May 21 to May 28

May 21st. Marie had her last IV injection. Everything when well. Marie woke up on May 22 nd. feeling her self for the first time in 5 days. She was able to get back into her daily routine of PT and OT. The next two days it rained and I was unable to take Marie outside. She has been in this room for the last 8 days. I told her it is like being in prison. We break out in two days. Marie is back to her cheerful self. The doctor was in to assess her. Marie is showing very small gains. She holds her head up straighter. Her head would always lean to the left. Her left should is beginning to show some movement. He left arm has a wider range when we lift it. Her left fingers are becoming more relaxed. She is beginning to more her left knee up from a sitting position. Her circulation has improved. He feet are not cold all the time. These are small improvements, but the doctor said they are good signs that something is happening. The next 5 months will be the window of opportunity. They want Marie to come back. We will see how much improvement she makes over the next few months.
May 25th. we packed up and headed to the Shenzhen airport. They sent an interpreter with me. He was amazing help. My luggage was over wait and I had to pay 400 RMB. The amount of wait on domestic flight is less than on a international flights. We had to get a wheel chair because Marie's chair had to go with the luggage. The wheel chair would not fit on the plane to Marie to her seat. The assistant the airline gave me thought he would pick Marie up and almost dropped her. I took over and Marie did an amazing job stepping to her seat. We had the same difficulty getting off. They did a great job of assisting us with getting Marie's chair, luggage, and finding our drivers that were waiting with a sign with our names on it. We got to the car and all our things could not fit in the car. They finally arranged for another car to take the rest. It was now rush hour on a Friday night. It took almost two hours to get to the hotel. It is a 5 star hotel, just beautiful. We get to the room and it isn't a handy cap room. I will not be able to shower her in this room. It will be bed baths until we can get a room change. Chris came to the door and we had big hugs. It is 37C here today. Very hot but we do have our sun block on.
Tomorrow May 27 is filled with a whole day of sightseeing which includes visiting Tiananmen Square, the largest public plaza in the world; the Forbidden City, the former Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties; and the Summer Palace, a complex of pavilions, temples and galleries situated among lovely gardens on a huge man made lake.
May 28th. , we will tour the world renowned Great Wall. Then we visit the Ming Tombs, the massive mausoleums that hold the remains and treasures of 13 emperors.
I am sure we will have many adventures to share with regards to getting Marie on and off the bus and moving around with the wheel chair. We have all ready found and easier way to push her around. On the road they have a bicycle lane. Pushing her on the road in the bicycle lane is a little crazy, but so much easier. Don't worry it is safe.

A special thanks to all of you for your comments and inspiration. Reading them gave us a connection to home that Marie and I need.

May 11th to May 20th

Marie had her second spinal stem cell injection on Friday May 11. We did the six hours of not moving and she woke up fine. She choked on her milk in the morning, shook her head and got a huge headache. She had to go back to bed. The doctor checked her out and gave her a shot to help get rid of the pain in her head.
Sunday she was feeling fine and we went shopping. I had my first great coffee at Starbucks. Marie bought a lot of things.
Monday and Tuesday were filled with the same routine.
Wed. Marie received her third spinal stem cell injection. We did the six hour of no movement and she was fine in the morning. When she was put on the standard in PT, she got a massive headache and had to go to bed. The doctor gave her another shoot to relieve the pain. She has been in and out of bed now for the last four days with headaches. Today is Sunday May 20Th. I am tired of being here, the last few days have been very difficult. I have five more sleeps until I meet up with Chris. I can't wait. No one here does any lifting., even in PT. I transfer Marie at least 12 times a day. My back is worn out. Tomorrow Marie gets her last Stem cell injection. This one is an IV. It doesn't have any side affects. The weather this week has been 35 c. Today it is raining and cooling off. Marie is sick of spending so many hours in bed. Please respond with some good news for encouragement for Marie.

Hi, Everyone. Sorry, I haven't posted anything in the last week. Where does the time fly. Marie and I have been so busy here I just haven't had the time or energy to blog. Last Mon., Tues., and Wed., were filled with therapy and sleeping. Thursday, I hired a care giver for Marie. She didn't speak any English and Marie was great in tring to communicate with her. I went out food shopping. What an experience this was. I was able to get a lot of vegetable and made a stir fry for us. Food is very cheap here. I then was taken with the guide to get my hair done. What a great experience this was. You lie on a table and get your hair washed and massaged for a 1\2 hour, and then they massage your back for another 1\2 hour. All this cost $7:00. On Friday Marie received the IV stem cell treatment. Everything went well. Sat and Sun were filled with therapy and sleeping. Sunday night everyone on the floor went to Sea World. It is a big square with fine dinning. We had a great meal. The fathers here help me get Marie in and out of the taxi. Taxi cab rides are a whole new experience here in China.They weave across four lanes and back in seconds.Everyone here has become a big family. Everyone helps each other.I didn't get out shopping with Marie yet, but hope to this Sunday.