David’s SCI Treatment Blog

2nd Update on Dave’s China 2008 trip

May 27th, 2008

5/26/08 Happy Memorial Day from David and Norma!! First and foremost David would love to hear from you. Please email him at daldrich57@aol.com. He looks forward to your emails anytime. Even though there is no Memorial Day in China, there is Memorial Day in David and Norma’s hearts. They carry their pride for our country, our veterans, and our current service men serving our country in Iraq. Everyone is in their thoughts and prayers. David is pretty excited when he calls these days. There seems to be many things happening and he would like for me to share them all with you. “The Stem cells are doing something,” according to David. Along with his hard work in PT every day, he has made this trip worth the time and investment. First, he began to perspire on his neck. After a neurological injury such as Dave’s, the individuals lose their ability to perspire. Dave said he has not perspired for 6 years. Norma noticed that Dave’s neck was wet when she put her hand on the back of his neck when he was doing about 50 sit ups. Norma said, “David did you know you are sweating?” He was so excited! Perspiring this high on his body is such a great sign. David told me on the phone, “I could actually have some body odor again, can you imagine that?” Now tell me, how many of us wish for that? Isn’t it amazing to think of the things that we find an annoyance and have taken for granted are things patients like Dave grasp for with all their heart and might to regain? David says that he has now gone 3 weeks without his nebulizer. He has never been able to go three weeks, since he weaned off the respirator. He feels this is such a big step for him. He is hoping that this will continue and his lungs will become stronger. I must say, when he calls he talks like he was vaccinated with a phonograph needle. He barely stops to take a breath! Keep up the good work ole Davey boy! Hearing your voice was a gift, I remember those days when you were on the respirator and all we wished for was to hear your voice again! Dave’s biggest news is that he has been getting up on his knees and balancing with the assistance of Martin. If he continues to do this exercise when he returns home he will build up his leg muscles and there is the possibility of his being able to stand with assistance in about 6 months! These are different muscles being used to kneel. He is doing leg presses with Martin and his quadriceps muscles are very weak. He has been told that the kneeling, pushing and pulling exercises should help strengthen these muscles. David is so excited!!! We all know that Dave has said his goal is to walk again, and this just made that hope and dream of his a bigger possibility. David said that Martin can’t hold his left leg anymore like he used to because Dave is getting stronger everyday. The stem cell Doctor did the “Asia” pinprick test on David . David said the Dr. told him he is now a four. He used to be a one. David said normal is 5. Dave told me that Christopher Reeve had gone from a 1 to a 4 too. Dave said he has gotten more sensation back especially with the pin prick test on his left foot. The Dr. told him that his reflexes bounce back well. He said his right is less sensitive than the left. His muscle spasms are less severe, and occur less frequently than they did before. I HAVE TO TELL YOU OLE’ DAVEY BOY IS PUMPED FOR SURE!!!! When he talks and tells me all these things, I can just imagine, having been there, just what is going on. He is so excited he barely takes a breath when he is telling me these things; the excitement in his voice is immeasurable! Dave talks about becoming more independent, and being able to do more things for himself, things such as the activities of daily living. One in particular is the ability to feed himself. He has been working his fingers and hands with Martin. His hands “feel different”. He cannot explain or describe what it is yet, but to him it feels so suttle. He doesn’t sense the movement in the fingers yet, but he feels like he senses more. He is feeling that he can sense more the contact when someone touches him. He said he is curling his fingers back one at a time, and he ends up doing what is like 200 reps with his fingers. He feels if he can strengthen his fingers he will be able to hold utensils well enough to be more independent! What a gift that would be for him, and just think how we all do these things every single day without thinking about it! Dave’s vision is improving more too. He can see more clearly individuals who may be across the room, where as before he could see them, but just not as clearly. He continues to do his trunk rolls, the standing board, and all the usual exercises he does in therapy with Martin. He receives e-stim as well in his room prior to PT. The biggest challenge for Dave this time when he returns home, (and it is the same as the last time), is the availability of continuing the PT he needs to strengthen his body. When you have a long term, chronic problem like Dave’s the availability of services is very limited. You can max out on any services such as this very quickly. It will be critical for Dave’s improvement to be able to continue to perform all these exercises when he returns home. His goal to stand and walk can only be realized with the hard work that goes along with the body building gifts of those stem cells! Everyone in China is amazed at the gains Dave has made. He tells everyone that it isn’t just the stem cells; it is the combination of all the therapies, and one hard core determination. It takes hard work and dedication but all of these things combined make the whole treatment regimen successful. You have heard of misers making pennies scream? Well, Dave makes those stem cells scream! He gets every last bit of reformation from them. I don’t think any human can squeeze as much out of their stem cells as Dave can! There will be billions of those stem cells in his body by the time he is done his treatments. His PT will push the stem cells to recognize they need to work and repair the physical human frailties that exist in his body. Like I said, those stem cells will be screaming when he is done with them!! Dave is a celebrity in his own right in China. He said that so many people walk up to him and tell him that they recognize him from the Super Cells video, and his blog. He is amazed. It is always a surprise to see how many lives he touches without even knowing it. A new group of patients came in recently. One man said to Dave, “I know that face! I saw you on your blog walking in the pool!” This man is a quad also, and he told Dave, “You are the only reason I am here.” People are telling him that they have seen Katrina Holden’s, Super Cells that she produced for National Geographic and aired on the Discovery Channel at least 10 times. Dave is of course featured on that movie. It was not allowed to air in the US, but has aired all through Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. There is one common thread of all these individuals….that is one of hope. Each with their debilitating illnesses and injuries brings them to China with hope in their hearts. David has become a source of inspiration to others. He brings hope to others when they have felt there was no hope. David said, “People get so down in the dumps.” They receive their injections, and he can see that sparkle of hope just grow when they see things begin to change. Sometimes the things that change are so small to us, but they are monumental things to an individual with chronic debilitating illnesses and injuries. Everyone there is looking for HOPE. Some of the people there Dave speaks about. One man Joe from the US, a quad like Dave had an accident when he was in school. He is going to school for his BS degree, and plans on teaching. He then wants to become an attorney. His dad is a missionary in Angola and Cambodia, helping people to build, or rebuild their homes. There are patients there from Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, Romania, New Zealand, Scotland, and of course the US. A man from Scotland has ataxia. When he arrived his hands were shaking. When he left his hand did not shake. One man who is there with his wife, have been very nice, and they owned a park with animals and specialized in giraffes. A woman there has had MS for several years, and after stem cells she could jump. Dave said she was pretty excited! There are so many stories…….and I am sure there are so many untold stories too that Dave will share with you when he returns home. It is so amazing to hear each and every one of these stories. The stories tell of the spiritual growth, the bonding, and any trickle of improvement building the hopes and dreams of those, where no hope previously existed. These are the stories that Dave and everyone has travelled so far to tell! As tiny Tim would say, “Bless them all each and every one!” Bless you all and I will write an update again before Dave leaves to return to the US. Bless you all for your love and support! Always, Dave and Norma

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