Thursday 29 October (week 2)

Odette says...   Move over Superwoman...Here I come!

After a long, lousy night and no sleep and babies crying, I was a bit wary of therapy this morning.  Owen knew I had my spinal last night, so his massaging was a little easier than normal, or so it seemed, and then when it was time for climbing, balancing etc...I was flying!!  I've come a long way in a week and I know the magic potion is doing its sweet thing.  After PT as I am laying on my bed waiting for my acupuncture, I can feel it.  I know I am stronger. My Miracle is unfolding.  I am blessed and it just keeps getting better!  I have also lost a couple of kg s, so by the end of treatment I will be wearing Superwoman's outfit with high heels for dancing and romance.Woohoo!  Alyson....leave a pair of high strappy black shoes for me in the Prada shop!
...
Right,  Dr Apple has been and done a quick neurological test and is very impressed with my balance and strength.

Thanks so much for your comments, with communications being so unreliable, its lovely to hear from you.  Jan, DW and Mihela...please pass on my love to all the F`s and big thanks for the support.
Blisters...No 3cent dumplings for you!
Al....please keep sending me emails, they make my day.
Hamo...dont smash Lady Jas`s car.
Christine....thanks for your support too and yes that step is high and the beds are thin!
Roo....I am your Mother, let me hear from you!
Anyone else...please dont hesitate to say hello, we have no mobiles here so we love hearing from you.


Laurinda says....

It was exciting watching Mum do PT this morning.  Owen had her balancing on one leg!  She lasted 2 seconds on her left and 7 on her right! He also had her powering up and down the high step like an aerobics class.  Definitely an improvement in balance and strength and confidence.  After therapy today we walked over to the shopping mall and spent about an hour browsing and she didn't need to stop and sit down once.  We had an enormous Korean lunch (enough for about 6 people, so no dinner tonight!!) all for $11. Now she wont let me film therapy this afternoon because shes too worried about her full belly wobbling.

First Lumbar Puncture Stem Cells

Odette: Ooh the pressure is building- it's really the BIG day today! Stem cells via lumbar puncture. Two therapies this morning, now no more for the day so I am rested up and strong for tonight 7.30pm. The Professor came from down town Qingdao this morning and poked and prodded and discussed my case with 10 others. The translator was here but I got the general gist of things. He was much revered and they all hung off his every word. He will be returning daily to monitor my progress. I think the IV that I had was more to see if I had any side effects or negative reactions of any kind. The spinal injections are the REAL ones! I'm very excited and busy telling my mind where I want the cells to go and what they need to do. Fingers, toes, eyes and wings crossed!!

After the cell transplantation. its laying down with no head movement for 6 hours. Oh God! How am I going to make it through the day? I'm already counting the minutes. I doubt this sort of excitement is good for my blood pressure. Here is the Professor's advice:
1. Take a little exercise everyday
2. Enjoy a little rice everyday
3. Smile everyday
4. Bask in the sunshine
Sounds good to me- although the sun is a little hard to detect past the white smog.

Laurinda has gone shopping with Ann. I'm far too worked up to read or try the Internet so I shall just keep trotting up and down corridors. Ok - no more writing they have put in my IV in preparation and Laurinda is back with slippers and nail polish- I can have nice nails again yay!
...

Laurinda: The day has gone so slowly but it is 7.15pm and they have finally come to take mum upstairs for her lumbar puncture. She is so excited. Now I don't know what to do with myself. Perhaps I should do some housekeeping our room is looking a little crazy.
...
Well I didn't get much done, mum was returned safe and sound 40 minutes later. She is awake and smiling from ear to ear. She said they only took two minutes to find the right spot and inject the cells. When the doctor started pulling her shirt down she panicked and said 'what's wrong' but he said 'all finshed'. She didn't feel a thing- a very different experience from her lumbar puncture in Australia! Poor thing is laid up now flat on her back and I was so excited to tell her I found a DVD that would play for her to pass the time- Charlie's Angels but it's in bloody Chinese with Korean subtitles! Oh well we wait with bated breath for tomorrow.........

Week 2 - Monday and Tuesday

This morning while mum was receiving therapy, I went to the RT Mart to buy DVDs and camera still no DVDs to be found but I managed to find a camera for $120 so I said I wanted to buy the camera and she told me 'no, none'. Through very broken Chinese and a little help from my phrase book I worked out there were more coming today and she told me in English 'just minute' so I wait and wait and wait. She looks at me funny and I ask 'when?' she rambles in Chinese and I pull out my book to the days of the week and she points to Monday so I ask 'oh delivery today?' She nods. I say 'what time?' and she tells me '4 o 'clock'. Lucky I have learnt some Chinese and had my book with me or I would have waited all day for 'just a minute' haha... so I walk the forty minutes home with nothing but some large blisters. I got back and mum said 'Hey! Where's my lunch? I didn't order lunch because I thought you were bringing me something yummy home!'

So we went to the Lottemart food court for dumplings and a stir fry thing with all the pickled vege and gim chee trimmings. It was very yummy and everyone thought we were very funny trying to order in Chinese. After you order you take your ticket over to central food court cash register area, pay then come back with ticket and wait- didn't take long. I walked off to get mum a drink and it was on the table with her when I returned. When we went to leave we saw the cheap cameras for sale in the food court! So we finally got a camera for $100 and paid extra $20 for a 2GB card and it saves me from walking all the way back to RT Mart tomorrow. So we can now post some photos!

Out the front of the hospital there are street vendors selling lunch but we just haven't been that adventurous yet! It is a strange melting pot of East meets West. We are very excited about mum's first lumbar puncture delivery of stem cells tomorrow. They joke here that it is like taking the lift straight to the penthouse to fix the myelin where it's needed rather than taking the stairs and stopping on each floor.

 

Downtown Qingdao Sunday...

This morning we told the nurses we wanted to venture out to the city and they laughed at us.  They said today is not a good day to leave the hospital.  Apparently today is very auspicious and there are many weddings on.  They explained that it would be very hard to get a taxi because they dont like to take tourists and there would be too much traffic because of all the weddings.  All the fireworks we have been hearing for the last few days were nothing compared to today and they explained the fireworks were for the weddings.  Many, many weddings!  We decided to take a cab downtown anyway and it took about an hour.  We went with Kev and Pete from the UK.  It did take awhile for us to find a driver that would take us and we negotiated the price...100 RMB (about $16).

Well, it was a wild and crazy drive there with no traffic signs, lights or obvious rules, infact our driver spent most of the time driving on the white line rather than in a lane.  There is no indicating, just honk the horn and go for it.  We nearly  drove into the side of a bus or tram a few times.  The route there was thru the shipping port and there was construction everywhere, mostly just piles of rubble to be seen.  We arrived at the outdoor markets, but every store was selling the same thing...stone statues and coffee tables.  We found our way into the indoor markets and thru a maze of shanty stalls.  My broken Chinese for "I want to buy a dvd, where are they?" was met with many laughs and "No dvd here" and my Chinese for "Where is the toilet?" was also met with giggles and "No toilet nearby".  Eventually we did find a toilet and had to pay 2 RMB each to use it (an experience!) but we were not so lucky with the elusive dvds.  We wandered the markets buying a few gifts to bring home and even haggled with the calculator.  We enjoyed a very interesting lunch and custard tarts for dessert.  We still attracted a lot of attention but mostly because of Mums blonde hair and Kevs cane.  The taxi ride home was much more scenic and a lot cheaper at 66RMB, which explains why all the other taxi drivers in the line laughed at us this morning when we agreed to pay 100.  We all thought that the trip was easier with the 4 of us, so we may venture out together regularly.

In the afternoon we went over the road to Lottemart to buy a camera but at over $200 for a 3 megapixel camera we decided to give it a miss.  We are hoping to get our hands on one soon to start posting some pics with our blogs.  We walked around the Lottemart and Mums legs held out really well even after a morning at the markets.  Things are looking good.  We were told today about a little blind girl that left a few days before we arrived...she had 6 IV injections of stem cells and left here being able to read the 5th line down on the eye chart!!  So much hope here!  We are quite tired now and glad to be starting therapy again tomorrow.

 

Hospital photos

Here are some photos from the hospital...

 

Odette's First Trip Out

My first trip out of the hospital today was rather eventful even if it only entailed crossing the road. The traffic is all on the opposite side of the road and drivers honk and speed up to get you moving faster. The relief making it across one road, was funny. The shopping centre was huge- the choices are endless and mostly written in Chinese. We made a few purchases including our 3 cent dumplings which tasted great! Everything is so cheap, but unfortunately my test results have come back and my cholesterol level is high. Laurinda has now taken the role Food Nazi and watches every morsel I eat. Oh no! She wouldn't let me buy the yummy sweets and fried omelettes. We returned and needed a rest but I am extremely happy at how my legs are performing.

So we are now feeling quite organised and stocked up on toilet paper that has no hole in the middle, strange drinks that we are not sure of until we taste them, some fresh fruit and greens and some frozen dumplings for when we feel ready to brave the communal kitchen. It is too easy to order in- the food is mostly great and so cheap. The laundry was collected this morning and returned freshly clean in two days. Our room is cleaned daily and we are quickly becoming bums forgetting what housework is and enjoying much resting and reading time.

Everyday we hear a huge firework show and we have an enormous view from our window, but still have no idea where or why the crackers go off. The cops can be seen in their little golf buggy with flashing lights on the roof patrolling the car park. There is no TV in English so our view provides a lot of entertainment. At night the neon lights of the shopping centre change colours and it is all quite spectacular. So far from home but we feel so comfortable and welcome here despite the stares and giggles from the natives.

We are planning a sight-seeing adventure tomorrow (Sunday) and on Monday all my therapies commence for the week. Next magic potion by lumbar puncture on Wednesday. Yippee! Loving it here and my sweet (Nazi) daughter for being so conscientious and looking out for me.

- Love from Odette

Therapy begins

It was lovely to sleep with the extra padding last night. Mum had her first PT session this morning with Owen and she feels great. She did stuff she didn't know she could even do. She stood on a balance board throwing and catching balls, walked with weights on her ankles and climbed a huge step 25 times! She received a lovely foot and leg massage too.

Then the Doctors visited again to explain test results. Blood pressure too high, cholesterol too high and optic nerve damage in left eye (mum wants me to write 'nothing too serious' here) but I have now become the smoking/eating police and she's not impressed.

Next was acupuncture where mum lay around for half an hour with needles sticking or her hands, legs and feet. Then the wait.......

3.00pm.....time for her first stem cell injection. Mum says 'let the miracle begin!' She was feeling very emotional at the start after months of planning and hoping, here she was receiving her precious cells. I taped some of the special event but mum was crying too many tears of joy to talk. Mum says she 'feels great, not superwoman yet, but on her way'. She has been resting this evening so she can venture out with me tomorrow. There is no therapy on weekends so we are hoping to do a spot of sight seeing.