Hello everyone,
It is so great to be back home. We are getting back into the old routine again. Derek has been having a lot of evaluations again to get services started again. Thank you to Jill Glover for coming over Friday to start working with Derek cognitively again. She is having Derek try to remember as much as he can about the month in China and then he will write a report about it. Hopefully when he gets it done, we will be able to post it on the blog so that you can all read about what he remembers.
We did find out what the white mass on the MRI was. When they implanted Derek's bone marrow stem cells at the time of the surgery, they put them in a glue like substance to adhere them to the spinal cord. The purpose of this is to give them a better chance to be absorbed directly into the spinal cord instead of just be flushed through his system.
Derek has not seen any changes yet, but they say to allow six months to see any changes. Time will tell.
Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers.
Kathy and Derek
Monday, February 25, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Update 2/12/08
Hi,
We made it home safe and sound. It was an extremely long trip. I am running on a couple of hours sleep, but Derek got 12 hours of sleep after we got home. On the 13 1/2 hour flight, Derek got a row with three seats so he got to lay down and sleep a lot of the flight. I am trying to stay up all day so hopefully I will be able to sleep tonight. It will probably take us a couple days to change our internal clocks back the 13 hour difference. I've got the months worth of mail sorted, the suitcases unloaded and the laundry started. Getting caught up will take a few days, I'm sure.
We are looking forward to a dinner of meat, potatoes and vegetable tonight and being able to sit at a table and chairs to eat. We got a very warm greeting from the two dogs last night when we got home. Lots of kisses. Thanks again for everyone's support.
Love, Kathy and Derek
We made it home safe and sound. It was an extremely long trip. I am running on a couple of hours sleep, but Derek got 12 hours of sleep after we got home. On the 13 1/2 hour flight, Derek got a row with three seats so he got to lay down and sleep a lot of the flight. I am trying to stay up all day so hopefully I will be able to sleep tonight. It will probably take us a couple days to change our internal clocks back the 13 hour difference. I've got the months worth of mail sorted, the suitcases unloaded and the laundry started. Getting caught up will take a few days, I'm sure.
We are looking forward to a dinner of meat, potatoes and vegetable tonight and being able to sit at a table and chairs to eat. We got a very warm greeting from the two dogs last night when we got home. Lots of kisses. Thanks again for everyone's support.
Love, Kathy and Derek
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Update 2/10/08
Hello,
We are pretty well packed and waiting for 8:00 when they turn the hot water on so we can all shower and go to bed as we are leaving to early to get hot water in the morning. Tony is taking us to the airport at 7 am. We have 31 hours of traveling before we will be home. This has been an amazing journey. We would like to thank everyone who helped make this possible for Derek and all of you who have followed us by way of the blog. We will continue to pray that Derek will see some positive results in the months ahead. Whatever the outcome, at least we can say that we tried. We’ll write again after we get home.Love to all, Derek, Kathy and Nicole
We are pretty well packed and waiting for 8:00 when they turn the hot water on so we can all shower and go to bed as we are leaving to early to get hot water in the morning. Tony is taking us to the airport at 7 am. We have 31 hours of traveling before we will be home. This has been an amazing journey. We would like to thank everyone who helped make this possible for Derek and all of you who have followed us by way of the blog. We will continue to pray that Derek will see some positive results in the months ahead. Whatever the outcome, at least we can say that we tried. We’ll write again after we get home.Love to all, Derek, Kathy and Nicole
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Update 2/9/08
Hello,
Our time here in Shenyang is drawing to a close. We are now counting hours not days. Tomorrow we will pack up and be ready to leave for the airport early Monday morning.
Derek had some therapy today and more IVs. He had his last spinal cord stem cell injection this afternoon at 4:00. He has to lie still for four to six hours now to avoid a spinal headache.
We got the copies of the MRI images that were taken yesterday. Tony read us the Doctor’s report that said that there were no changes from the MRI that was taken after we arrived. This immediately sent my head into a tail spin. I needed more information to rationalize why we had had the surgery in the first place. I questioned Tony and Lucy about having Derek’s surgeon look at them and was told that he was on vacation for the holiday and would not be back until Feb. 12th after we had left. I dug deeper to find out if there was a Doctor on call who could compare the two MRIs. Lucy found a Doctor downstairs who said that he would look at them, so Lucy, Nicole and I headed down with images in hand. We were told that the cyst and adhesion were gone, but there was a white mass pushing on his spinal cord. We were told that this was the bone marrow stem cells that were injected at the time of the surgery. The Doctor said that they are not nerve cells when they are injected and that with time they would either turn to nerve cells or die. He said to have a follow up MRI done in three months. He showed us where there was little spinal fluid around his cord and said that there was swelling of the cord. We knew about the swelling factor after surgery from what we had learned after Derek’s initial surgery after the accident. I have already been on the internet emailing another Doctor to get more information about the stem cell mass, why the stem cells aren’t absorbed into the blood stream, and where in the United States do we go for a follow up MRI where the Doctors will be familiar with stem cell procedures and be able to evaluate the three MRIs.
On a more positive note: Another American patient who has a spinal cord injury from a gun shot wound was transferred here from another hospital in China where he had had stem cell treatments for a month and then came here for surgery, is already seeing his leg move. The one thing to remember is that everyone’s spinal cord injury is at a different level, different severity, and they are at different time frames out from their injuries. Any improvements are a big boost to all the patients and families.
We said good bye to Lucy today. She has the next three days off to celebrate the holiday with her family. She was a big help to us and was a delight to be around. She will be missed around here the next couple of days.
We’ll write again tomorrow before we start our journey back to the states.
Love to all, Derek, Nicole and Kathy
Our time here in Shenyang is drawing to a close. We are now counting hours not days. Tomorrow we will pack up and be ready to leave for the airport early Monday morning.
Derek had some therapy today and more IVs. He had his last spinal cord stem cell injection this afternoon at 4:00. He has to lie still for four to six hours now to avoid a spinal headache.
We got the copies of the MRI images that were taken yesterday. Tony read us the Doctor’s report that said that there were no changes from the MRI that was taken after we arrived. This immediately sent my head into a tail spin. I needed more information to rationalize why we had had the surgery in the first place. I questioned Tony and Lucy about having Derek’s surgeon look at them and was told that he was on vacation for the holiday and would not be back until Feb. 12th after we had left. I dug deeper to find out if there was a Doctor on call who could compare the two MRIs. Lucy found a Doctor downstairs who said that he would look at them, so Lucy, Nicole and I headed down with images in hand. We were told that the cyst and adhesion were gone, but there was a white mass pushing on his spinal cord. We were told that this was the bone marrow stem cells that were injected at the time of the surgery. The Doctor said that they are not nerve cells when they are injected and that with time they would either turn to nerve cells or die. He said to have a follow up MRI done in three months. He showed us where there was little spinal fluid around his cord and said that there was swelling of the cord. We knew about the swelling factor after surgery from what we had learned after Derek’s initial surgery after the accident. I have already been on the internet emailing another Doctor to get more information about the stem cell mass, why the stem cells aren’t absorbed into the blood stream, and where in the United States do we go for a follow up MRI where the Doctors will be familiar with stem cell procedures and be able to evaluate the three MRIs.
On a more positive note: Another American patient who has a spinal cord injury from a gun shot wound was transferred here from another hospital in China where he had had stem cell treatments for a month and then came here for surgery, is already seeing his leg move. The one thing to remember is that everyone’s spinal cord injury is at a different level, different severity, and they are at different time frames out from their injuries. Any improvements are a big boost to all the patients and families.
We said good bye to Lucy today. She has the next three days off to celebrate the holiday with her family. She was a big help to us and was a delight to be around. She will be missed around here the next couple of days.
We’ll write again tomorrow before we start our journey back to the states.
Love to all, Derek, Nicole and Kathy
Friday, February 8, 2008
Update 2/8/08
Xie Nian Kuai Le (Happy New Year),
The celebration is continuing here along with the fireworks. There is one therapist on duty during the holiday. Derek had therapy twice today. He had an MRI this afternoon to have a comparison of his spinal cord before and after the surgery. We will get the films back tomorrow. Tonight when he was getting his IV in his foot, the fluid stopped dripping. The nurse was trying to figure out what was wrong and determined that the needle had moved and she would have to put a new one in. The positive side of this was that Derek said that he felt pain in his foot, like throbbing. This is a new and positive feeling. He has also been sweating a lot since his surgery and the stem cells. We have heard from several people that this is a positive sign also. Paul had also commented about how much more he sweated after his surgery and stem cells and he gained movement in one of his feet while he was here. We are keeping an upbeat attitude that these are positive signs that the stem cells are working to gain nerve regeneration.
We are getting excited about coming home in a couple of days. We will arrive back home around midnight on Tuesday.
Love, Derek, Nicole and Kathy
The celebration is continuing here along with the fireworks. There is one therapist on duty during the holiday. Derek had therapy twice today. He had an MRI this afternoon to have a comparison of his spinal cord before and after the surgery. We will get the films back tomorrow. Tonight when he was getting his IV in his foot, the fluid stopped dripping. The nurse was trying to figure out what was wrong and determined that the needle had moved and she would have to put a new one in. The positive side of this was that Derek said that he felt pain in his foot, like throbbing. This is a new and positive feeling. He has also been sweating a lot since his surgery and the stem cells. We have heard from several people that this is a positive sign also. Paul had also commented about how much more he sweated after his surgery and stem cells and he gained movement in one of his feet while he was here. We are keeping an upbeat attitude that these are positive signs that the stem cells are working to gain nerve regeneration.
We are getting excited about coming home in a couple of days. We will arrive back home around midnight on Tuesday.
Love, Derek, Nicole and Kathy
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Update 2/7/08
Xie Nian Kuai Le (Happy New Year),
The fireworks are still going on. Last night was one continual bang. We videotaped them to try to show people at home what it was like. Midnight had the most. They were everywheres you looked. Within five minutes after midnight, you could not even see the ones closest to us because of the smoke in the air, but the noise continued. Around 10:30 last night, the one nurse who was on duty and Chicken Little, who is Gregg’s Chinese caregiver, brought us in dumplings. They were good. We looked up on the internet and found that dumplings are the traditional food to celebrate the New Year in northern China.
The only thing that went on today was Derek getting his bandage changed and receiving IV fluids. Lucy brought us fried dumplings today for lunch. She told us about how she celebrated the New Year. She told us that all her relatives gather at her grandmother’s house. She and some of relatives spent three or four hours making dumplings, some watched TV, some play cards, and then they all go out side to set off their fireworks. We had read on the internet that is custom for the children to stay up all night so that the parents will have a long life. We asked Lucy if she had and she said that she had and was very tired today. She is going to bring us more dumplings tomorrow. They were some of the best that we have had here. Tomorrow will be the last day that we will see Lucy as she has the last three days that we are here off for the holiday.
We are counting the days until we return home. Thanks to everyone for the love, support, prayers, emails and comments. They have helped us get through this leg of Derek’s Journey.
Love, Derek, Nicole and Kathy
The fireworks are still going on. Last night was one continual bang. We videotaped them to try to show people at home what it was like. Midnight had the most. They were everywheres you looked. Within five minutes after midnight, you could not even see the ones closest to us because of the smoke in the air, but the noise continued. Around 10:30 last night, the one nurse who was on duty and Chicken Little, who is Gregg’s Chinese caregiver, brought us in dumplings. They were good. We looked up on the internet and found that dumplings are the traditional food to celebrate the New Year in northern China.
The only thing that went on today was Derek getting his bandage changed and receiving IV fluids. Lucy brought us fried dumplings today for lunch. She told us about how she celebrated the New Year. She told us that all her relatives gather at her grandmother’s house. She and some of relatives spent three or four hours making dumplings, some watched TV, some play cards, and then they all go out side to set off their fireworks. We had read on the internet that is custom for the children to stay up all night so that the parents will have a long life. We asked Lucy if she had and she said that she had and was very tired today. She is going to bring us more dumplings tomorrow. They were some of the best that we have had here. Tomorrow will be the last day that we will see Lucy as she has the last three days that we are here off for the holiday.
We are counting the days until we return home. Thanks to everyone for the love, support, prayers, emails and comments. They have helped us get through this leg of Derek’s Journey.
Love, Derek, Nicole and Kathy
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Update 2/6/08
Hello Everyone,
Xin Nian Kuai Le (Happy New Year!)
Derek had two physical therapy sessions this morning so that the one therapist that was on could catch the train at noon to go home for the holiday. Lucy and Tony are taking turns working three days and having three days off for the holiday. Even though the fireworks have been going on day and night for a week and a half already, tonight is the big night. They will go all night, but midnight is supposed to the highlight. We will watch them in a circular room near the stairs, because of the panoramic view that we will have. We will be able to sleep in tomorrow morning because there will be nothing going on.
We received an email requesting the address for Key Bank:
Derek O’Brien Trust
Key Bank
141 Elm Street
Camden, ME 04843
Love, Derek, Nicole and Kathy
Xin Nian Kuai Le (Happy New Year!)
Derek had two physical therapy sessions this morning so that the one therapist that was on could catch the train at noon to go home for the holiday. Lucy and Tony are taking turns working three days and having three days off for the holiday. Even though the fireworks have been going on day and night for a week and a half already, tonight is the big night. They will go all night, but midnight is supposed to the highlight. We will watch them in a circular room near the stairs, because of the panoramic view that we will have. We will be able to sleep in tomorrow morning because there will be nothing going on.
We received an email requesting the address for Key Bank:
Derek O’Brien Trust
Key Bank
141 Elm Street
Camden, ME 04843
Love, Derek, Nicole and Kathy
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