 All packed. Our flight is Dec 22, 2012 at 9:30 pm. After a 12 1/2 hour flight we will arrive in LA at 6 pm on Dec. 22, 2012. :)  Rosalie and her mom. They are from Canada. They've already had improvements from the stem cell treatments.  It takes an hour to travel to the airport. Here we are at the Guangzhou airport with Rita. One last goodbye photo. She just loved Ryan's tiger sweatshirt. Every time she saw it she would laugh.  Syd and Lance picked us up at the Salt Lake City airport. Marc flew in from Atlanta about 30 minutes after we landed. We'll visit family in Utah for Christmas. |  One last chicken nugget meal from McDonalds before we go to the airport.  They put signs on all the doors of the people who have traveled to China to get stem cell treatment. This is Rosalie's name tag.  The Guangzhou (Baiyun) International airport is HUGE! It had 4 levels and TALL palm trees growing inside the airport terminal.  Back together again! Yay! |
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Ryan, hasn't had a change in his eyes but they say we should be patient and have them checked in three months. There is an 8 year old blind girl from Canada that started treatment last week that is seeing more light and now can see shadows. They put a Christmas tree up in the common room and she is fascinated with the Christmas lights. She can see them, which she couldn't do before. She is also holding her head up by herself, before she always had her chin to her chest because there was no reason to hold it up. Amazing! I've met three families so far with children who have cerebral palsy. There is a 3 year old boy from Greece that started treatments two weeks ago. His mother says since the treatments he has said 3 new words in one day. He also can grasp a lollipop, put it in his mouth and take it out again. She said he had never done any of those things before. There is another mom from the UK that brought her 2 year old son, George, for the second time this year for treatment. She said that his physical therapists said there was definite improvement since they came last January, so they came again for more treatments. The third family was from South Africa. They brought their 17 year old daughter. They said they had tried everything, along with hyperbaric oxygen treatment.
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Ryan has had the lumbar, he said it was painful. They took him to the operation room in his bed and then brought him back about 30-45 min later. He was really annoyed that they took down the IV but he had to keep the needle in his had until just a little bit ago. He said he wants to be put out for the next one, but I think he was a trooper and that it will be better for not having general anesthesia complaints. I'm sure it was painful though. I asked him if he'd rather have a short amount of pain or a long amount of feeling sick/nausea from coming out of the anesthesia afterwards. Ryan dictated the following to me: Dec 12, 2012 I had my 4th and 5th stem cell treatments today. First I had an IV and then I had a lumbar puncture stem cell treatment. After the lumbar one I have to stay lying down for 6 hours and I can't have a pillow or raise up my head. I had to keep the needle in my hand for a few hours and I didn't like that. I just asked the nurses if I could get it out and they took it out. I just want to get up and walk. I just finished listening to Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer on audio book. Right now I have 2 1/2 hours more of lying in bed. They took me for the lumbar treatment to the operating room near where I had the retro bulbar eye injection. I got on a gurney and they made me roll on my side and curl up. It hurt. I didn't like it at all. They told me to hold still and I couldn't, it was painful. At first there was pain and then later I felt them putting something in my back and there wasn't pain. Then they said, "Finished," and took me back to my bed. It's fun to ride on an elevator in your bed. My mom had to feed me my lunch in bed. I ordered McDonalds chicken nuggets. They only come with sweet and sour sauce in China. I had the choice to have the lumbar with a local (just in the back) or a general anesthetic (completely asleep). I wish I had done general.    2 1/2 more hours of laying down to go.  You can click on the pictures to view the larger version.
Ryan had another stem cell IV today--the second one. He gets a headache halfway through the IV, which is interesting. Maybe the stem cells are going to the brain. :) He also had the retro bulbar injection today in his left eye only--they will do the right eye Dec 17. They took him to the operating room and he said they put some sort of paste under his eye then they pulled down his lower eyelid and used a big long needle they pushed under his eye to do the injection. No pain killer. He sure was a brave fellow. I waited for him outside the operating room until they opened the big door and brought him back out. Ryan was so funny--he said he's always wanted to ride in a wheelchair and on a gurney. Today he did both. His eye aches, but is feeling better as the day goes on. He is supposed to wear sunglasses if he goes outdoors. We have been talking with Peter, one of the coordinators, about going to China's largest wild animal safari tomorrow for a tour. He said we can even eat in a restaurant there with white tigers on the other side of the glass wall. That will be a cool thing to do for Ryan's birthday (December 8th--he'll be 13). Peter also said that Rita will probably order us a cake. They do it complimentary for patients if they have a birthday while they are here.  2nd stem cell IV treatment today Dec 7, 2012.  One hand has an IV but Ryan can still play games on the iPad one handed. :)  Dec 6 - They put small gauze pads with "Chinese medicine" on his eyes before they put on the eye mask, and they also attach a moist pad to his wrist with a clamp that is connected to the mask. Then they turn it on and adjust the voltage.  Dec 6 - Ryan has eye therapy most every day except Sunday and when he gets the retro bulbar injections. It's an electrical stimulation around the eye area. Ryan said it just feels warm.  They bring Ryan this small thermos of "Chinese medicine" to drink every day.  The "Chinese medicine" is like a really hot herbal tea. We pour it in another cup to cool and Ryan alternates sips of it with sips of another "good tasting" drink to wash it down.
 Smiling for the camera. Only the needle hurt in the hand. Otherwise it only took about 20-30 minutes. Ryan will have 8 treatments during our stay in Guangzhou. 4- IV, 2- lumbar (spinal), 2 retro bulbar (behind the eye).  Needle in the top of the hand for the IV.  They had a large saline IV and then a small packet of stem cells they put with it.  They monitored Ryan during the treatment.  We went on a walk during the afternoon.  Looking out at the barges on the water.  Back at the entrance to the hospital.  The hospital entrance. Look how tall Ryan is. He'll be 13 on December 8.
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