Walking Fast into the New Year!!

Hi Everyone,

It’s been over a year since my last post and I wanted to update my blog. Over the last year I have continued to work out in physical therapy at least once a week for a couple of hours. With insurance the way it is, I haven't been able to work out as often as I used to. I continue to walk with the walker in therapy. As you can see in the videos, I have gotten really fast and smooth with my walking. I can walk far now without getting tired and don’t have to put much weight on my arms as I walk.  My therapist is there to help block my knees only if needed but he isn't touching me. It feels incredible to walk this good.

I also use the alter G machine where I walk on a treadmill for a least a half hour at a time. It’s a cool machine that fills with air and takes part of my body weight off as I walk so I can go longer without getting as tired. 

I also continue to work out with my core by doing 100 sit ups at a time and doing other core workouts as well. I sometimes crawl in therapy too. I like to work out with weights to keep my arms strong also. 

      As always, I'm busy with my husband and 3 kids. We continue to have lots of fun and are busy just enjoying life!

  

Another video walking last week

 Me & my Hubby Scott

 Me and my son Parker & Me and my son Hunter

 Me and my daughter Savannah

More Stem Cells!

Hi Everyone,

We’re excited because I’m going back to Panama to get more stem cells! We’re leaving soon. The Dr.’s were excited about how much I gained so far and they want me to come back for another treatment. It has been over 2 years now since my last treatment. I have gained more and more after each treatment and we are excited to see what this treatment will bring. It’s expensive to have to go out of the country to do this,  but we know I have to keep trying to heal as much as possible.  Please keep us in your prayers as we continue our journey to healing. If anyone is interested in donating to our cause please look at the options on the side of my blog. (Pay Pal or National Bank of Arizona)  

Things are going good here. The kids are growing like weeds. Parker is now a Freshman in High School, Hunter is in 7th grade and Savannah is now a year old. We are having lots of fun with them. 

I’m still working out hard in Physical Therapy. I switched places that I work out at now. I now go to Rehab Arizona. They specialize in neuro dealing with spinal cord injuries. They have a cool machine there that I love working out on. It’s a anti gravity machine that I walk in. It’s cool because they can adjust the amount of weight that goes on your legs when walking. Then there is a treadmill underneath me that I walk on. It feels as if you’re walking on the moon. It is so cool! I was even jumping the other day. I hadn’t done that in 5 years and it felt so awesome! When I walk in the machine I wear my half braces that go below my knees, but I am doing all of the walking on my own. It’s just easier because I don’t have as much weight on my legs. I walked for 30 minutes the other day and went over a mile. So much fun! I hope I continue to improve even more after I get another round of stem cells. I also hope the stem cells can continue to help with my continuous nerve pain. It is such a bummer to have this kind of pain because there isn’t much the Dr.’s can do for it. In many patients the stem cells have also helped with this. Well that’s all for now, I will update more as things progress, including posting some video of me walking in the antigravity machine. Thanks so much for keeping us in your prayers. :)

April Update

Hi Everyone,

Well things are going good around here. Savannah is now 6 months old and growing like a weed. She’s such a sweet baby! We have so much fun together.  I feel so blessed that I’m able to stay home and take care of her all day. 

Scott and I are also very busy with the boys. They're both doing well in school. They are also both still playing club baseball and have many games and tournaments. It’s so much fun watching them play. Parker also plays for his 8th grade school team. Hunter looks forward to playing for his school also once he starts  Jr. High next year.

I’m still volunteering all day on most Tuesdays at Brisas the school I used to teach at.  My mom watches Savannah that day so I can go. I enjoy it and it’s nice to get my “teacher fix. “ I love the students and staff there so much.  

I’m still working out hard in Physical Therapy. The only difference is now with the baby I only have time to do it twice a week for about 2 hours each time. I am getting my core and arms back in shape. I’m still able to do lots of sit ups and I’m standing good and will get stronger with walking longer distances as I continue to get back to where I was strength wise before her birth.  I know I will get there soon. 

I also spend time most days talking with or e-mailing with other Spinal Cord Injury patients that need advise or support with things. They contact me through my You-tube video, the Cell Medicine website, or my blog. I feel so good to be able to give back that way. I have met some wonderful people through all of this. 

The Dr's. from Cell Medicine came to  Arizona to present a Stem Cell Seminar. It was a great event and I loved getting the chance to see some past patients and  the wonderful Dr.’s again. They did a video update on me to share what has changed since the last time I spoke at their seminar in San Diego. They're going to put the update on their site soon. You can also go to Cell Medicine to see my videos on there if you’re interested. 

Anyway, all is good and I will update again as things change. 

Take Care,

Trish

Our Baby Girl Has Arrived!!!

My Husband Scott & I three weeks before she was born

Hi Everyone,

Well a lot has changed since my last posting. My family and I are happy to announce the arrival of our sweet little girl Savannah. I delivered her naturally on October 19th. Everything went great with my pregnancy and her delivery. I was even able to push her out like I did with my other two kids before I was hurt. It was a glorious experience! My doctor told me since my ab. muscles were strong now that it shouldn’t be a problem and it wasn’t. We are so happy that she is here and we are both very happy and healthy.

Right After She Was Born

Here is Savannah her first day of life

I worked out in physical therapy up until two weeks before she was born. I had to stop my walking as I got big because I got dizzy some because of all of the extra blood I had in my body because of the pregnancy. I also never wanted to risk falling while pregnant. I did continue to stand and do hip hikes the whole time though. I also continued to do the total gym to keep my arms and core strong. I also worked out with the weighted balls lifting them in many different positions preparing me for when I will carry the baby all around.

Our Family. The boys are so excited too!

I Love Her Sooooo Much!

She was three days old in this picture.

Savannah is now 3 weeks old and I look forward to being able to go back to working out in a couple of weeks. I want to get my abs back to being as strong as they were. I am also very excited to be able to start walking and standing with my half braces again. I don’t have much patience in waiting for my body to recuperate but I will have to be patient as it rebuilds it self up again. I know I will get there. Then I can try and push myself even further and see what happens.

My husband Scott and I adapted her crib so it opens up like french doors and I can place her in and get her out easily that way. I also had a friend of mine that had kids after she was injured give me her roll under changing table and it works great. Scott also built me a roll under table that I can attach her bouncy chair or baby swing to and so I can easily get her in and out. I know I will have to do some things different this time around, but I have no doubt that I will be able to do it all fine. :)

I feel so blessed to be able to be a new Mom again. We love her so much!!!

Still Going Strong!

It’s been awhile since my last post. I wanted to share about my experience when I was asked to speak at the Stem Cell Convention in San Diego. I was one of the patients that got to share my story at the convention. It was a great experience. It was wonderful again to hear from the doctors all that is going on with their experiences with the treatment of patients with stem cells. It was very informative and I loved sharing my story with all the people there. They also posted my talk on their website so I am posting it also on here for you to see. If you want go to their website follow the link on my page and click on spinal cord injuries. Here is a picture of me before it started.

Here is my talk. I was nervous at first because I was expecting to be the 3rd patient to give their talk but they called me first so it threw me off guard at first as I was getting started. My talk went well though and I’m so glad I did it.

As I said before, I take it as my calling now to be a mentor to many other Spinal Cord Injury patients around the world. I used to talk to about 3 different people a week, but now after my talk in San Diego I get to talk with as many as 10 a day. They find me through my blog or from my You-tube video. I take a lot of time e-mailing and talking with all the people that contact me because I truly enjoy all the people I get to talk with. I love sharing our experiences and helping them out in any way I can. Most are interested in the stem cell information. I tell them about my experience with it and leave it to them to make their own choice about getting it or not. Many are so hopeful that they too will have as much success with it. Every patient and their injury is so different and the outcomes can be very different, but they have had many successes with SCI patients who did get the stem cells.

Things are still going good with my physical therapy. I’m still working out hard about 3 times a week. My core is still very strong and I do many exercises to keep my core, arms, and my hip

flexors strong. I also continue to stand and walk a lot in my half braces that go below my knees in therapy and sometimes at home. I continue to get stronger with how far I can walk with out having to rest. My theory is still that I don’t want to walk out in public on a day to day basis until I can at least walk as fast as I can wheel (Which is really fast.) I see no point in it yet when I’m running from place to place, which is constant, with being as active as I am & having two busy sons that I’m always running everywhere with. I do hope in my heart someday that I will be able to walk fast enough so that It will be worth while, while I’m out, but until then I’m fine because I am very confident with who I am in my chair and I will keep working on walking in therapy while I work out. But again, I am always thankful for the gains I have had since the stem cell. Having my core back makes everyday things easy again.

It’s nice that I can stand or walk around with the walker when I want to though. Scott & I had fun this weekend taking pictures standing and dancing some together. We were goofing around and it was fun. I posted some of the pictures below. I love seeing myself standing with my cute hubby. :)

Hi Everyone,

It feels so good to be able to stand with very little pressure on the walker. I can do it without any hands also but I didn't want to yet without anyone near me.

Well, just three days after my last blog update I did something awesome! As I shared in my last entry I had begun to take just a few steps back and forth while practicing locking my own knees and shifting my weight from leg to leg. Well on Jan 21st after having my half braces a little over two weeks I told my therapist that I wanted to try walking. My very first try I walked about 30 feet. It was so exciting because I was actually taking normal steps where I would take a step then transfer my weight forward on that leg and put my weight on it while locking out my own knee. Then I would bend my other knee and step and do the same thing. It felt awesome! My therapist is helping me push the walker forward right now because he wants me to focus on all I need to do to walk and not have to worry about moving the walker yet. I will try it soon though. He is there in front of me and has his hands near by in case I was to buckle but he isn't helping me at all. This is much different than walking in those long bulky braces that I tried a few times last year. With those you feel excited because your up and moving on your own but it definitely wasn't the kind of walking that I wanted to do. With the half braces even though it's still slow going after my first few tries, I feel so excited to be walking bending my knees and then stepping and locking them out. The next time I tried 2 days later I doubled my first record of 30 feet and walked 60 feet. Now, I just hope that the stem cells continue to heal my injury on my spinal cord and I get faster and faster at walking. I will attach the video of my second try walking. I wanted to delete the sound but couldn't. Just ignore the sound of another patient and her therapist talking in the background. You can't hear me or Mark (My therapist).






The same day before I walked in the half braces for the first time, I more than doubled my sit up record too. It must have been a strong day. First I did at least 100 sit ups with the weighted ball (which actually makes coming up a little easier). Then I did 83 sit ups in a row on my own with out anything in my hands. After the 83, I did a few more to reach 100 with out the ball but I got the 83 in a row without stopping or my muscles fatiguing. I was very proud. I have come so far because before the stem cell I could only lean back on the mat a few inches before falling back and having to catch my self with my arms.


Scott and I also were excited to stand up together to take this photo. If felt great because we haven't been able to do that in over 3 1/2 years. I love standing like this with him again!

Exciting Progress

Now I'm standing with my half braces that don't block my knees.

Hi everyone,

Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. I've just been very busy with working out, volunteering at the schools and enjoying life with my family. :)

I finally got my half braces below my knees a couple of weeks ago. I can stand in them for as long as I want usually an hour at a time without anyone blocking my knees or touching me at all. At times I put very light touch on the walker or parallel bars, but I can also do it with no hands touching the walker at all. When I do this my therapist is still close by just in case my knees buckle. This doesn't happen often but locking out my own knees it is a new sensation for me to think about doing on my own while I'm standing.

The other day in therapy I had both hands up not touching and I got to play catch with a tennis ball against a little trampoline that was in the vertical position against the wall.My therapist was behind me just in case. Since both of my hands were up not touching, he was there to provide extra stability if needed. I played softball all through school so this was fun for me. Those of you that know me well know that I'm very competitive so this was a fun new challenge for me . I would work on throwing it hard against the trampoline then catch it with the opposite hand then switch to the same hand in all sorts of different angles to challenge myself. Sometimes I would forget that I needed to balance and just go for it when it was really low or high not even thinking. I of course never wanted it to drop. This was fun and I pushed myself hard with out even thinking about it.

In my half braces I can also take a few steps forward and backwards locking my own knees. Remember long ago I could walk pretty far around the gym in my long braces that locked my knees. But they were so bulky and it was still slow going and tiring. Well, this is exciting in my new super light half braces because I am learning how to lock my own knees as I step. It's a conscious effort to do so right now but we're hoping the more I do it and the more the stem cells continue to heal my injured spinal cord, the easier it will be. My knees aren't completely locking on their own all the time yet. The half braces lock out my ankle and this in turn helps my knees to lock a little in some positions.

I am still good at sit ups using the 4 inch wedge behind me. I can do up to 40 in a row all on my own with out the use of a weighted ball. Then I try each time to do as many like that until my abs are fatigued. I can do as many as I want with the weighted 5 pound or 3 pound ball. I usually do 100 of those before I try to do it with nothing in my hands which is much harder. I will continue to try and beat my record of 40 in a row.

In the next few months I'm going to San Diego to speak at a presentation about adult stem cell. Some of the Dr.s from Panama will be there and some of the other patients that had success with stem cell for many different reasons. I will write more about the details of it as it gets closer and we have the set date.

Well, that is it for now. I'll write more as things change. Please always keep me in your thoughts and prayers.


Take Care,

Trish

Already Some Improvement

We got home on Saturday the 2nd around 2:30 pm. We were so excited to see the boys! I missed them so much, but enjoyed talking to them on Skype each morning while I was gone. They are on October break now for two weeks. I’m looking forward to hanging out with them. When I was swimming with them the day after I got back I was sitting in the pool on a step and I was able to kick my right leg out about 8 inches without recruiting any other muscles for help. This was very encouraging since before I could only kick it out an inch or so with out using other muscles to help do this. Stay tuned for more updates as I progress. Again, remember that it can take up to 6 or 7 months to see all the effects of the stem cells and my hard work.
My first day back at therapy I was able to do sit ups with only about a 4 inch wedge behind me, all on my own. Before Panama, I needed that wedge plus a pillow and my therapist had to hold my fingers as I was coming up to help me some. I’m so excited to do them on my own now. I want to work on not even having the 4 inch wedge behind me at all. Then it will be a normal sit up all the way.

Now during the neuro which is when they shock my muscles to help my legs move and contract well, my legs kick out straight at only a level 6. Before I got more stem cells, they needed a level 10 to do this. I hope these are all signs of even more good to come. It’s exciting each day to see what will happen next. I feel very strong and it feels good. Again, I am so thankful for any return and I believe more will come!

On October 7th I went to the Grand Opening of the Celebration Stem Cell Center that just opened in Gilbert. It’s located by Mercy Gilbert Medical Center off the 202. It was a great event. I was excited to see Sherry Lund there. She is the one who originally introduced me to the idea of stem cells and the Stem Cell Institute. She is such a wonderful lady who has always believed that each life is precious. This is the facilities mission statement.

Mission Statement
It is to provide the highest quality of viable stem cells for transplant and regenerative medicine and to increase awareness of the healing effects of stem cells. There is a medical necessity to establish a diverse and global inventory of cord blood stem cells to offer hope to patients who suffer from a life threatening disease or injury. Through a comprehensive public awareness campaign, we will reveal the facts about stem cell therapy.

If you want to learn more you can contact them at http://www.celebrationstemcellcentre.com/

As she was giving the presentation with her family and the Mayor of Gilbert was talking too, they asked me to speak. I wasn't expecting this but I was happy to share my story and people were very touched. I met many wonderful people and doctors. How exciting that a umbilical cord blood bank and stem cell processing center is right here in Gilbert, Arizona. It’s still too bad that they can’t use these stem cells here in the US yet for spinal cord injury patients. But, it is a huge step to help the US get further along in this amazing medical treatment.

I am so grateful that Cell Medicine in Panama is there for us now. They were wonderful, caring and honest people. They can’t promise that it will work for everyone, but through their patients they are seeing many amazing results. Please keep me in your prayers as I continue on my journey.

Our Last Day in Panama

Well Friday October 1st was our last day here in Panama. I went to physical therapy and worked out then we said good bye to the new friends we met. We hope to keep in contact with them to share our good results along the way.



My last injection went well. I said goodbye to Dr. Herrero my anesthesiologist. She was great! Each time that I got an injection into my spinal fluid, she would always say. “Good Job Trish, One less” Now I’m all done for this treatment. Yeah!

I am excited to get home and start working out again. I am very optimistic and hopeful to see what will return this time. I’m also very excited for the future. With how things are going in the medical world things look very bright for people with spinal cord injuries.

Sorry it has been a few days since the last post, but there hasn’t been much new to report. Tuesday night we went out to dinner with Dr. Ugalde and Natalia, who also works at the lab. We went to a great restaurant that was chosen by Natalia. It was called Jaleo. It had a nice atmosphere, and the food was great.

Wednesday was a therapy and injection day. Between therapy and the injection we met up with Shaun Doss and his Dad Robert. Trish knows Shaun from back home at SOS therapy. He’s a 7 year old with a spinal cord injury. We were excited to meet up with them and take a stroll down the boardwalk. However, it was really hot out and were all happy to finally get into the mall and grab a bite to eat. Wednesday was Trish’s first injection of her own bone marrow stem cells. Everything went smoothly with the injection and the rest of the evening was spent relaxing.

Thursday was therapy and then an IV. At therapy we met another spinal cord injury patient, Bruce, from Iowa. After meeting at therapy we made plans to go out for dinner that night with him and his friend Melissa.

After Trish’s IV we got to go to the lab for a tour. This was really interesting. The lab is located next to the canal on the old US military base. There are a lot of businesses located in this area and several US Universities that have small campuses here. We thought that was interesting. The lab Director, who we met last week, gave a nice presentation of their processes and procedures on how they prepare the cells. It’s a huge process. We loved learning more about it. We also met Pablo, who is the CEO of the clinic. He too was very personable and took time with us to answer any questions we had. While we were there we also saw Natalia again and she was busy working on the cells. We missed Dr. Ugalde as he left the day prior to fly to Minnesota to run a marathon – Good luck Federico! It’s clear from talking to everyone at the lab
(and the clinic in general), they are all very excited about the work they are doing and love what they do. They are so hopeful of even more possibilities for the future. We had hoped to see
Dr. Riordan again, but he was out of the country and was returning later tonight.

After the lab tour we went out to dinner with Bruce and Melissa to another great restaurant it was called Don Patacon. We tried ceviche, an appetizer, which is a dish they are known for here. It’s raw fish marinated in citrus juices (lime and lemon) and then it also had mangos, coconut milk, and other spices. It was great! For dinner we both ordered another fish dish, red snapper this time, which was delicious. We have really loved the food down here. It’s really good and affordable. It was great to have dinner with Bruce and Melissa. They were both really nice and we hope to keep in touch with them after we leave here.

Here are some real cool pictures of mesenchmal stem cells that they shared with us at the lab. Dye has been added to enhance the pictures.

This picture is of the mesenchymal stem cells in their natural form. As you can see they are relatively flat.

As the cells get ready to split they start to get into a ball shape.

Here is a really cool picture of a cell splitting!

Here are a few pictures of some of the rooms in the lab.

Here is Trish and Natalia. We met Natalia earlier in the week and were very impressed with her knowledge and passion for the work they are doing in the lab!

We are not sure why, but there have been fireworks right outside the condo over the bay twice since we have been here, the last one was Thursday night. Check out the pictures!

Friday is our last day in Panama! Trish has therapy and her last injection (Bone marrow again). We will be busy packing and getting ready to leave in the morning. Our flight is at 7:00 in the morning which means we need to leave our condo at 4:30, which means we need to get up around 2:30, which is 12:30 am back home! Saturday is going to be another long travel day, but boy are we excited to get home!!! It’s been nice talking with the boys each morning on Skype but we miss them like crazy!

Catching Up on the Past Few Days

Sunday was pretty low key, we got caught up on laundry, took a long stroll along the boardwalk and then walked across the street for a movie. The movie theater is interesting. They are very modern and they have “regular” movies and “VIP” movies. The VIP movies include leather lounge chairs and there is a waiter or waitress that will take food orders and deliver it to you during the movie! We just went to a regular movie, but might try to catch a VIP movie before we leave. The VIP movies cost about the same as normal movies back home and the regular movies are half price. All in all Sunday was a very relaxing day.

Monday was another day of physical therapy, followed by a trip to the mall and then Trish’s 3rd injection. This time we went to the big mall. It's huge with very high end stores. So, no purchases for us other than a cup of coffee. :)

The injection on Monday contained fresh, non-expanded cells. Typically, the clinic receives the cells and then splits them to produce more cells and then freezes them until they are injected. The cells Trish got Monday have never been spilt, so they were brand new cells. These cells have been shown to work better, but can’t be used more often because of the cost and the overall availability of umbilical cord blood stem cells. The injection went well again and then Trish was down resting for the night, letting the stem cells do there thing! And, no headache!

Here we are working on balance in Physical Therapy. Ivan puts me to work helping out, which I love!

Here is Trish and Ivan her Physical Therapist posing for the camera!

This is a picture of the stem cells being injected in Trish's spinal fluid.

Here is (from left to right) the nurse (didn't catch his name), Dr. Herrero (the anesthesiologist), and Dr. Hernandez (the general Dr.)

Here Trish is with 2 of the patient coordinators, Samantha and Viviane. They are so sweet and Trish enjoys talking with them when she goes in for her treatments. Trish doesn't have a picture with Melisa yet, but will be sure to get one before we leave. It's nice because the clinic gave us a cell phone to make local calls while were here. It's nice because if we ever need anything day or night, they are always there to help.

Tuesday was physical therapy and then an IV. The IV was Trish’s first containing her own cells from her bone marrow. All in all from her bone marrow, she will get 2 bone marrow IV’s and 2 bone marrow injections. All of these will come over the next four days.

Things are going well, but we are getting home sick and ready to come home. We miss our boys, our pets, our family and friends very much! Thanks so much for your posts. It's great to hear from you.

We Love Monkeys!!!

Yesterday afternoon while I had to lay flat after my injection, Scott walked to a different grocery store that was about a mile away. It was open and he got stuff for us to make more of our meals at the condo. He came back with these flowers to surprise me. What a great guy he is!

Well, this morning we headed out to the Panama Canal and Monkey Island. William had his driver Victor drive us there. It's only a half an hour away. On the way there we saw an ant eater on the side of the road. Victor knows the local stuff so he got us a local boat tour guide that took us all around Lake Gatun and through parts of the canal. The canal actually runs through the lake. The boat was a small boat that could hold about 8 people. Our boat had only us 3 and the guide. It was fun going fast across the water passing some huge freighters as we went.

The boat stopped in front of a little island which we could quickly see was “Monkey Island”. The White Face Monkeys came running out to the end of the limbs on the trees to greet us. You can tell that they are used to boats coming up to them with food. They're not shy at all. Quickly about 6 monkeys jumped on our boat. One climbed right on Scott’s lap as we fed them pieces of bananas that Victor brought along. They were so cute! They kept grabbing bananas out of our hands and stuffing their faces. They would let you touch them and they would wrap their soft little hands around your fingers. It was so cool! Then they would jump back to the trees in the jungle. Then we would go a little further and more would jump on our boat. You have to watch your stuff or they will steal it and jump away. One of them took a little bag that Victor had. Their quick. What an amazing opportunity to be this close with wild monkeys. I wish so bad that Hunter and Parker could have been here to do this too.

Next we drove further on the lake and saw some other animals. We saw a big turtle, an alligator, an iguana, and some bigger black monkeys.

Here is the big Iguana in the tree.

Look close for two black monkeys.

Here they are closer.

Next we got back in the car and headed to Miraflores Locks. We went into the museum and watched a video explaining the history and how they built the Panama Canal. In the early 1900’s many different cultures came together to build the canal that would go through a strip of land 48 miles wide and connect the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. What a feat! The locks are necessary to bring the boat from sea level up to the level of the canal and lake. They do this by filling the locks with water, or letting water out. This brings the ships up or down each section. We were able to watch a big freighter go through the locks, which was very interesting to see. There are actually 3 sets of locks along the canal and we were at the one that is the entrance/exit with the Pacific Ocean. There are currently 2 lanes at the locks and boats can go through both ways. There is currently a huge expansion going on in which they are planning on building another set of locks, as well as widening and deepening the existing channel. They anticipate that this will be done in 2014. It was interesting.

Now we are back in our condo for a relaxing evening. Make sure that you click on the post before this. "A Night Out" because we posted that one and this one on the same day. Talk to you soon.