Archive for May, 2007
Brooklyn is sleeping now and we hope she will sleep through the night. She did not do as well this time with her treatment. She was up when they brought her back to the room and it took us a while to get her to sleep. I even crawled into the crib with her. Yes, I did say we - Scott did make it here in one piece. I am leaving tomorrow afternoon and will be back on Tuesday at some time. I am curious to see if Scott has noticed any changes in Brooklyn. I have a quick run down of everything and he will be one his own.
Need to get back - they are probably both asleep by now!!
Oh - I keep forgetting - for those of you that have seen brooklyn’s pacifer trick - she is a hit with the dr’s. Every morning when they round they grab her paci and put it in upside down. Once she flips it they all laugh and clap for her - they just think it is the greatest. One of he dr’s told me that is a sign of intelligence.
Gotta run - love heather & brooke
May 30th, 2007
Brooke will have her 3rd stem cell treatment this afternoon. Yesterday she only had therapy and that was all we did, except for a trip to the market. This morning she does not have therapy, but my stomach is not doing so well today so we are stuck around here this morning. Scott will arrive this afternoon - i hope i feel well enough to go pick him up. Brooklyn’s dr here expects that she will see much improvement from her treatment. They think she is doing well. Will try to write more later after her treatment.
May 30th, 2007
I got word this afternoon that scott and syd arrived in shanghai after having to spend the night in Tokyo after the alaska delay. They hit the fabric market this afternoon and scott spent 3,000 rmb(about $390) on material for a cashmere coat, 2 suits a suitcoat and 11 pairs of pants. That doesn’t include the cost of the tailor (that should be at least 2,500 rmb). He said i am not allowed in the fabric market any more. Brooke was a little tired today and I had to cut her therapy short. She took a nap and then we went shopping with Joanna, our friend from toronto. We went to the silk market - hangzhou is the silk capital of the world. We picked up a few things - I should have a new wardrobe by the time i get home!!
For those of you wondering a w sit is a way us old people don’t bend - two legs out to the side bended so the knees are in front. Brooke gets her third treatment on Wednesday and scott will be here just in time for. I can’t wait to get to Shanghai to see Syd - I heard she was a very good girl while i was gone. I hope we have fun and i hope I am able to leave with out much trouble.
Another day gone - I haven’t picked up too much more chinese but one of the dr’s said my chinese is good - such a complex language - each character has 4 different sounds.
Well I should be getting off to bed - brooke hit the sack around 7:00 - she was very tired. She is getting another tooth - her bottom right eye tooth. it looks like it will break through any day now.
We hope everyone is well. I will be leaving for Shanghai on Thursday evening so it will be scott’s responsibility to keep this updated!
Hope this finds everyone well - love heather and brooke
May 28th, 2007
Scott and sydney left for china but had a detour in alaska due to a non-working toilet. I have not gotten the whole story yet - that is what they get for flying first class. Today we went to the market and then to west lake. The market was ok, but since we have been there before it wasn’t that much fun. The west lake was nice but it was very hot today. I did some christmas shopping at the market so that will be nice to have some of that done.
While our canadian friends were visiting us today brooklyn pushed herself into sitting from her stomach into a W sit. She balanced herself on her legs and butt. She has never done this before. I was so exciting to see. She does seem to be less stiff in her legs as I am able to bend them more easily.
Another week of therapy starts tomorrow - I need to start finding things to occupy my afternoons. Of course this usually means shopping because there is nothing else to do. Brooklyn needs to go to sleep - so we are off. I will let you know what happens with Scott and Sydney - nothing like a little karma!!!
love - heather & brooklyn
May 27th, 2007
Brooklyn finished her second week of treatment here in Hang Zhou. She is doing well - her next treatment isn’t until Wednesday so Scott will be here for that. That will be another spinal treatment and i was not looking forward to going through that alone. There isn’t too much excitement here - we just walked to the bank so we have enough money for our return trip to the market tomorrow and then we will visit West Lake. I think there are 8 “families” going from the floor - this should be interesting. We are leaving at 8am - I am not looking forward to that. I am going to have to make sure we both get to bed early today and see if I can figure out how to set the alarm. I am going to try to get Brooke down for a rest. Thanks for the support and prayers - I hope we won’t disappoint. Scott and Sydney will arrive in China on Sunday, I should get to see Scott on Wednesday and Sydney on Thursday. I am looking forward to it. I hope they have a safe trip.
Love - Heather & Brooke
May 26th, 2007
Things are starting to get a little boring here for all of us. Brooklyn is between therapy sessions right now so i thought I would let you know how we are doing. not too much has been happening - just going to therapy in the morning and trying to find things to do in the afternoon. it gets old sitting in the hospital all day. Brooke is doing fine, the dr this morning said the tone in her legs is better??? The nurses are trying to get her to say china again - no luck yet. Well, that is about all for now - I am not sure when here next treatment will be. Gotta go change a diaper……
Love - Heather & Brooke
May 25th, 2007
Thankfully Brooklyn is doing much better and had her second treatment this afternoon. This treatment was an IV so she didn’t have to lay still for 6 hours afterward. I was walking the halls with another mom here and we were talking about our experiences with telling our dr’s (her’s in canada) about coming to china. After Joanna said china, Brooklyn chimed right in with “china.” Joanna looked at me and I said did she just say china - she sure did. I also learned she can say open. I am not sure how all of this came about but I will take it. I thought she was getting close before we left. She is back to therapy tomorrow in the morning and I might go back to the shoe market in the afternoon - can’t beat real leather shoes for $15. Scott - did you find that second job yet?
As usual fuss pants is making a stink so i much get off and get her to bed - hopefully she will sleep well. I am trying to pick up some chinese and the drs and nurses say I am doing well - the hard part is remembering it all. I don’t think I will get to the point that I will be able to understand much but if I can get my point across it will work.
Everyone on the floor is so nice - we keep saying we need to organize a social hour every night to have some company. I have to get going. I heard the wings lost and that gas is at a price I don’t even want to think about - I hope that all changes soon.
love heather & brooke
May 23rd, 2007
On Tuesday my dear friend lauren headed back to shanghai on the train, which I hear was quite the experience. Of course, as luck would have it, the first night I was along brooke woke up at 12:15 vomiting - she vomited 4 times over the course of an hour and a half. She was in my bed, so I had to strip the bed and change her pj’s about 5 times and my pj’s once. She finally fell back asleep around 2:30. She has been ok so far today - they gave her some natural medicine to help her stomach - I am thinking it was something she ate. She has not had a fever or anything else, and I am hoping it stays that way. She is scheduled for a treatment tomorrow - not sure if that will happen tomorrow or not. I am doing fine here by myself - there a lot of nice people here from all over the world and we are keeping each other company. I must run - brooke is fussing. Will let you know what happens tomorrow.
Thanks again to everyone for the support. Many of you have sent me great news about things going on in your lives and I am happy for you.
Take care - Love Heather & Brooklyn
May 22nd, 2007
It is just after noon here in Xiaosan. Brooklyn tried some therapy this morning but got tired very quickly. She has been sleeping for almost two hours - guess all of that stuff wears you out!!! She did great! She slept through the night and was very much herself this morning - lauren and I even heard her say “all done” - at least that is what is sounded like and she said it three times. I don’t think it was a case of wishful mommy thinking. We will going on some excursions tomorrow. The staff here has been great and they are very friendly - we are learning chinese and english from each other. Lauren leaves on Monday to go back to Shanghai and will return to the states on Wednesday, I am so glad I have such a great friend that would make this journey with me. I am sad she is leaving but have met several wonderful people here that i am hoping to “hang out” with.
One of the other patients here also had his first treatment yesterday and he said he can already tell a difference. i will be keeping on eye on Brooke to see if I notice anything. If you ever get a chance to visit china - i highly recommend it. It has been an experience so far and the shopping over here is crazy!!!!!
Brooklyn is scheduled for her next treatment next Wednesday. I will you all updated on her progress..
Thank you so much for all of you support and prayers - I can’t thank all of you enough.
Love - Heather
May 19th, 2007
Well, Brooklyn had her first stem cell transplant today. She slept through most of it, according to the dr. She slept afterward and she is still sleeping at 6:32 pm. We are hoping she will be fine tomorrow and then we have Sunday off. I think her next treatment will be on Wednesday. Sorry for the short update - the dr needs to take a look at her.
May 18th, 2007
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