You can click on the pictures to view the larger version.  They have this sign in the hallway near our room about a girl who has optic nerve hypoplasia and had stem cell treatment. Dec. 14
 Trying to get a close-up of the "Better English, Better Future" banner but it was blurry. They had a trivia contest and were asking all the questions in English. The girls wear green and the boys wear blue. Dec. 14
 They had some sort of military music playing and all the students were doing the same movements at the same time. Dec. 14
 We went on another sightseeing trip to a nearby historical center. They had a shallow koi pond. Ryan really wanted to catch one in his hands. Dec. 15
 Dec. 15
 A rickshaw. Dec. 15
 Why they made walls with oyster shells. Dec. 15
 The girls from the high school near the hospital that were there thought Ryan was amazing. We were stared at wherever we went. Dec. 15
 The girls followed him around, giggling, pointing, and eventually asking to have photos taken with him. Dec. 15
|  We can look out our balcony and see students playing basketball at the high school next to the hospital. Dec. 14
 They had some sort of "English Day" yesterday. The banner that caught my attention said, "Better English, Better Future." Dec. 14
 They had a loud speaker that was playing popular songs we would hear on the radio in America. They also had kids come up and sing karaoke songs in English. Some were pretty good singers. Dec. 14
 After they were done they all got into groups and marched off. Dec. 14
 Kids' playground with logs held up with swinging ropes. Can't imagine a playground this "dangerous" in the United States, can you? :) Dec. 15
 Wall made of oyster shells. Dec. 15
 Oyster shell wall. Dec. 15
 They all wanted to get their picture taken with him. They loved his blond hair. Some even wanted me in the picture too. :) Dec. 15
 There were about 9 girls here. I heard one of them say in English, "Handsome boy!" :) Dec. 15
 Before we left, Ryan got some cotton candy. Dec. 15
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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.  We went to the Xiangjiang Safari Park in Guangzhou for Ryan's birthday today. It's like a zoo that also has a safari section.
 Rita, one of our patient coordinators, ordered Ryan a complimentary cake for his birthday. It was waiting for us when we got back from the Xiangjiang Safari Park in Guangzhou.
 Ryan REALLY wanted to ride an elephant. He had a great time.
 A cute baby orangutan.
 Chinese to English translation isn't exact. Are they telling us to "carefully slip" instead of "Be careful--slippery"? :)
 The elephant exhibit
 A funny koala bench.
 They had a "Safari on Wheels" in the park. The train "engine" had a Mercedes logo on the front. :)
 Panda
|  13 candles! Ryan picked out the new hoodie at the Safari Park. He really liked the tigers there.
 Just a few gifts that we packed. He picked out the Halo action figure set at the LAX airport while we were waiting for our flight to China. He's had to wait until now to open it. :)
 The elephant would squirt water in the air and get a banana for it. They hid the bananas under Ryan's seat.
 Ryan thought this was a pretty funny statue.
 White tigers. Every 30 minutes they would do the "White Tiger Show." They would send out raw chicken for them on a wire and they would leap out to grab it and fall into the water. It was amazing!
 Meerkats
 Ryan had a hotdog on a stick for lunch and a Sprite.
 A baby elephant.
 This statue was at the exit of the Zoo.
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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.
Ryan slept all through the night from his nap yesterday. The first day here the weather was very overcast and rainy.
His doctor saw him today--it's a lady. Dr. Liu (Lou). They want to do more vision evaluations tomorrow.
They'd like to do an MRI but his braces are putting a stop to that, they'll probably do a CT or something else instead.
They've done a massage on his head today (while he was laying on his bed) and they played really soothing music. I wanted to lay down and sleep too.
Each nurse has chosen an American name. The nurse that gave him the massage is "Alice." One of them is "Apple." They are super nice (also young).
We have 10 rolls of toilet paper! Yay! So far so good. We just met another stem cell patient in the common room. They are from Brazil. The dad has a something spinal cord issue and they're going home tonight. They've been here 30 days. His son is with him. They are originally from Lebanon. He said he moved to Miami when he was 8. He knows 4 languages and he was very encouraging and had some good advice.
He told us not to leave things in the community fridge, but just to use our room fridge.  Ryan had some massage therapy on his head earlier today from nurse Alice. She played soothing music the whole time (it made me want to lay down and take a nap). He really enjoyed it. He said he couldn't even think anything while they were doing it. :) His brain must be going all the time. Dec. 2, 2012
Audrey and Ryan made it safely to China yesterday and got to the hospital alright. When I talked to them, it was 2:30pm there and, boy, were they tired! They said the flight went a lot better than they would have thought and they slept most of the way.
Ryan's treatments will begin tomorrow (which is Monday in China). Don't forget to join us in fasting and prayer for Ryan tomorrow if you would like to participate. We have all got our fingers crossed.
I asked Ryan if he had seen anything really cool and Chinese yet, and he said, Well, a lot of Chinese people. That's about it.  Audrey said, "In our information packet they told us we'd only get a couple of rolls of toilet paper and then we'd have to buy the rest at the store, but they gave us 10 rolls. May seem funny, but it sure made me happy that I wouldn't have to worry about it."
 It's 4:30 pm in China but it's past 1 am in the US for Ryan. He's crashed.
Audrey and Ryan are in Los Angeles waiting for their flight to China. We are excited and a little anxious for the trip.
How do we ever say thank you enough to all of you who have made this opportunity possible. We are so grateful.
 We were able to spend Thanksgiving with family in Utah for the first time in the ten years since we moved away. We missed Syd and Lance, though. They spent Thanksgiving with Lance's family at Disneyland. We were able to see them last night. While they were gone we took care of their dog Atlas. Ryan had a good time taking him for a walk (or was it Atlas taking him for a walk?). That dog is strong! We now know firsthand why they use Huskies to pull sleds.
We leave tomorrow to go to China. Our flight goes from Salt Lake City to LA. Then we will fly from LA to Guangzhou. Even though we leave November 29, we will land in China on December 1st. There will be a van there waiting to take us to the hospital. Ryan and I will be staying there in the same room the whole time--from Dec 1-22. We have to provide our own food. They have a common area in the hospital with a microwave and hotplate so we are taking a suitcase of things that can be easily prepared in a microwave or just eaten without worrying about cooking.
 Ryan Crozier and his mom are going to China for stem cell therapy Dec 1-22. On Sunday, Dec. 2, his family will be fasting for him to have success with the stem cell treatments. We invite you to join with us.
We will keep you updated on our China trip on our blog at www.HelpRyanSee.com
Thanks everyone for all your help and encouragement! This is a dream come true!Would you like to know more about Fasting? Fasting is to voluntarily refrain from eating or drinking for the purpose of drawing closer to the Lord and requesting his blessings. Prayer is a necessary part of fasting. Throughout the scriptures, prayer and fasting are mentioned together. Our fasting should be accompanied by sincere prayer, and we should begin and end our fasting with prayer.
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints today, one Sabbath day each month is set aside for the purpose of fasting. During this time, Church members go without food and water for twenty-four hours. They then contribute to the Church the money that they would have spent on food for those meals. This money is called a fast offering. The Church uses the fast offerings to assist the poor and needy. To help children understand fasting and prayer there is a story you can read them HERE. Fasting is mentioned many times in the scriptures listed below:
- We fasted and besought our God, Ezra 8:21–23, 31
- I fasted and prayed before the God of heaven, Neh. 1:4
- Fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink for three days, Esth. 4:16
- I humbled my soul with fasting, Ps. 35:13
- Is not this the fast that I have chosen?, Isa. 58:3–12
- I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer, with fasting, Dan. 9:3
- Turn ye to me with all your heart, and with fasting, Joel 2:12
- Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, Jonah 3:5
- Jesus fasted for forty days, Matt. 4:2 (Ex. 34:28; 1 Kgs. 19:8; Luke 4:1–2).
- Appear not unto men to fast, Matt. 6:18 (3 Ne. 13:16).
- This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting, Matt. 17:21
- Continue in fasting and praying, Omni 1:26 (4 Ne. 1:12).
- They began to fast, and to pray to the Lord their God, Mosiah 27:22
- I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things, Alma 5:46
- The children of God joined in fasting and mighty prayer, Alma 6:6
- The sons of Mosiah had given themselves to much prayer and fasting, Alma 17:3, 9
- A time of fasting and prayer followed the death of many Nephites, Alma 28:5–6
- They did fast much and pray much, Alma 45:1 (Hel. 3:35).
- Let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, D&C 59:13–14
- Ye shall continue in prayer and fasting, D&C 88:76
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