Tony's SCI Blog

Parallel Bars and Leg Brace Update.June 15th,2007

admin — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 19:45:27 +0000

I do physical therapy everyday and I have been using leg braces and parallel bars to stand up.I seem to have more strength in my lower body and legs. I am able to balance myself better now.I have to hold on to the bars most of the time but I can let go of the bars and balance myself for a couple of seconds. I still haven’t had any motor function .

February 2007 update.

admin — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 22:45:47 +0000

Hello,

I am still doing my physical therapy everyday, I am still using the parallel bars. I haven’t had any big changes in my condition lately. I do have more sensory feelings in my legs no motor function yet. I will be getting some leg braces in about two weeks. The doctor that I see said he thought the braces would be very helpful to me when I use the parallel bars. I will update my blog after I use the leg braces a few times.

December 15th update.

admin — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 18:20:44 +0000

Hello,

I want to first say hello to all my good friends in Shenyang and I hope you are all doing well. I also want to say hello to my friends that were there for treatment when I was there. I hope that you all are having good results from the stem cell treatments. I have my parallel bars setup now and have been using them. I seem to be getting more strength and feeling in my legs now. I don’t have any motor function in my legs yet but my legs are much firmer when I do my physical therapy. I am doing physical therapy everyday. I believe in order to get the best results physical therapy in very important. I was taking baclofen for muscle spasms before I had my stem cell injections. I stopped taking baclofen after my first stem cell injection and I haven’t needed to start taking it since.

Three weeks back home.

admin — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 21:52:16 +0000

I have been home for three weeks now and I have been doing my physical therapy everyday. My legs seem to be more stable when I am transferring from one place to another. I have some parallel bars ordered and on the way to my home. I will see how much more stable my legs really are as soon as I am able to use the parallel bars. I hope that I will be able to stand up and support myself with the use of the bars. I hope that the stem cells will repair the damaged area in my spinal cord. I think that physical therapy is the most important thing to do right now. I will update my blog as soon as I do my first work out with the parallel bars.

Back home.

admin — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 01:48:35 +0000

It was a long flight home but I made it back and I feel good. It is going to take a few days to get caught up on things here at home. I am going to start doing physical therapy tomorrow. Dr Wang and all the physical therapist in Shenyang told me that the physical therapy is the most important thing I can do. I agree with them and I am going to do most of my therapy at home. The therapy that I received in Shenyang was very good and I am setting up the equipment at home to be able to perform the same therapy program. I miss all the great people in Shenyang, they were all very helpful. The doctors, nurses, therapist and all of the people involved in the program were friendly and professional. My father and I made a lot of new friends while we were there. I have had contact with a few of our friends through email already. I will keep in touch with everyone at the hospital and with other patients with email. I believe I will gain more and more feelings in my legs as time passes. Dr Wang said it takes some time for the stem cells to repair damaged areas so I will take it a day at a time. I hope all my friends who are stem cell patients there are having good results. I will keep my blog up to date as my condition changes and improves.

The day after my final injection.

admin — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 01:43:48 +0000

It’s Wednesday morning Oct 18^th the day after my last stem cell injection. I spent my four hours in bed after the injection and had a slight headache. The headache went away after I got up and moved around for awhile. I saw my friend Chris after he has his stem cell injection and he had a headache also. He thinks like I do a headache is a small price to pay for the good results we are looking to receive from the stem cell treatments. My friend BO CAO came to my room and we talked for quite awhile. He ask me about things in the United States and I asked him the same questions about China. He also asked me if I have any new feelings in my legs. I do have some new feelings it feels like something is squeezing and putting pressure on my legs down to my feet. I know that it takes time for changes and I will be patient.

Sid came by and we talked about physical therapy he spoke to Dr Wang and now I will be having therapy in the morning as well as in the afternoon. Sid also has been in contact with Grace and they are going to try and get me setup to have a stem cell iv Friday. I hope that it gets setup because I leave for home Saturday Oct21^st. I have met a lot of new friends here from the United States, Australia, Canada and China. I plan on staying in contact with them all through internet email or by phone. I hope that they all have great results from the stem cell treatments. I will also be able to stay in touch with Jon, Neil, Grace, Sid, Venus and all of the good people that make things move along at the hospital. If you ever need something or some help all you have to do is ask someone will be there to help. Dr Wang all the other doctors all the nurses, Charlie and all of the physical therapist have been great. I plan to keep my blog updated to let people know of my improvements as they occur. It’s time for me to get to physical therapy and get the day started.

Final Injection Today.

admin — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 01:34:12 +0000

It’s Tuesday Oct 17^th I am to receive my final stem cell injection today. I started to get a cold and I had a fever Sunday and Monday. Dr Wang made sure that I received medicine and treatment so the fever would be gone before my last injection. I did get to have physical therapy yesterday and it was a good session. When Charlie

my physical therapist helps me stand using the parallel bars I feel more pressure in my legs. It’s like I can feel the muscles getting tight. I do some exercises lying on a mat and I am able to move my body much easier than before the treatments. I am looking forward to getting my final stem cell treatment. I think that it will take some time for the stem cells to attach to the proper area. I am to leave Saturday Oct 21^st but I will continue doing physical therapy when I get home. I’m sure I will get more improvements as time goes on. I will keep everyone up to date.

Oct 10th Injection day.

admin — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:36:10 +0000

It’s 3:40pm Tuesday afternoon and the weather is a little cooler but it’s nice. I had another stem cell injection today and my four hours in bed is now over. I feel good no headache at all but I do have a little pain in my back but it’s not bad. Grace and Sid came by my room after my injection to see how I was doing. They stay busy but they seem to always be close by if I need them for something. I think I will go out and see what’s going on here in the hospital and I may go outside for awhile. I thought I would be tired but I have a lot of energy right now. I will get back into my daily routine tomorrow oxygen treatment, acupuncture and physical therapy. I will most likely have some type of food ordered and delivered here to the hospital tonight. I just have Grace or Sid order it and they stay here until it arrives to make sure it’s the correct food and the correct price. I hope that I will have some more new feelings in my lower body and legs soon but I won’t rush things. I am very satisfied so far with the results from my treatments. I am sure there are more good things to come.

No surgery needed.

admin — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 23:54:15 +0000

Dr Wang came and talked to me about surgery yesterday Oct 8^th. He said that he and the other doctors went over my MRI’s and that the spinal cord canal was clear. He said that surgery would not be necessary and we would continue with the stem cell injections, oxygen treatments, acupuncture, and physical therapy. I have noticed some different feelings in my legs. I have a tingling feeling and that feeling really gets more intense after I have a oxygen treatment. I believe that the oxygen treatment really gets the blood circulating. I am to have another stem cell injection tomorrow so I hope to start having more good feelings in my legs. I am not getting in a hurry I’m not rushing things. I know that the treatments work differently with the type of injury that each patient has.

Stem cell iv today.

admin — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 12:02:52 +0000

Today is Tuesday Oct 3^rd it’ a nice day outside today. I had a iv first this morning and then a oxygen treatment. Then I received a iv with stem cells in it. What is good about the stem cell iv is that you can get up after it and do what ever you feel like doing. With the stem cell injection I had last week a side effect is a bad headache. The stem cell iv has no side effects at all. The person I met here who is in the military went home yesterday to visit his family. We exchanged email address’s and I sent him a email the night he left to make sure he had a safe trip. Today being the day after he left I received mail from him he said he made it home safe. He also said he would be coming back to the hospital Oct 7^th and we will be able to go see a few more places in town. It’s great that you can meet someone here in Shenyang China and develop a good friendship. We have a little trouble talking sometimes but we always figure out what we are saying to each other. I stayed around the hospital all day today but I kept busy. There is a community room here with a television and Sony play station 2. I spent some time there with Chris a new friend here for treatment he is from Missouri. Physical therapist and new friend Tianyang or Charlie is his English name was there also we all played a few games on the play station. It has been a very good day overall I am having a easier time communicating with more and more people. It’s time to get myself in bed getting proper rest is very important. I want my body to be in the best condition possible to help in accepting and getting the full benefits from the stem cell treatments.