Saturday, September 30, 2006

DAY FOURTEEN Sept. 30

The hospital staff is on an abbreviated schedule this week, and the city is emptying out for the big holiday.

Had another lousy night last night. Freezing cold shins and feet that wouldn't warm up, while upper torso sweating profusely... bizzarre. I'm supposed to explain this to the Drs., but haven't seen them in over a week. I don't know what I'd say anyway.

Every day I get the mysterious "Chinese nerve medicine" in an IV for an hour or so (picture). It says it's just a saline drip on the package, but I'm hoping something else is mixed in.

Ate lunch at McDonald's. Jillian has invited us to an upper-crust Chinese restaurant for dinner, but my wardrobe is pretty sparse. I'm still not walking well, and chop sticks with my clumsiness are out of the question: I'd starve. Or poke my eye out.

Hal leaves tomorrow morning, and when David leaves Monday, that will leave us as the only English-speakers in the ward. It will be lonely in China for us. We've watched about every DVD available in here. Deb returns next Sunday, with my iPod, which Kathy inadvertantly took to HK with her.

No Physical Therapy/acupuncture for four days, because of the Holiday. I think I'll boycott the miniature bike anyway from now on. I might just make up my own routine. No one will notice.

Another stem cell injection is scheduled around Tuesday. It's says spinal on the schedule, but I guess I'll take it whatever. I'm clearly outnumbered here.

Friday, September 29, 2006






DAY THIRTEEN Sept. 29

Had a fitful night last night. Hot/cold/sweaty/achy. Usually these hot/cold flashes are nerves regrowing. It seems to be common throughout the ward. My long-deadened toes are warming up, and had to take off my socks, because it was driving me nuts. I just hope I regain some dexterity and feeling in my fingers also. If I could play my guitar again, I'd say this was definitely worth it.

Got up and walked around the ward at 5AM, to work out some of my aches, but the night nurse chased me back to the room. Rooms are emptying out with a new crop of patients coming next week. They repaint and work on the rooms between patients.

Next week is the National Holiday, and they have strung lights across the streets like Christmas. Sally's out shopping again, this time with Norma, David's (spinal cord) nurse.

Well, Sally's back, with some goodies. Turns out Norma's quite the bargainer, which is handy here. Took a hellacious cab ride back. Seems cabbies in every large city like to show of their bravado to the tourists. They give you a nasty look if you try to use a seat belt.

Hal described the traffic here as a ballet. Streets are wide and impeccably groomed and maintained, but they're used for thousands of buses, cabs, private autos (always metallic colors or black, ) bicycles, or hand-pulled carts. Everyone seems to go the same speed, lots of honking. but no road rage or impatience - just to let you know you're seen. Lane changes aren't signalled, just done; frequenty. Pedestrians DON'T have the right of way, but will stop traffic if they have to. Haven't heard any accidents, or squeaking tires, although that does happen. 'Stale' green traffic lights blink a few times before turning red. What a great idea! The buses seem to be color-coded, and there are lots of ladies strolling with equally colorful parasols.

No rain here in the two weeks since we arrived. Very unusual, but just like home.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

DAY TWELVE Sept. 28
Not feeling so good today. Worked too hard yesterday and my bones ache. That exersize bike was made for much smaller people. Kathy will be leaving in a few hours. I'm glad she came along to give Sally some company.

A new Parknson's patient arrived today.

It is a national holiday next week, so some of the staff will be gone. I'm scheduled for more stem cells Wednesday, but they haven't been right yet. Our host Jon, who's an American, is nowhere to be seen. Says he's actually in the States, for another few weeks, so we'll miss him altogether. Communication is therefore spotty, and It took some talking to get out of part of Physical therapy. One person promised me a massage for my sore back, but managed to get some heat pads anyway. Dr. Zaid, who left today, suggested my blood pressure might be too low, causing fatigue and worse balance than normal. He said to tell the nurses to take a standing blood pressure, and then a prone one five minutes later. Impossible to get across. Zaid was walking much better, BTW. I guess I just go with the flow, just like an American hospital.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006





DAY ELEVEN Sept 27

Woke up early today, with a very slight headache. Hurts when I cough. I keep stretching- I must be an inch taller by now. Deb and Zaid are supposed to get theirs today. Deb is pretty nervous after what I went through.

The internet here is seroiusly congested during the day. 30 Mil bloggers here. I can usually get my email, though, but sometimes can't read my own blog.

Things that are hard to get here- paper goods, like napkins and paper towels. Forks, any clothing not petite or small sizes, cereal, shower curtains.

Electricity is OK. 220V/50HZ like most of the world. The outlets are universal - combinations of a lot of plug patterns. Most modern electronics have no trouble with 220. Cell phones, computers.. but your hair dryer will fry and die.

1 1/2 billion people here, but 10% are Christian. Most are Bhuddist. This isn't your Father's Communism. Enrepreneurship is encouraged, religion isn't persecuted, people own property.
Civil servants are still surly. It's just a one-party system, like Republicans, only more benevolent and progressive. They provide and subsidize basic needs, but tend to stay in the background. (That'll put me under surveillance.) I think they'll be in for a major economic downturn and environmental problems, but it may be awhile.

Everything is smaller here, like Europe. Everyone seems to have a cell phone. Popular ringtones are traditional Christmas carols! KFC is a little spicier, like Cajun, but the pizza is like home. Portions of Western food are tiny, while rice or noodle dishes are huge. Plenty of fruits. Bananas are popular.

Still, there are disgusting habits, like spitting (which will get you a stiff fine in Hong Kong, but not Shenzhen.) Sally saw a mother expressing unused milk from her breast in plain sight; toddlers doing their business through slit pants on the sidewalk. No bad smells, though. They keep the streets and gardens spotless.

We haven't seen any cats, and only a few dogs. Maybe because they'll run out the windows of some high-rise. Maybe they're mystery meat. Not many wristwatches (but they'll try to sell you a knock-off Rolex) Maybe they get the time from their ubiquitous phones.

The girls are out shopping, due to their truncated trip becaue of my injection yesterday. Kathy, Jennifer and Deb are all leaving tomorrow, so Sally will have to go it alone for awhile. Deb's going to Vietnam for some orphanage, but will be back in a week or so.

Don't worry, Kerry, I'm OK. Drinking lots and peeing all the time. I'm improving, but I think so far it's the physical therapy.

While I was on the rocker board in physio today, Dr. Shu snuck up behind me and tried in vain to trip me up. Rocking from side to side is really easy for me for some reason. "Good" he said, and patted me on the back.

Deb and Zaid have had their injections with no problems. Both are leaving tomorrow afternoon with Kathy by ferry to Hong Kong.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006






DAY TEN Sept.26
Guess where the girls are?
That's right. I do my thing, they do theirs... Really, I'm glad they're here. Kathy leaves Thursday, and so does Deb, who's going to Vietnam until Sunday, for some orphanage.

FLASH! stem cells today- a day early. It's 9PM now. What an ordeal. Evidently I'm some sort of alien, and they took a painful hour trying to locate my lumbar #1. I was within a minute of being hauled downstairs to surgery. I would've been the first. I'm still a little woozy, but the blog must go on.

I had to lie on my back, flat for six hours, to "marinate the meat." Evdiently the girls knew ahead of time, but chose not to tell me. I wish they had, as I wouldn't have drank so much water. Had to pee something awful right away, but had to hold it. That was miserable. Glad it's over though, and no trace of a headache, which I was convinced I would get.

Before all this, I was going to say I felt pretty good today. Fell asleep in acupuncture and woke up to a laughing Dr. Shu. I must've been snoring. The bike was easier and I went for an extra five minutes. Walking better, though I have to concentrate, and surprise stops and changing directions is still difficult. I believe I'm getting more feeling in my toes.

Gabi from Romania arrived for his second visit today. He was paralyzed from a fall from the neck down, was here in Feb. got good results; feeling from the neck down, trunk control, can stand with assistance. He's back for six more injections. He speaks English very well.

The Spanish Doctor (Zaid, who turns out to be Palestinian) and his family are leaving Thurs. also. He was practicing writing the other day (a Doctor practicing penmanship?). He has ataxia, like me, and is walking much more steadily, though he won't say so. He seemed to be satisfied with his writing, though.

Monday, September 25, 2006






DAY NINE Sept 25
Some pix:
Xin Tao hotel buffet
Wal-Mart
Chinese crouch toilet (common)
Luohu shopping mall
Nanshan hospital
(click to enlarge)






In answer to some questions, yes, we're (tring) to learn some Chinese, with some help from interpreters. And yes, they stare (it is not considered rude). Yes I tower over most of them...actually ALL of them. The further you get from the hospital and hotel, where there aree westerners, the more foreign you become.
The hospital is not as high-tech as USA, but more hands on. They do check on you at night but don't wake you up to give you a sleeping pill. We found out all of the patients order out for food. Lots of eateries around here. On the first floor is a couple grocery stores, and a coffee shop that provides room service.

English is taught in all the schools. And the girls constantly hear "well, hello there" or "hey missy!", and most of thre nurses (at least on this floor) speak pretty good English, or can easily find someone who does. Even the Iranians (they prerfer Persians), Romanians and Hungarians speak English. Some of the details or nuances are hard to convey, though.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

DAY EIGHT Sept. 24
Sunday, here. Day of rest. I need it. Just been staring out the window, and laying down, reading emails, and now writing. Sally, Kathy, Deb and her mom have gone to some mall somewhere. I expect them all to be gone a few hours. Deb will wear out after awhile (I think).

I remember being in the hospital at Northwest with pneumonia and thoracic surgery a few years ago...I became very homesick, just wanted to get better and go home. Tubes, wires, and a catheter hanging out of me...mean nurses, awful food...very depressing. On the other hand, this is much more comfortable (so far). I am kind of dreading the first spinal which is rough for most. Supposed to be Wednesday, but can be late or early.

It's really clear smog-wise today. Cool and dry with a good breeze. We can see the bay in the distance. China's government subsidizes coal for power production, so a lot of the smog is coal. Not enough cars to make a difference, though it may be a problem soon. It rains frequently, being tropical here, so when it does, it washes out the brown air onto the buildings. The older ther building, the browner. They're probably impeccable inside, but the older 7 & 8 story apartments look pretty run-down. A newer apartment on a 30-story highrise might cost $400 US a month. These look similar to buildings in NYC, with th's httom floors rented out as retail spaces. Speaking of rain, we have had none so far which is unusual.

For dinner, the three of us ate at Kathy's hotel, across from the hospital. It's my first time outside, and a difficult trek for me. Both girls were holding my arms, and I'm hobbling down the promenade like a stroke victim. I think I've had another "episode." I wake up one day and I'm much worse in some area than the day before. A bunch of brain cells commit pre-programmed suicide all at once. I don't remember having such a hard time at LAX last week, and covered a lot more ground. Anyway, it's got me feeling kind of down. I'm supposed to be getting better. A lot of people are pulling for me.

The hotel is pretty fancy. We ate the buffet, which is pretty extensive. I had something that could have been yak testicles, but was presented nicely and was delicious. I'm still burping the smell.

Sally needs to get on and tell you some of her adventures the past few days

Well, it's back to the grind for week two tomorrow.
Sally here. Kathy and I have ventured out every day. We are picking up a few words, are learning how to count. We went for massages last night with Deb and her mom, Jean. That was a hoot. These young men gave us back and foot massages. Deb knows just enough Chinese to get in trouble. With the help of her phrase book, she kept the dialog going. We laughed so hard, so did the boys (men? they looked very young). Everyone loved their massage, but I'm a tenderfoot, and today I have bruises! It only cost about $3.00 US for an hour and half. I don't know if I would go back soon. My feet need to recover.

Kathy and I always have an adventure when out shopping. We have managed to get our point across, but it takes time. Today we went to Lu Wo (spelling?). It's a huge 6 story shopping mall. The stores are just small stalls, and you have to bargain for everything. We weren't sure how much money to bring, but quickly ran out. So, we will be going back before Thursday, when Kathy has to leave.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

DAY SEVEN Sept 23

Sunny and drier today. The girls are out exploring again. They're finding a lot of intereting places. Hopefully, I'll get improvement enough to go outside the hospital in a few weeks. There are only about three rooms on this floor that are empty, so word is getting out around the world.

Finally took a half of a vicodin last night. I was all over the place like a tasmanian devil. The vicodin stops my twitchy shoulders, so I can sleep. Tomorrow's a day off, which I need. Sally says I've been more wobbly than usual this week. I re-took the chunk out of my knee today on the exersize bike. My legs are too long, and I hit the adjustment knob if I'm not watching.

My therapy guru is Dr. Shu, a very charismatic man about 30. He does my acupuncture, and instructs me on physio. He speaks no English, but is extremely cool. Today after he pulled out the needles and handed me my shoes, I said 'ni hao.' He looked at me and said 'ni hao?' which means hello. He then proceeded to laugh, and said something in Chinese to the effect I was being ridiculous. I said ' I meant shay-shay' (thank you.) I found out he is a favorite of other patients, also.

The girls and Deb went out for massage this evening. It sounded like quite an adventure. I'll let Sally say more in a future blog. Cousin Kathy leaves in a week. Deb will be a worthy replacement.

It seems the view from the 14th floor doesn't show all the nitty-gritty of thre actual surrondings. All the trees on the wide-tile sidewalks hide the beggars, homeless and vendors. Getting across the street is an exersize in bravado. I'll let Sally say more.

Friday, September 22, 2006

DAY SIX Sept.22
Sunnier today, though still hazy. Shenzhen's population has been revised upward to 12 million, and has been named one of the top three places to live in China. Criteria included traffic, leisure time, employment, an housijg. It seems to be a young people's town.

They hustled me downstairs this morning for a thourough cardiac sonogram. I guess they don't want the old man collapsing in physical therapy. I was about ready to yesterday. I had a bad day; was pretty tired, back hurt, and couldn't sleep.

The girls are out shopping again. I'm sure glad Kathy came along, so Sally could do something besides watching me mope around. They know their way around the area pretty good. But haven't gone in for the famous pedicure or massage yet.

My next stem cells are scheduled for Monday, but that can change. This on'e's spinal; a lot more effective, but a little scarier. Hal says they numb you first, then withdraw some spinal fluid, and then inject the cells with nerve growth factor. They have to inject an equal volume or you get an imbalance which causes bad headaches. I'm prone to headaches, anyway.

I met Deborah, the lady with Frederich's ataxia. Very attractive, lives in Hong Kong, married to an airline pilot. She is very inspiring, because she doesn't seem to let her condition slow her down, which I've certainly done. She's supposed to get an injection today.

The nurses came in in their little cadre, spotted my bag of prescription drugs and started chattering. "What for?" they asked. I explained; embarassed. I really hope to get off some of this stuff before I leave, especially the Vicodin, which helps me sleep, but also exacerbates the ataxia. I've been taking two to three of them daily for about three years; not like some people who take twenty, but I'm sure by now I've got a withdrawal problem, as evidenced by the sleep problems I've had here. I'm down to half a day, or none at all, but it's tough to lay still in acupuncture, for example.

On another subject, we haven't seen any fat Chinese people here. This is a huge country without a weight problem, despite eating a lot of carbs (rice.) The women and men are downright trim.
I'm hoping my stem cell donors have the famous Asian acrobatic balance. I sure need it.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

DAY FIVE Sept. 21

Sunny came by yesterday, and insisted on adding an air mattress to my bed to make it softer. I couldn't make her understand not to bother. I sleep on the floor at home. The hard bed is fine with me. The air mattress was also roly-poly and hard to get on, and alarmed the nurses, who thought I might fall off at night. We took it off.

Finally got a visit from Dr. Yang, the head neuologist this morning. He gave me a pretty thourogh exam, but I'm so worn out from over-doing it in physical therapy, I can hardly stand today. I looked pathetic. Had my throat, acupuncture, and massage therapy, but have to go back to physio in a half hour. Yuck.

Brought my iPod to acupuncture, and got many admiring looks. It's nice to hear familiar tunes.

I chopped a chuink out of my knee yesterday on the stationary bike. It was no big thing, but everyone insisted on taking care of it to avoid infection. It seem so nice that all the staff takes such good care of you and looks out for you. I get blood pressure and temp checked 3x a day. Only temp is taken in the armpit, with a thermometer.

A nice lady from Canada came in today , with her thirty something daughter with Frederich's ataxia, SCA 1. We showed her around. A couple of families from Iran are here. Shahab, from Pakistan, left with his two kids yesterday. Mauricio and his wife are here from Italy with their son. This whole ward is a lot international families, desparately seeking hope for their loved ones.

Pretty hot and humid today, also, but each room has individual A/C contols, so we keep it pretty nice in there. Watched movies last night, but these pirated DVDs are low quality, and the remote is in Chinese. All of the English subtitles make no sense at all.

Many people are wearing dust masks today, the air outside smells of chemicals. Shen Zhen is an industrial city, so maybe there was some sort of spill.

At night, couldn't relax, so I went out on the smoking balcony and admired the scenery. Cool breeze. This city goes on forever, with these high-rises. Lots of activity, traffic, nightlifr.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006


DAY FOUR Sept. 20
Hot and humid today, but Camillia has taken the girls shopping anyway. I had kind of a rough night, arms and legs twitching akimbo; heart racing. Didn't sleep too well. Feel better today, though I had a hard workout in the gym. There's a couple of folks here from Nat'l Geo, doing a story. They interviewed Hal, now they're checking out David. David's massive power wheelchair broke down in front of my next machine, so they sent me home.

The Nar'l Geo people visited Beike (pronounced ba-KAA) the biotech company producing these stem cells, and were blown away by high-tech methods and know-how on their part. This is just a floor in a hospital; they are the brains. This program is bringing some major bucks to this hospital, though.

The girls returned from shopping with 3 pairs of shoes and a shirt, $10. That's about the same as a couple double cheeseburgers, fries and a small coke at Mc Donald's here.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006


DAY THREE Sept 19
Busy day. Went down to throat (speech and swallowing) therapy at 9. It is a TENS unit with a elastic collar, essentially. 30 mins of that. Then 30 mins of acupuncture, which was more tolerable today, then massage for 1/2 hr. Then into the physical therapy gym for a workout on balance machines.

Then had some Chinese pizza for lunch, like sweet and sour calzone. Had a Coke to drink. Tastes exactly like it should, in the familiar can colors, in Chinese, and with the old style removable tab-top that I haven't seen in years.

Dr.Liang says stem cells at 4 or 5 PM today. Hal the paraplegic weeled into my room excitedly and said he had a breakthrough, grabbed my cane (or baston as he called it, ) got out of his wheelchair and hobbled across the room. He said he had been shopping when he got a hot flash, and his legs started buzzing. Something had reconnected.

Fast foward....It's now 6PM. I got stem cells, but It was through IV, and not spinal. I guess there was a miscommunication. We heard a lot of kids crying on the floor, when they usually sedate them to administer spinally, so I guess the whole floor was IV this week. Hal says you want as many spinals as possible-he bought a couple extra. The spinals have much better neural effectiveness, on account of the blood-brain barrier which only allows a small percentage of IV stem cells enter the neural system. On the other hand, the ones that DO get through can go deeper, and a blood IV can fix other things that ail you, like bad eyesight (see DAVID'S blog: http://www.stemcellschina.com/blogs/David. He was in Physical Therapy with me today, complete with a cheering section. He's quite a guy.

Camillia (her English moniker) who schedules us, is quite a talker. She's only 23, Kelsey's age, and speaks pretty good English. Says she wants to go shopping with Sally and Kathy. She'll make sure they get a good deal. She said Shen Zhen is essentially 20 years old. 10 million people have settled here since then. Yow.

There's a phyisician from Spain here, being treated for ataxia. we had a long talk last night. It's funny to see him, because he's almost exactly as far along with the disease as me. He's skeptical, but his wife, who's also a Dr., sees changes. He said he had to give up his practice because he could no longer write! Been there. He had been to a big hospital in Miami that didn't know what ataxia was, but it would cost $30,000 for a five day "treatment." His wife said screw that, and here they are.

Monday, September 18, 2006


DAY TWO - Sept. 18
Woke up about 6 AM. Nurses came in shortly thereafter and took blood and my temperature. Supposed to get an MRI today, a sonogram, and start physical therapy. First stem cells may come Wed.
Forgot to mention that I saw Dr. Perlman, the MJD spaecialist, at UCLA while in LA before we left. She spent two hours with me, and was enormously optimistic and helpful. She follows all the China blogs. She thinks that the intense physical therapy here could account for some of the improvements, and that the stem cells should benefit in the longer run. She gave me a thorough exam, and videotaped me. She wants to see me again when I return and again at 6 mos. and a then year. We should get some hard quantitative data.
I fell for the first time in months this morning, trying to get out of a rolling chair on this hard floor. Broke the chair, but I'm fine. I tried very hard to remain uninjured before this visit, as I didn't want to miss it.
Sure enough, I had my MRI and sonogram today. The hospital is a zoo, with lots of folks waiting for tests. This place is huge, and the comparitively quiet stem cell floor is an anomaly. I think I'm the only one with a moustache in the whole city.
I also started a regimen of acupuncture, throat therapy and massage. Of course I liked massage, but I have problems with acupuncture. I can't sit still for an hour with needles stuck in me.
Stem cells start tomorrow afternoon! The first one will be spinal. Not too excited. They delivered my MRI, and my cerebellum has certainly shrunk since the last MRI in 1996. Not unexpected...
I am not supposed to eat or drink anything after Noon tomorrow, and the stem cells should arrive after 3. I've got to lie flat for six hours after injection. Fun. Depending on how I feel, I may skip tomorrow's blog, or have Sally do it.
DAY ONE
Got into Hong Kong at 5 AM. Our plane was a half hour early and we couldn't find the person that was supposed to be waiting for us. So, we just sat down and waited. We finally found him, and were on our way to the hospital. He didn't speak any English, but was very efficient and got us out of Hong Kong with no trouble.
We got to the hospital just after 7AM and had to wait a half hour or so to check in. Sunny checked us in, while Jillian explained to us what would happen that day. My cousin Kathy is with us, so Jillian took Sally and Kathy across the street to get Kathy checked in to a hotel. The hotel is very nice. She then took them to the bank to convert money. We kind of hung around in the common room for a while, met a few of the other patients, then went down to the restaurant in the hospital lobby for lunch. The music was playing American pop sung by others, for instance, there was a lot of Eagles tune, but not sung by the Eagles. The menu had items listed in Chinese and English, so it was pretty easy to order. We did not order the Roasted German Pig Knuckles! We had club sandwiches, and Kathy had fried rice (huge portion), but couldn't get any sweet and sour sauce.
We ate and then came back to the commmon room. It is a room with computers, microwave, fridge, tv, with lost of books, magazine, and DVD's to watch. There are several Americans here, and families from Pakistan Germany and Italy. We met Hal first, he is from the south. He's been here almost 2 months and has had great improvement. He has a spinal cord injury. He keeps telling us we are in for a great surprise. He is very optimistic. He looks much younger than his 47 years.
We were pretty tired and smelly, but managed to stay up till about 10PM. Slept pretty good, but the beds are very hard. Sleep number 100. That's fine for me, but Sally likes a much softer mattress. She may be spending some nights in Kathy's room.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Thanks to hundreds of emails of good wishes. I'm choked up! Two days until we leave now, and I'm starting to get a little nervous; not about Chna yet, although I'm sure that will come, but the 14-hour plane ride. I can't sit still for too long, and I choke on water at least once a day, (it sounds and looks worse than it is), and I need to pee a couple times a hour. I'll bet the other passengers will wish to sit next to a crying baby rather than have me on their flight!

Friday, September 08, 2006

One week to go until we leave for China. I've been busy videotping examples of my problems, for a before and after video. I expect only a 10-15% improvement, although some folks with similar diseasess have reported a 10-year regression in symptoms.

Some background: I am a male, 54 years old, from Tucson, AZ USA. I was diagnosed in 1998, although I have had real problems with balance and equallibrium since about 1990. I was uncoordinated so much as a child, my Mom made me take ballet lessons at age 7! I am a former artist and musician, but had to give up painting in 1995, and the guitar, bass, banjo & mandolin about a year ago. I really don't miss the art, which still is my profession (See: Novaspace)
But I really do miss the music, which I did profesionally many years ago.

I have SCA-3 (spino-cerebellar ataxia type 3) also known as Machado-Joseph Disease, or MJD.
It affects balance, as mentioned, and motor functions, along with a host of other neurological symptoms, like swallowing problems, cramps, numbness in extremities, tremors, slurred speech, etc. It is eventually fatal.

They have located the offending gene (SCA3 is hereditary), and are close to a cure, but even a cure wouldn't regress damage done. With the stem cells, I hope to buy some time and some relief from the symptoms.

Specifically, I hope to regain enough balance to function, and regain some feeling in my hands and feet. Swallowing and speech improvements would be nice also.

I'll have four injections in four weeks. Two through spinal fluid, two through IV. I am guaranteed 10 million stem cells per injection. The stem cells are umbilical, from donated cord blood, (which is actually legal in the USA, under the present Presidential morality.)

The treatment cost only $13K , since I made the reservation in April. Prices increased in May, but are still far less than the procedure would cost here, if they were even close to clinical therapy. They have been doing stem cell treatments in China for five years, mostly on Chinese citizens, but in recent years, people of many nationalities have come for help.