Update 2/3/08

Hi,
Ben had been planning an outing for the past week. He had gotten a list of all the patients and family members who were interested in going. He got Tony to hire two vans with drivers to take us to the antique market, a temple and the strange slope. Nicole and I were going to join them at 9:00 this morning. Derek was still on bed rest with more Ivs to be given today. When we were about to leave the room, Sid, a representative that was sent by Beike, came to our room to ask about our concerns that we were having about Derek’s Ivs, his wound not healing well and about not getting any therapy while the Chinese New Year celebration was going on. At the same time, the doctor came in to look at Derek’s incision and took out a few of his stitches. The rest of the group was patient while we took care of these issues. There were three patients in wheelchairs, one Chinese caregiver, three family members, and Tony. We were set to leave when Kirshner and Alf from Beike arrived and decided to go with us. Kirshner lives in the United States and Alf is from the United States but now lives in China. He is the camera man and translator for Kirshner while she is here.
We went to the antique market first. It was like our flea markets at home. Your barter with the salesperson. Once you bought one item, other salespeople would swarm you with similar items. We spent quite a while here and everyone bought a lot of interesting items.
Our next stop was the temple. Tony told us the history of this particular temple. We watched the ceremony that they do to pray. The monks live at the temple. Tony took Nicole and I upstairs to another temple where we paid 10 Chinese dollars for Nicole to find out her fate. You meditate about what ever you want then shake a canister of sticks until one falls out. The monk reads the number on the stick and then you pick a corresponding numbered paper off a wall. You then go downstairs out of this temple into another building where they interpret your paper and your fate. They told Nicole that Derek needs to heal naturally. Be patient; he needs time.
After leaving the temple, everyone was getting hungry. They drove us to a Chinese restaurant where we all got to experience a traditional Chinese meal. We all sat around a round table in a separate room with a large lazy Susan in the middle. They kept bringing us different dishes. We ate with chop sticks and you just keep turning the middle and picking what you want to eat. It was a lot of fun and a great experience.
After lunch, the group was going to the strange slope, which is a magnetic hill. Nicole and I along with Gregg, his mom and his caregiver decided to go back to the hospital instead. It was the middle of the afternoon already and we decided we should get back and check on Derek. We brought everyone’s purchases back with us. We found Lucy holding Derek’s leg down while he was getting an IV in his foot.
When the others got back to the hospital, Kirshner and Sid came in to check on Derek. Kirshner tried to find a useable vein in Derek’s arm for the nurses to try tomorrow. He has two more days of antibiotics and nerve growth Ivs. She also looked at his wound and got the doctor to come in to clean the wound and change the dressing. She told the doctor that he was to take the bandage off twice a day and we were to dry it with a hairdryer. I didn’t bring one because I had no room for it, so Nicole and I are going to Wal Mart to buy one. Sid also worked it out with the therapists so that Derek will get physical therapy twice a day while the New Year celebration is going on other than on the 6th which is the first day.
Love, Derek, Nicole and Kathy