Terrific Tuesday

Laurinda says:

We were confined to our room all day yesterday, so today despite the freezing weather conditions we decided to venture out to the open markets to save our sanity. Our only pair of jeans were away being laundered, so we had to wear our summery 3/4 length pants with socks pulled up and walking shoes (very sexy!). We walked out of the comfort of the heated hospital and the icy wind gnawed at our ankles. We jumped in a taxi and were dropped off at the dogs' heads.

First stop: gloves, beanie, leg warmers and tracksuit pants for Mum who was feeling the cold for the first time in years. Would you believe we had to buy size XXXL men's tracksuit pants and they are skin tight on her! Advice to anyone coming over, don't pack 11 skirts and think you'll buy some jeans over here when it gets cold if you are over a size 12 AUS. Next stop, Beth's Louis Vuitton bag, hmmm not sure if it's quite her style but fingers crossed. Then a couple of outfits for the girls and a pack of 10 Nike socks for less than $1.

Odette says: 

We rushed back to the hospital in time for the second round of PT and electrowave therapy. Today the muscles are still tired and sore from 4 hours of walking on Sunday, the MS equivalent of running a 10km marathon. Big rest in the afternoon while Laurinda popped over to Lottemart for a few essentials. She came back with 'Annie' a beautiful doll who speaks Chinese. The young Chinese girls at the hospital were very taken with her and loved conversing with her and kissing her.

We have celebrated other patients success along with our own. Here are a few of their stories (names omitted for privacy):

• A little Norwegian girls first steps today. Her dad is over the moon. His dream of having his daughter walk into kindergarten with her friends next year is coming true.
• Our mate Kev smelled coffee and saw shadows directly in front of him for the first time in 12 years.
• An American girl left last week able to put her hands out and touch a wall instead of crashing into it as her undeveloped optic nerves began to grow.
• A little Irish boy has stopped having seizures and his parents are very hopeful for even more positive results.
• An elderly Chinese lady is seeing light after years of darkness. She was complaining the lights were too bright following her first treatment.

These results are very exciting however, we know that stem cells need to grow and multiply and the best results are still to come in the 6-12 months after we all leave here.