Finally a new update! :)

I'm now starting my 4th month with the stem cells. They said by the end of the 6th month I should know the effects of what the stem cells will do. I can't believe that I've been back three months now.
Great things have been happening in therapy. For the past 2 months I've been going to the Neuro Institute for Physical Therapy twice a week. I've also been going to SOS Physical Therapy for water therapy twice a week. I work out at each place for 3 hours at a time. I made the decision to quit volunteering in the classrooms as often for awhile because working out (therapy) is now my job. So now I'm very busy working out 4 days a week. I still volunteer in my son Hunter's classroom. I wouldn't give that up. They grow up so fast I want to be there. I also still help at Brisas for half a day on Tuesdays.

So now for the exciting news......... As I said in the last post before I got the stem cells, I could only move or feel from my bra strap area up. I now have my abs, back, obliques, hip flexors, and my glutes all working. It's so great to have my core working again. I'm working on getting them stronger every day. It already makes a difference in my everyday life.

Next, I'll start with what's been going on in water therapy. First of all I want to explain that water therapy is really good for me because my body is much lighter underwater. This makes it much easier for my muscles to try and move if they can. When I first went there, they did a very detailed whole body map to see where I could feel and what I could move at the time. They have done this big evaluation twice now since I started and it changes for the better each time! At this point I can feel my whole core with pressure touch. That's my back, abs , bootie, sides, and hips. I can also feel down the top of my right quad. Then when they put ice on my feet or legs, I can feel that too. I have to lay down and keep my eyes closed the whole time while they do the tests. I just hope it keeps continuing down further and further. When I stop and think about it it's so amazing that I now have at least a foot and 1/2 more of my body that's working!

This past Monday in the pool I was able to kick back my leg and bend my knee. I did this with both legs. Then I was also able to lift my leg up (Like marching) about 6 inches on both legs. Just a month before I couldn't do this. They don't allow me to use any of my upper body muscles when I try to move. They just want to see what's connecting.

In the land therapy, I am working on making my newly returned muscles and my muscles that I already had working stronger. I love working out now. When I have a weekend and a few days off I get excited to go back and work out more. Now it's all about making the muscles that are working stronger. So I work a lot on my core. I am also continuing in both places to try and connect more muscles by trying to move my legs over and over. We are just hoping for the nerves to be able to send the signals from my brain to my legs through my injured spot on my spinal cord. It's great that some signals are getting through.
I can crawl with lifting my knees off the ground too. I was excited. I can also be on my knees with my back up tall next to a mat. Here is a picture of me doing this at home.



I'm also able to sit up much taller now and balance. People have told me I look like I lost weight, but really I haven't it's just that my stomach muscles are now working so they hold in my guts much better. I feel so excited about that!

I can now walk with a walker and leg braces. It's still very hard and tiring, and I'm not fast at all yet, but at least I can do it. I am working on putting more and more pressure on my legs as I take steps or stand. At this point on land I'm using mostly my abs and hip flexors to walk. They ordered me my own custom leg braces so they will fit me perfectly. Here is a funny picture of my leg casts that they used to make my braces. I get the braces soon.


So I will continue to try and walk in hopes that someday I will do it faster and not need the braces or walker. Until then I will get around in my wheelchair since it's much faster. Those of you who know me well know I'm always on the go and walking slow wouldn't do. But just being able to if I choose to would be great! I will continue to work hard at it in therapy.

I will add some more pictures soon. I need to bring my camera to therapy next time. I promise I will add another blog update sooner this time. Please keep me in your prayers as I continue on my journey.

We are Home & Trish continues working hard

We are so sorry it took so long to post a new entry. We have been so busy with life since we've been back. Well, we made it back home and are getting back in the swing of “real” life! It has been quite an adjustment after a month in Costa Rica!

First of all Scott and I would like to thank everyone who has been following the blog. Your support, well wishes, and prayers have been so greatly appreciated. We couldn't have taken this great journey without all the love and support of our friends and family! But... Don't stop yet. We need all of the prayers to continue while I work out in therapy and out of therapy for the next 5 months while waiting for the results of the stem cells.

I am working really hard. I have continued therapies that include physical therapy at the Neuro Institute, a therapy and workout program at home, as well as workouts when possible with my friends. My therapists at the Neuro Institute re-evaluated me when I came back. They were so excited to see my growth. Before I only had sensation or movement from my bra strap area up. I now have muscles that contract all down my back to my waist. I also have side muscles that are contracting and more abs. Also, like you saw in the videos I have leg movements. Right now they are weak muscle contractions in many muscles in my legs. I need to make these stronger. I am hoping for the stem cells to help connect even more muscles so I can hopefully walk someday. I was having Scott check out where I felt him touching me and I can now feel lower than I use to. I can now feel him touching down almost to my waist, by my lower ribs.

We really enjoyed the time with the boys after not seeing them for so long! They were out of school for two weeks right when we got back so we had fun spending lots of time with them.

It has now been a month since I received all of my stem cells. As we have stated before, we anticipate seeing most of the results of the stem cells in the 3rd to 6th months after treatment. I will continue to work hard to help the stem cells work and give them every opportunity to heal the damage and make new connections.

On top of all of the therapy, when I can make it work, I'm also having fun volunteering my teaching abilities. I help out at Hunter's school Desert Mountain, at Brisas (where I used to teach) in a 1st and a Kindergarten class, and I also help out in a friend's Kindergarten class at Queen Creek Elementary. I would also help out in Parker's Middle School but the teachers don't seem to need as much help as they get older. He is growing up so darn fast. :(

I do love having some time to be in the classrooms. I just love to see the kids' smiling faces when I get to help them. It's fun!

Again, thank you so much for all you love, support, and prayers. Please continue to pray for my healing as this is a long process. We will continue to update the blog as I make more progress. We look forward to seeing all of you, hopefully real soon!

Welcome Home

We had a small group at Sky Harbor last night to welcome Trish & Scott home. It sure was great to see them both after a month.

They both looked great and were relieved to get home after a month out of the country.

I am sure we will hear more from them on their exploits as well as the continued physical therapy Trish plans to pursue.

Our Last Week Here

We were excited to be heading into the last week for therapies and injections. We feel so blessed to be having this experience. Trish is focused on pushing herself even further each week and started the week with a bang. Again, she gets to work out with her therapist two hours a day at least 4 times a week. We wish she could work out this much with her therapists at home, but it doesn’t work that way once we are back to using our insurance. She will do it at least 2-3 times a week for one hour sessions. That is all that our insurance will allow. So Trish will also work out with her friends and we will put to use things that we learned here so she can work out at home also. The therapists here have been great. We have had the opportunity to work with several girls and we love them all. They all bring their own techniques and styles and we have learned from all of them. This week Trish has had the opportunity to work with a different therapist named May. The things she has Trish doing are amazing. She focuses a lot on the mental side of things, getting your brain to connect with your muscles. This is so important for Spinal Cord Injury patients. The way she explains things really clicked with us. She stresses “WTF” (she is quick to point out, “not the bad meaning!”) what she means is Watching, Thinking, and Feeling. When you are trying to reconnect things you need to be able to see the movement you are trying to do (they always use a mirror), you need to be thinking and concentrating on what muscle you’re going to be using to do these movement, and finally you need to feel these movements. Trish can’t feel her legs moving so it is important for her to feel where her muscle is contracting with her hand. This is all so important as Trish has not done these movements in over 2 years. She also stresses the point that therapy happens all day every day. If Trish stops and thinks about it she can make any normal life activity a therapy activity. In every movement that Trish does, she needs to push herself to do more and more with her core and legs. For example, instead of just picking up her legs and moving them around, she needs to think about the movement and concentrate on the specific muscle needed to make the movement.

Trish has been pushing herself very hard throughout this whole experience and it really shows. Her core strength has greatly improved. You can see this in everything that she does. We have learned that even though her connections and muscles in the legs are weak right now, she needs to use her strong muscles (her core) to help her weak muscles work. To that end, this week Trish has been moving all over on the mat without touching her legs, something she has never done. She was even able to get down to her knees on the ground by herself without touching her legs and then was able to get herself back up onto the mat when the mat is 2 feet off the ground again without touching her legs the whole time. During all this the therapist just watched her and gave no help but told her to figure it out! It was amazing to watch Trish be able to do this. This is really hard to explain, but it was so cool to watch. My description doesn’t do justice to how hard this is! For the whole day on Wednesday Trish wasn’t allowed to touch her legs with her hands, they were enemies for the day! She also had to move herself from a sitting position along the side of the mat/table all the way to the other side around a corner without touching her legs. The therapist and I and of course Trish herself were so proud.

Trish has also been standing for nearly an hour each day for the last few therapy days. It has gotten easier for her to find her perfect position. When everything lines up just right Trish is able to put more weight on her legs and less in her arms. She has to work hard to relax her neck and arms because it is very tough to mentally think about how to connect and contract all of her muscle needed to stand up. On Wednesday she was able to repeatedly go from a sitting position to standing tall with only someone to lock her knees. There was always a therapist behind her to help guide her if needed. As Trish is finding her good P&A (Posture and Alignment – another term used by May) quicker, she is able to spend more time standing, which she loves.

Trish had her last therapy on Thursday. Everyone is so proud of how hard Trish worked and how much she has been able to accomplish while she was here. It was hard to say goodbye to all of the therapists. She has bonded a lot with some of them. They want to keep in contact so she can share her progress along her new journey at home.

Trish also had 2 injections this week that went well. These injections were stem cells that were derived from her bone marrow. She also got 2 IV’s of the bone marrow stem cells as well. The main difference in these injections is that the cord blood injections and IV’s consist of about 9 million stem cells. The bone marrow injections contained 20 million stem cells each and the IV’s contained 40 million stem cells each. By the time everything was done Trish received a combined 16 injections. She had 10 in her spine and 6 IV’s. We can’t wait to see the results of the stem cells on Trish’s body. Again, it can take between 4-6 months to see what the results will be. So in the meantime Trish will be working out hard and maintaining her “Hope”. We believe that more good will come out of this. Trish wants other Spinal Cord Injury Patients to hear her story so they too will at least have another option to try if they choose to.

We are excited to go home on Saturday. We miss our boys, family, friends, and pets.

We will also miss all the wonderful people that we have met on this incredible journey.

We had a farewell dinner with some of our friends.

A Day in the Jungle

Sunday was a special day as it was Scott’s birthday. Plus, this was our last weekend here. So, for our last adventure here I decided to take Scott on a trip through the jungles of Costa Rica. All Scott wanted for his birthday was to see some monkeys in the wild! The trip was amazing! The area we were headed to was on the Atlantic side, which is also on the Caribbean. It is a 3 ½ hour drive to the coast that takes you through rain forests. Our driver (guide) was extremely knowledgeable about Costa Rica and its history. The place we went is called Tortuguero. Tortuguero is a small village surrounded by canals, or rivers. The village is only accessible by boat. Once we got to the boat on the Tortuguero canals it was about a 2 ½ hour trip to the village. Along the way we saw lots of neat animals including a crocodile, spider monkeys, Jesus Christ lizards (the ones that run on the water with their back feet), white faced monkeys, and even bats. The monkey families we saw were great. They were running around and leaping from tree to tree without a care in the world. There were also a couple of babies hanging on tight to their mom's backs. The river and jungle was so secluded that we felt like we were explorers seeing this land for the first time, it was incredible.

We got to the town of Tortuguero and had a wonderful Costa Rican lunch at one of the small resorts there. After lunch we headed to the beach on the Atlantic side. Tortuguero is located on a small strip of land with the ocean on one side and the river on the other. We were able to walk/wheel from the river to the ocean in about ten minutes. Tortuguero is also known for its turtle nesting grounds. September is the end of the season where turtles come up on shore at night and lay their eggs. While walking on the beach (thank goodness for my off road tires) we saw several nests and even a fresh set of tracks from where a turtle had headed back to the ocean the night before.

Then it was back on the boat and another 2 ½ hour trip back to the van. We took different canals on the way back and saw a lot more animals including a sloth, a huge iguana (probably 6 feet long and fat), another family of spider monkeys, several birds, and a caiman. On the way back we also saw another Jesus Christ lizard and the guide was able to get him to run on the water. It was over in an instant, but really cool to see!

We got back in the van and had a 3 ½ hour drive back to San Jose. It was a long day, but well worth the trip. Scott could not have asked for a more memorable birthday!

Here comes a few of the cool pictures we took!

This is a banana plantation. They were everywhere. The bananas are covered by the blue bags.

This boa constrictor was road kill on the way up. Poor thing.

Here is the boat that took us through the canal and jungle.

We were amazed to see the variety of vegetation which included a lot of palm trees and canopy trees, and vines mixed together.

Here is the crocodile.

One of the many spider monkey we saw. We were told that when the villagers weren't looking, the spider monkeys would steal their stuff like bags or lunches.


Look at the bottom of the picture for the white faced monkey. These were very close and at eye level. We were told that it is rare to see them this close. They were very playful.

Here is another shot look closely in the vines.

This is one of the several Jesus Christ lizards we saw. They are called this because they run on the water with their back feet.

A shot of one of the canals we went down.

Look close. These are bats hanging upside down on the trunk of a tree.

Here is part of the village of Tortuguero.

This is our boat parked for lunch.

Look closely and you will see a couple of turtle nests from the nesting grounds. The sand on this coast is black because it is formed by volcanic rock.

This is a cool coconut tree.

One of the iguanas we saw. This one was small at about 3 feet long. Not coming close to the big one we saw in the trees.

Here we are on the Caribbean coast.

There were lots of turkey voltures around, we felt right at home!

Here is the sloth hanging upside down. It didn't move the whole time we watched it.

The jungle is beautiful. We are so thankful for such a great day.

Ups & Downs

Trish woke up to her worst nerve pain day so far. It was hard to get motivated for therapies and treatment today. Usually when her nerve pain escalates like this it is an indication that her body is fighting something, usually an infection. She has had a sore throat for the last couple of days so we called the Dr. and asked if they would take a look at her while we were at the hospital.

Therapy went good. They spent a lot of time stretching due to the increase in nerve pain and spasms. Then it was back to work on her core strength and balance. Trish’s core and balance are really improving. We are really starting to notice some changes. The greatest is that the muscles all down her back are working! She still doesn’t feel them when I touch them, but when she flexes they are starting to flex all down her back and sides! She is so excited to have these working and to start getting them stronger so she can sit up straighter. She also had a very different feeling down her abdominal muscles today. She said it is hard to explain, but that she feels them working from the inside all the way down to her belly button! We can also start to feel small contractions 2 abs lower than normal. This is all very great and exciting progress!

The second hour of therapy was spent in the pool. They do a lot of the same exercises as on the mat and standing up, but everything is easier since there is less resistance. Trish enjoyed it, but prefers working outside of the pool. I took a lot of video so that we can continue this therapy in our pool once we get home.

After therapy it was off to another injection. Dr. Thomas also looked at Trish’s throat. You know it isn’t good when the Dr. says, “Oh, wow, that’s bad.” So she has strep and they gave her antibiotics to kick it. The injection went fine, plus she got another IV treatment. There was some confusion with the drivers so we ended up sitting in the hospital for an hour longer than we were supposed to, but Trish was still laying down so it wasn’t that big of a deal. We got home and she did her 5 hours of rest and then sat up with no headache. She felt sick and achy so she just went to bed for the night.

We are planning on hanging around the hotel on Saturday and maybe later going downtown to the shops and market. Most of Trish and I want to make sure she gets lots of rest to get better so she can finish with a strong last week! If she feels OK on Sunday we are planning on heading to the Atlantic side of the country. This is on the Caribbean and is suppose to be a very dense rain forest with lots of wildlife.

Out for a swim!

Thursday was a therapy day. They again worked Trish very hard. She spent a lot of time standing in the walker again. This time I got to help a lot both holding her knees and supporting her back. She felt very comfortable standing and was having an easier time finding her position. This allows her to take some pressure off her arms. She is still working on putting more weight on her legs, focusing on tightening her legs, abs, and butt, while relaxing her arms and shoulders. That’s a lot to think about! She also got to work with a new therapist, Angie. We really liked Angie, she is tough!

After therapy Trish had a dentist appointment. As soon as we stepped out to go to the dentist, the skies really opened up and it started pouring rain! It looked like we would swim to the dentist today! I got Trish loaded into the cab literally standing in a river that was running down the street. By the time I got her wheelchair taken apart and loaded into the trunk of the cab it looked like I had gotten out of a pool with all my clothes on. Just part of the experience I guess. It was raining so hard that it was difficult to see out of the windshield, plus the windows were foggy so Trish was constantly wiping it with a rag for the driver so he could see. We got to the dentist and it was still pouring, so getting Trish up the 2 flights of stairs was interesting, but of course we got it done. The dentist staff was again so nice. They got us towels to dry off and once Trish was in the dentist chair they put her chair under a hand dryer to dry off the seat cushion. The rain stopped as quickly as it had started and the rest of the evening was very nice.

Trish wanted me to say hi to everyone and thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. She also wanted to give a special shout out to Mrs. Ehlers’ homeroom class who has been following the blog daily!

Another day

Wednesday was yet another therapy and injection day. We had an early schedule so it was therapy from 9:00 to 11:00 and then an injection t 12:00. Everything went well. Trish stood up in a walker today and looked great! She felt very comfortable this time and I even got the chance to help her stand later in the session by locking her knees for her. I love it when I get to participate in the therapies. The therapist supporting her back is Catalina, who is one of our favorites.

The injection went just fine. Back at the hotel she did her 5 hours of rest, which went pretty fast this time and then got up for dinner and a movie in our room. That’s all for now!

Turtle Island

Trish was feeling good and we had the day off Tuesday so we headed to the beach for the day. We went to a place called Turtle Island and it was amazing. We had a chance to go snorkeling while we were there. This was the first time that Trish had tried to go since she got hurt. They took us out in a little boat and we snorkeled around a small island. The attitudes of everyone here continue to amaze me. We are use to having to talk people into letting us try things like this, but here they have the attitude that sure you can go and we’ll just figure it out! We saw lots of colorful fish and Trish had no problems at all and loved it. Getting back in the boat in the middle of the ocean was a little challenging, but really not that big of a deal. We just hung out on the beach the rest of the day and relaxed! It was a great day!

Here she is, excited to go to Turtle Island, looking beautiful!

Here is Turtle Island from the distance

This is the beach we were headed to

View from our chairs on the beach


Here we are in the ocean. This is the boat that took us snorkeling. You can also see the small island that we snorkeled around.


What a view. You can see the beach chairs that we hung out in.

Here we are, relaxing on the beach with our friend Gael.

Half Way!

Well. Here we are, half way through the treatment. Monday was another “typical” therapy and injection day. The first hour was spent on stretching and movement. I got another good video of Trish kicking her leg:

The movement of her legs is still exciting to see. However, we do keep it in perspective and realize that a lot more muscles need to connect in order for her to be able to move her legs in any other position other than lying on a mat with minimal resistance. She still does not have any movement while she is just sitting in her chair. Of course we hold out hope that through therapy and the stem cell treatments this will change!

She stood in the parallel bars again today, but it was with different therapists whose technique for helping her was different. This made it a lot more difficult for Trish and a lot more tiring. Still, it is good to see her stand up.

The therapy sessions here are really intense both mentally and physically. Trish is sure glad that she started therapy at the Neuro Institute in Tempe a few weeks before coming to Costa Rica. The Dr.'s here continue to stress the importance of continuing therapy when Trish gets home and she is looking forward to working with her therapists there too.

Trish’s nerve pain and muscle spasm were up again today, but we are taking this as a good sign that things are starting to try and reconnect.

The injection went fine. They seem to have issue with getting an IV into Trish, which they have to do about once a week. Today was one of those days and it took a couple of tries to get it in. Today Trish got a back injection and an IV injection of stem cells. You know the routine, back to the hotel for the 5 hours of rest to let those stem cells start working!

Tuesday, 9/15/09 is Costa Rica’s Independence Day. Nobody works so we get the day off. If Trish is feeling well, we are planning on going to a little island they call Turtle Island. It's called this because of the shape of the island, not because there are lots of turtles on it. Anyway, it looks like a tropical paradise with white sand beaches and all.

Trish is up with no headache following her injection so it looks like we are headed to the beach tomorrow to relax!

Off to the Beach!

Well today the sun was shining and it was beautiful out so we rented a car and headed off to Jaco Beach. This is a very popular place to go on the Pacific Coast. We drove about 2 ½ hours to get there. It was a beautiful drive through the mountains and the rainforest. We saw some beautiful waterfalls along the way.



When we got there we went straight out to the water. Scott put on my mountain bike tires before we left so I can go a lot more places. The beach was sandy but also had lots of small rocks mixed in with the sand. Because of this, Scott was able to wheel me right out to the water. Wow! The water was nice. It felt as warm as our pool in the summer.








There were some guys renting surf boards and I told Scott he should go. He had surfed once before when he was a teenager and loved it. He was excited and found out that he could go out for 2 hours and have lessons along the way. The waves were big today. They were about 5 to 6 feet tall. He loved it and did great. It was so much fun watching him. The weather was beautiful. It actually got a little warm today. We got some sun and it was nice.

Look at the cute little surfer boy!

After surfing we went up and down the street and looked at the shops. It was fun. Later we went to lunch and my temporary front tooth fell out! Oh my! I sure look goofy without it! Scott wanted me to post a picture but I said no way! :) (Remember that I decided to finally get my crown replaced since it is so much cheaper here.) Well, at least we were almost done at the beach anyway.

As we drove home it started raining. The clouds were low and the fog crept in too. We had to drive home surrounded by fog. We sure couldn’t see far. It was much like being in the middle of an Arizona dust storm. We stopped at a little coffee shop that a friend recommended that overlooked the ocean and the rain forest. We only saw fog out the windows, but the company was still nice.

Past this fog is the ocean and there is a big canyon in the middle of the rain forest below it.

When Scott returned the car, I called my dentist Dr. Marco to let him know about my tooth. He was so nice and upset that it came out that he wanted to come right over to our hotel to put it back in for me. It was late and I didn’t want him to have to come right in the middle of his Saturday night. He said he would have trouble sleeping knowing that I needed my tooth fixed, but we agreed that he could come in the morning. He came over after getting home from church with his family and I’m no longer toothless. :) Like Scott said before. The care from the doctors & dentists is amazing. Could you imagine getting a house call on a Sunday morning in the US?

I miss the boys sooooooooooo much! It is so hard being away from them this long. The longest I have ever been away from them before was one week. We get to talk to them each day using Skype on the webcam. It’s fun being able to see them. They’re both happy and doing good in school and having lots of fun with football. This is both of their 1st years playing tackle football. They love it. I can’t wait to be able to give them big hugs again.

Here is a picture from a camping trip this summer.

We just stayed around the hotel on Sunday. My nerve pain was very intense today. For those of you who don’t know, even though I can’t feel from the chest down I have constant burning/tingling nerve pain below my injury line that varies in intensity, but that has been there every day since my injury. The doctors say that this could be a good sign of the nerves trying to heal. I have talked to a few other spinal cord injury patients who have had stem cell treatment and most of them said that their nerve pain got worse before it got better. One of my biggest hopes is for it to go away.

We were able to watch a little football today, but the announcers where in Spanish! We also decided to go up to the park. We got a light rain while we were out. I have learned to take my umbrella with me everywhere since the weather can change so fast.Well I’m getting ready for a busy week with more physical therapy and three injections. Bye for now.

Saturday

Just wanted to put up a quick post to let everyone know that Trish is up and feeling good after having her bone marrow aspiration and another injection on Friday. So, we are off to the beach for a nice relaxing day! Have a great weekend everyone!

Catching up!

Sorry for not posting for the last couple of days, but things have been really busy. First, let me say that we have been overwhelmed by the response to the videos! It's an awesome thing to see and we are so happy and excited that it is touching so many people. I will try to get new video as often as possible!

Wednesday was another therapy and injection day. This time Trish had therapy early in the morning followed by an injection around 12:30. Therapy was very intense again working on moving her legs, strengthening her core, and working on balance. She worked extremely hard and was completely spent by the end of the therapy. This was also Trish's first time standing with the parallel bars. She has one person locking her knees and and another supporting her from behind. Doesn't she look great?




The injection at this time of day made it more difficult for Trish to go home and do her 5 hour rest period. She was up right at the 5 hour mark and continued her streak of no headache! We decided that we prefer the late afternoon injections so that Trish can just plan on spending the rest of the night in bed.

Thursday started with me getting caught up on some laundry. Lucky for Trish the washer and dryer is down stairs so I just had to do it! She always does the laundry at home and she is the one working so hard here that she definitely deserves the break! Then we were off to therapy. They continue to push Trish farther and farther each session and it is great, she loves it! Her muscles were definitely tired as the movements were smaller today, but she was still impressive. They had her stand again between the parallel bars. This time they did it with just 2 people, one to lock her knees and the other to put pressure on her hips. They worked with her quite a bit on standing. They would start by getting her up and getting her knees locked. Then the person behind her would slowly release the pressure on her hips until she had completely let go. At this point Trish was standing with only the help of having her knees locked! Then Trish would slowly relax her shoulders and arms and take as much pressure off her hands as she could. At times she would just be lightly touching the bars for balance, it was an awesome sight. It was also very impressive to see her as her body would start to shift out of position; she was able to bring it back into line on her own. The therapist said that they were seeing some really good contractions in her muscles. Here she is!

Look at the determined look on her face and that great posture!

The director of the therapy facility has also taken an interest in Trish. She talked to us for quite a while after therapy Thursday. She was very encouraging saying that she is confident that Trish is going to do great! She is very encouraged by the amount of contractions that Trish is having in her muscle and she just knows that great things are ahead for Trish! We have heard several stories of a guy down here named Juan Carlos who was injured about 18 months ago, had his spinal cord severed, received the stem cell treatment and therapy and is now able to walk. We got to meet him after therapy! I must admit when we heard the stories we pictured him in leg braces struggling to walk with a walker or something along those lines. To our amazement he walks completely on his own and looks “normal”. He uses canes/crutches for some balance, but this is more of a precaution than a necessity. We were absolutely amazed and inspired by him. He did get his stem cell treatment sooner after his injury than Trish is, but I can’t explain how great it is to meet this success story in person! Here is a picture of Trish and Juan Carlos.




After therapy we were off to another appointment. Since we have been down here we have heard that the dental care is exceptional and very inexpensive. Trish has needed some dental work for quite some time now (a new crown) so we decided to look into it. Well, it is at least 1/3 of the cost that she has been quoted back in the states. We decided that now she can get it done. This dental office has lots of American patients. Many of them fly down here just for the excellent treatment at a very low price. We were comforted when we walked in, the waiting room was full of Americans. So, the rest of our limited free time is going to be spent at the dentist! At least they have comfortable chairs in the waiting room! The dentist is very nice and accommodating and we continue to be impressed by the level of care in Costa Rica! We didn’t leave the dentist until nearly 7:00 Thursday night so we grabbed a quick bite to eat, headed home, and crashed!

Friday is a big hospital day for us. I haven’t mentioned this part before because we wanted to get all the details ironed out. When we met with Dr. Riordon (the head of ICM) last week he asked if we would be interested in trying some bone marrow stem cell treatments in addition to the cord blood treatments. He explained that they have had good success in other clinics in other countries using bone marrow stem cells on spinal cord injury patients and that they have been contemplating adding it to the spinal cord injury protocol here. They have also been successfully using bone marrow stem cells here at ICM to treat traumatic brain injuries as well as diabetes, among other things. There are no negative side effects from this treatment and it will be done in addition to the 8 cord blood injections and 4 cord blood stem cell IV’s. So we said YES! We are so excited to be the first to try this at ICM, what an opportunity! We did ask if this would cost us any more and Dr. Riordon said, “Not if I tell them not to charge you anything!” It’s great to have connections, thanks again Sherry! So I am sitting here in the waiting room as they are in doing Trish’s bone marrow aspiration. This consists of taking marrow from the back side of each of her hips. They will take the marrow today and send it to the lab to be processed and tested before preparing the stem cells to be injected into Trish’s spinal fluid. Trish will be getting two injections of her own stem cells. These injections will occur the last week of treatment. Plus, they are taking more marrow than they need, but less than they would take for a bone marrow transplant. They will store the excess marrow in case Trish can ever use it.


Here's Trish ready to go into surgery for the bone marrow aspiration. Cute! I especially loved the booties and hat!

After the aspiration Trish has an injection this afternoon at 4:30. I’m sure she will be exhausted tonight! If she feels OK we are planning on trying to get to the beach this weekend to see yet another side of Costa Rica!



After 2 hours she is out of surgery and doing great! Now we just need to wait for her next injection in about an hour. We'll let you know how it goes!

We Have Video!!

Tuesday was a therapy day and again, therapy was great. Trish did a lot of the same things, working on movement in her legs and also on balance. We finally got a camera cable (thanks Mom!) so you can see some examples of the movements we have been seeing!


Here is Trish working on sitting up straight using her arms as little as possible. This is hard to do with limited abs and back muscles. She looks great!


Here are some video clips of Trish moving her legs in different directions. In all of the exercises she is concentrating extremely hard on the movement they are asking her to do. It is very important that her brain make the connection to the movement that they are working on. They spend a lot of time explaining what the movement is and what muscle she needs to concentrate on to make it move. This is all very challenging considering she hasn't thought about these movements for over 2 years! She tries very hard to keep her arms in close to her so she doesn't use them. She is also trying to use as little of her upper body as possible.

The clip below shows the therapist adding some resistance for the first time. The therapists have been very impressed with Trish's effort, attitude, determination, and progress! Of course I am impressed too, but by now I have come to expect it!

Also today, they had Trish stand up for the first time here! Trish has stood using a standing frame before, but the frame provides a lot of support and Trish really doesn’t need to work to stand up. In therapy today they had her stand using a basic frame with nothing supporting her front or back. The only support was two therapists keeping her legs locked! They also had her practice shifting her weight from side to side. They would also unlock one of her knees and she would bring it back into the locked position. It was very impressive and took a lot out of her.

You can tell by the serious look on her face in the picture below how hard she has to concentrate to hold a standing position. It sure is great to be able to see her stand tall again!


Later that night a few of the “stemmies” felt good enough to meet up. Stemmies is the name that they have given those down here for stem cell treatment. We were excited because it was really our first night out since we have been here. We met up for drinks (no alcohol for the stemmies as it could affect the stem cells) and some good conversation then onto the restaurant for a nice Italian dinner. It was great to get out!

Here we are. It is also great to see all the family support for all the people down here getting treatment. What a great group of people we are meeting.

Monday, back to work!

We were back on schedule Monday with physical therapy from 12:00 to 2:00 and an injection at 2:30. Trish will actually be getting 3 injections each week for the next 2 weeks. Trish is doing awesome in therapy as they continue to work with her on moving her legs and also on her core strength and balance. The movement of her legs continues to amaze me. Here are some pictures of Trish working on her balance and core in therapy. They have her hold herself up on her knees using the workout ball to balance. This is extremely hard with virtually no abdominal muscles. It takes a lot of strength and concentration.

Here she is after working on this exercise for a while. They are really working her hard, but she loves it because she loves to push herself! With all the working out, Trish is developing a really tight muscle in her back, under her shoulder blade that is giving her a fair amount of discomfort. This same muscle actually locked-up on her when she was first in the hospital after her accident. We are doing lots of stretching to try and avoid this happening again. The therapists are very good not to push her too hard when it starts tightening and they help to stretch it out.

The therapists said that they will also work with Trish in the pool, so we will add that to our schedule next week. Even before coming here we have heard lots of positive things about pool therapy because of the minimal resistance that you have in a pool. This makes it much easier for your legs to move, if they can.

After therapy we grabbed some tortilla soup at the cafeteria for lunch and headed to the injection. They always have me put on a hair net and mask. Trish thought you all would like to see so here you go.

The injection went smoothly again and we were out of the hospital by 4:00 and headed back to the hotel. Trish laid down in the back seat to try and help prevent any headache. Back at the hotel Trish did her mandatory 6 hours of lying on her back. After 6 hours she sat up and was headache free! However, we don’t want to push things so we just went to bed for the night. Trish woke up Tuesday morning feeling good so we are looking forward to another good day of therapy.

Also, some of you have asked for the address where we are staying so I added it to the side bar. The addresses are very interesting here. They give directions and the often use landmarks, some of which aren't even here anymore. They are not true street addresses. For instance the hotel address indicates that we are 300 meters north of the ICE plant (power company) in San Jose, Costa Rica. A lot of other addresses refer to GPS coordinates.