November 2007 Archives

The 4th/final stem cell injection was a rough one for Shawna. She has been running a fever of 101.4 and vomiting. The doctors say that it is a common side effect from the stem cell injection ... poor Shawna. Needless to say, the last 3 days have not been ideal but hopefully Shawna will be feeling better tomorrow. The usual time frame for this reaction is 3 days ... we sure hope so.

We were planning to take all of Shawna's nurses and therapists out to dinner tomorrow night, but we will have to see if Shawna is feeling better; we may have to postpone the dinner plans.

We can't wait until next Wednesday! We miss you Marci & Angel!

Well, it's been a while, I know. My computer keeps going down so I'm not able to successfully log on as much as I'd like. Oh well, we only have a week to go.

Shawna received her 4th and last stem cell injection today. All went well until about 3:30 PM ... she started running a fever of 101 F and became ill. I guess we are lucky it didn't happen with the previous injections. The fever and vomiting is a common side-effect from the stem cell injection ... poor Shawna.

Gary and Gary II were able to get out again today and go golfing. They had a good time golfing on frozen ponds ... lol.

My computer is acting up again, so I'm going to run for now before it cuts out before I get this e-mail done.

It's just a lazy day here today. We are sitting and watching movies with Shawna, so I figured I would let you all know that we are still here, but have only a little over a week to go. Shawna is not very happy today; very tense. I think she's getting anxious to go home since we have been telling her about it daily.

Well the guys are waiting on me for the next movie to start, so have to run for now.

We just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! It is Thanksgiving Day here already and all of you are still sleeping ... weird. I'm organizing a Thanksgiving dinner trip for anyone who wants to go from the hospital. We will be going to the Outback Restaurant for our Thanksgiving dinner ... none of us trust how a turkey might be prepared here. We figure steak is our best bet ... lol.

This Thanksgiving I want to give thanks for everyone who has touched our lives in our quest to bring Shawna to China ... we couldn't have done it without each and every one of you! I/we are thankful to live in such a caring community, great friends, and the greatest family anyone could ask for!

As you all sit down to your turkey dinners today, please include Shawna in your prayers and remember how jealous we are of you today ... we get no turkey ... lol. And Gary, with a whimper, says "no pies" ... he does so love all the baking I usually do ... oh well.

Thank you all again for caring so deeply for Shawna and being a part of our lives!

We only have a little over 2 weeks left. We are on the countdown for sure now!

We went out to dinner tonight to say goodbye to Dan and LaNae from Utah ... they will leave us tomorrow morning. Nurse Linda stayed with Shawna tonight so that little Gary could go out to dinner too.

Though little Gary didn't take pictures of them at the Great Wall of China, Dan and LaNae are who he went with to see it.

Saying goodbye to another family is hard, especially since we have been here together this entire time. It also brings about the realization that we only have 16 days left here ourselves.

Shawna is doing great! She seems to be very relaxed lately. Gary (Dad) has noticed that she has been crossing her body with her arms ... this is new. Not a big deal, but every little thing counts!

There are so many new patients that have come in and, since we have been here the longest, we feel that we should show them around Beijing. Little Gary and I have learned all the good places to go and get whatever is needed without getting ripped off. Needless to say, we have been very busy lately ... running all over Beijing.

Tonight Gary (Dad) and I are organizing a dinner trip outside the hospital. There is a restaurant called "Morrells" here that all of the locals and foreigners say we must go to eat at. Accordingly, we will all go tonight; can't wait ... everyone says they are famous for their steaks! You cannot imagine how much you miss certain foods until you cannot find them! Therefore, Gary and I have scheduled either Friday or Saturday nights to go out and find real food ... lol.

Shawna is doing just fine. The doctors here are happy with her progress so far ... they keep giving us thumbs up with respect to Shawna. Her therapists seem delighted with her and they feel that Shawna is "in there". Do you know how great it is to hear that? We have believed it all along, but to have someone else, besides family, cooborate with us is a really good feeling.

Little Gary's Birthday is tomorrow, so he will watch Shawna for us tonight while we go to dinner. That way, tomorrow is all his to do what he wants ... and he has planned the entire day and night out already. Turning 18 is such a big deal! lol. He's been sowing some oats over here, but it's all good. He has been a big help to us and other families here at the hospital. We are truly blessed to have such great children.

Well, I'm going to run for now and go find Gary and Shawna in therapy.

I know I don't post quite as frequently as everyone would like, but there is little to report on. I don't want to bore anyone; progress is so slow with this type of head injury, which is why we are here in China. We truly believe that the stem cell treatments will help to speed up Shawna's recovery time. We have already seen some changes in her in the very short time that we have been here; very promising, to say the least.

Shawna just received stem cell injection No. 3 this morning. She is scheduled to receive four injections this go-round in China. Already people are asking us if we will come back for more stem cell treatments, and we just haven't thought that far ahead yet. One step at a time is the way we get through each day.

November 11th marked the 4 year anniversary of Shawna's accident, a day I wish I could forget but am reminded of daily. We have come through many hurdles during the past 4 years, i.e., from total life support, to coma, to vegetative, and now to minimal consciousness. We pray every day and try to let God guide us in every move that we make. Make no mistake, there are times when we become discouraged and begin to doubt our faith, and it always seems that another news article or broadcast comes along just when we are down and renews us yet another time. Accordingly, with respect to another trip to China in the future, all I can say is I will have to wait and see what direction God will guide me next; it could be China again.

I feel that coming to China was something that we had to do ... if for nothing else -- besides our own peace of mind -- knowing that we have tried everything humanly possible to help Shawna. She has made some progress already, so I feel it was well worthwhile. I will report any changes as soon as I am positive there has been a change. For now, we are hopefully waiting again.

Well, we are noticing some new sounds from Shawna following stem cell injection #2. Every little change is so exciting! You have to understand that years have gone by with the smallest of changes occuring over periods of months. Since coming here for stem cells, it seems that changes are coming within weeks. Do you realize how huge that is? We do and it is so promising.

Gary has gone to The Forbidden City today; I'll send pictures soon. China has so many wonderful sights, it's hard to choose which ones to try to fit in while we are here. I see them all through photos since I don't do well with walking around for long periods of time. Hence, I stay and take care of Shawna while Gary and Gary go. Gary II didn't make the Forbidden City trip today; he stayed out too late last night (4:00 AM) partying with Maxi and others. Accordingly, it's another Saturday watching movies for Shawna, Gary and me.

Shawna thought she was going to take off two days in a row because of a low grade fever but we fooled her ... we had PT and OT come to her room on Wednesday ... lol. It was back to business on Thursday; she attended all therapies. She should have never been allowed to lay around for even 1 day. It was, as I suspected, her mensies causing the low grade fever.

Lorraine shares a few photos from China.

Gary Weil II sits with his sister, Shawna Weil.

Gary Weil poses with some friends while site seeing in China.

Another photo of Gary Weil with friends in China.

The view of the Great Wall of China.

Gary Weil II gets lost in the vastness of the Great Wall of China.

It's Tuesday, Nov. 6, and Shawna is taking the day off. She woke up with a fever this morning (100.4) and Dr. Xi said she cannot go to therapy because of it. We won't let Shawna know; she'll try to duplicate it every day [laughing]. She loves her days off!

Gary II had a good time at The Great Wall of China on Saturday. Gary (Dad) had a good time running around Beijing with Robert Lee on Sunday ... they went sightseeing at the Yong He Gong (Buddhist Temple).

Gary found an Outback Steak House, which we went to late Saturday night and thoroughly enjoyed. Little Gary stayed with Shawna while we went ... we did get a meal to go and brought it back to him.

It's Saturday morning here and little Gary has gone to the Great Wall with a group of other families from the hospital. I had him take the camera, so hopefully he'll get some good shots for us.

Gary (Dad) is on a quest to find real American food [laughing] so he has gone out for a bit to see what he can find.

Shawna and I are watching a movie; taking it easy.

O.K. ... there is no "secret" ... I was quite clear in my blog that I didn't want to report on one thing I've noticed until I was sure. Well, it would seem that Shawna is definitely saying "more" while I'm feeding her pudding. I told her to let me know when she was ready for another bite and she did. As soon as she swallowed what was in her mouth, she said "more" and then opened her mouth wide so I could give her the next bite. She has been doing it pretty consistently. Accordingly, she now has a two word vocabulary ... "Mom" and "more".

God Bless,

Lorraine