar spine injection. he didn’t feel any pain! i’m jealous because when dr. han was injecting the stem cells and the anasthesia HURT! sigh. oh well. hopefully it’ll be less painful tomorrow.

we’ll see…

1 comment May 22nd, 2007

how am i after my first stem cell treatment???

hello i kept meaning to update this medical blog after my first stem cell treatment last thursday, may 10. it was scheduled at 10am, but it all depends on what time the stem cells arrive. they are brought from beijing university (or beida) research center which is in northern beijing. our apartment in wangjing is also in northeast beijing, close to the airport so from our apartment to the hospital can take about half an hour, depending on the traffic condition. obviously there was traffic because the stem cells didn’t get here until around 11:15. i was the last of the patients to be taken to the operating room (OR). they took me in a wheelchair…which i don’t enjoy.
happydot was waiting for my return on my bed pillow…

william was videoing me instead of taking pictures, so i can’t show you any pictures unfortunately. he is obsessed with videoing everything now!!! for our movie, he says.

so dr. han, the stem cell injection doctor, met me at the entrance and man, talk about nerve-wracking!!! sooooo nervous. they gave me some sterile sandals to put on and then i walked to the OR with dr. han and a nurse.

i laid down flat on the table while dr. han and the nurse got everything ready. dr. han showed me the stem cells which were in a sterile hand glove with ice inside. i was thinking, wow, exciting! so while the nurse and he were getting everything ready, i was lying there, thinking, gosh, this is finally happening. i was soooo nervous and i was thinking, i want to hold someone’s hand while dr. han is injecting me with the Local anesthetic!!! so nervous, my blood pressure must’ve been roof-high.

so he sterilized my back and told me he was going to inject me with the Local anesthetic. nerve-wracking. it didn’t hurt at first but after a while, i was freaking out because my left leg started to hurt! so i told dr. han. then my right leg started tingling and my back was killing me! i told him all this. he said with every patient, it’s different, so with me, he said he started injecting the anesthetic slower so it wouldn’t hurt. but, man, it hurt anyway. he also said that it was good that my left leg hurt because that means he hit the right nerve, or the CFS fluid, i believe he said. you can see the previous blog because i mentioned it there.

he finished injecting the anesthetic and then he touched my back, asking if i could feel anything. i couldn’t. whew!!! happy about that one!

then dr. han started injecting the stem cells. it didn’t seem like a lot when he showed me the container before the injection, but man! it took forever! well, it felt like forever. i mean it all took only about 5 minutes literally but it seemed like hours to me. he had to go slow because i was still having pain in my back and leg.

the nurse was busy doing other things so no one held my hand. i sat there, praying for god to hold my hand and he did, thank goodness! i was praying the whole time this happened. STRESSFUL! but thank goodness, it all went smoothly! afterwards, dr. han even told me that i was a good patient! HAHAHA i’m not sure why but man, i was just glad it was over.

they put me on another moving bed/table and they wheeled me back to my room where hubby was waiting, working. it was cool how they lowered my bed.they put a flat board and i scooted over and slide down onto my bed! then began the tortuous 6 hours! i was on my bed for 6 hours on my back.

you have to lie flat like that for 3 to 6 hours so the new stem cells go to the injury, in my case my brain stem. now, william and i figured we could watch lots of grey’s anatomy or videos on the tv in my room, but since my head was just straight up, i couldn’t comfortably see the tv. so we gave up which was very unfortunate! i started my pedometer timer so i knew exactly how long i was on my back!

it was rough–basically it was like my own personal hell to stay flat on my back for 6 hours! i listened to my iriver mp3 player a bit, read the new magazines that my mom mailed me, but everything was uncomfortable. i was also receiving many IVs so i had to leave my right arm down flat so the IV could flow faster. i was used to getting only 2 IVs a day since i checked in; they didn’t change anything during their may holiday from may 1-7, so every day, i was getting 2 IVs. after my 1st stem cell injection, i’ve been getting 4 in the morning and then 1 in the afternoon at 4pm which is to make sure i don’t get any infection.

one of the junior doctors said thymopentin is added as an IV to “reduce immune reaction” and another is an antiobiotic which is used for 5 days after the stem cell injection. they may use longer than 5 days to make sure stem cells grow in my body and not get killed off. so now i no longer get 2 IVs. now 4 in the morning and 1 at 4pm. good thing i’m not squeamish at all on getting stabbed with needles…i just watch and offer places for them to stick me. haha
i mentioned that i was very uncomfortable, right? it gets worse. since rose my TCM therapist cupped my neck the day before my injection (or wednesday), my neck was painfully sore too!

i asked for pain medication after i finally was able to get off my back–after 6 hours and 17 minutes! it was 6pm when i could finally get up! i treated myself since that completely sucked and got myself a new york steak from sizzler for dinner! (served medium) which came with a baked potato and cheese toast.it was ok, but not great….that was just my special treat since i made it no prob through my first stem cell injection.

they took off the plastic bandaid which was over my injection area so it wouldn’t get wet when i showered. i wasn’t allowed to shower on thursday so i had to wait until friday to shower. i did a french shower….got a wet washcloth and wiped myself down everywhere with soap. they took the plastic bandaid off yesterday morning when one of the junior doctors came to check on me in the morning, so here’s my back. it’s such a small area that you can’t even see anything!can you see anything? i can’t.

ok, so the doctors are waiting to see if the stem cells are working quickly or not in my body. i am very very blessed because i didn’t have any adverse reaction to the injection. william and i were very worried that i would get a fever but you know? NOTHING BAD HAPPENED!! NO FEVER, NOTHING…NOT EVEN MY BACK STAYED IN PAIN. so i am just very blessed!!! i must thank god for watching over me so carefully!!
that is why i wasn’t very fast on getting on here and posting another medical blog–i’ve been fine except for today, my temperature is 37.4; the nurses said if it goes up to 37.5, then i have a slight fever. we’ll see. i’m just tired today. i hopefully will get to see rose today for some more cupping since my neck and back are still a bit tight. we’ll see.

i was lucky and got to cab home with hubby yesterday morning after my 4 IVs finished. he left for seoul yesterday so i went home with him to get some more clothes and have lunch made by our ajumma (our korean/chinese maid/cook). it’s nice i can leave the hospital as long as i sign a leave form.

alrighty, i think i’ve filled you in on my life thus far. more later!!
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i just went to say good bye to alice and ken who’ve been here for 2 months already. they’re returning to los angeles since alice’s treatment is finished. i wanted to show them so you could add them to your prayers–to have safe traveling mercies back home to california.alice is very popular because lots of people came to say good bye to her and ken. i got a picture of alice with mark, one of the physiotherapists. i took a picture with ken’s camera of all the people who came to see them off in the hospital lobby also. hopefully he’ll send me those pictures.

bye bye alice and ken!!!

1 comment May 14th, 2007

a tour around the hospital and “tweetment”–you’ll get it at the end…

let me give you a tour of this hospital. i fixed the pictures in earlier blogs so now the pictures aren’t miniscule and you can actually see them! if you go back a few, you can see the rehab room, so i won’t show that again. i also showed you my TCM therapist rose, so you can check her out too.

here’s the entrance to the room i get TCM in.and there are 3 beds in the TCm room.and there are posters in there.

here is the computer room which is in the same building, the rehab center building. it’s nice they have 2 desktop computers and a printer.

then there are sofas by a tv and dvd player. i asked wendy how to get the dvd player to work, but she still hasn’t told me.

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ok, now remember how i told you there was a week-long holiday from may 1st to the 7th? so nothing new happened here at the hospital. i just continued to get my 2 bags of IV fluid. every day, i get my IV started around 8. the nurses come by between 6-7am to check my blood pressure and they inject a solution into my IV pump which is to make sure the blood doesn’t clot. they used to check my temperature around noon but they haven’t for 3 days. i guess they don’t worry about me so much??? not sure.

in any case, i was very keen to get the may holiday over so i could finally start getting the stem cell treatment!! well, the good news was that we finally had the big pow-wow meeting with my head doctor dr.wang who’s a neurologist and dr. han who is the stem cell injection doctor. i’m not sure what his official doctor title is…so i just say he’s the stem cell injection doctor. haha
we had our meeting with them today at 2pm. wendy also attended just in case we needed someone to translate. well, dr. han’s english is great! he spoke english to us and even translated what dr. wang was saying. she showed us the MRI results that i had taken before the may holiday started. she showed us the location of my injury. she said it was so small that if no one had told them to look for it, they would’ve missed it!

so luckily william and i came up with a list of questions to ask them about the procedure and it took an hour for it to end. dr. han was really pleasant and patient and told us that i will be given a lumber puncture (spinal tap) tomorrow at 10am to insert the stem cells, because an injury site insertion is too dangerous due to the location (even a needle might cause damage). we reviewed each question and they answered them all. they are so great!!
he and dr. wang explained how my MRI “looks normal” unless someone knows exactly where to look and only then can you see the very slight injury. the location is very dangerous and i am lucky that nothing worse happened, e.g. stop breathing, heart, vision, etc.

dr. han and dr. wang both believe i am an excellent candidate for a good recovery as my brain has shown excellent plasticity (flexibility to repair) so far with my natural recovery. it is very exciting but we are realistic and will be thankful for a safe procedure and any progress at all ….. though i hope and pray for 100%. it was cool to learn that the change in my voice is probably not from the tracheotomy but from the nerve injury so there is hope for a full recovery there too. i would like to do voice over work again, God willing.
i will have to lay still for about 3-6 hours afterwards, which will be tough but i will do my best. i have to lie down flat so that the stemcells don’t drain out of my brain down into my lower spine (as they are injected into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), Liquor cerebrospinalis, the clear bodily fluid that envelops the brain and flows through the spinal chord. cool; i knew that.

theoretically i could have an SLE flare based on an immuno reaction (rejection) of the stem cells but they have taken precautions (with medications and by only giving me neural stem cells - which trigger a lesser reaction apparently). it will take 3-6 months for the stem cells to grow into proper working cells but i should see some near term improvement and there is good potential for them to re-mylenate (recoat the nerves so there is no moisture in them) and otherwise heal the injury spot and i may be good as new. that is the optimists view. and i am an optimist. that’s just peppy perky me. hmmmm. sounds like someone is in need of alliteration, e.g. i love my bird, peppy perky pippen.

i miss my birdies!

well, off to bed and here is to me! 3 cheers! hurrrah! your favorite guinea pig (oink).

wan an (= good night in chinese)!!!!

3 comments May 9th, 2007

let’s try again to show pictures…

entrance to the rehab building. entrance to rehab building

the front desk in the rehab center. rehab center reception desk

3 comments May 1st, 2007

pictures!

i got help and now you can see the pictures big!!!

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i finally figured out how to upload pictures onto here! so voila!
here’s the entrance of tiantan puhua hospital!

can you see the 5 pictures i uploaded? i’m not sure… let me know, ok?

rehab roomthe platform where i think occupational therapists work with patients

here’s the whole room. the rehab room here’s rose, my TCM therapist. rose after i had my session with her yesterday, i went around and took pictures. i even took one of the pharmacy in the rehab center building, but it was already closed.