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. :)
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.
