Stem-cell therapy: 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!

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.