A Better Life For Dan

Merry 'Christ'mas to all...

2009-12-22T19:12:00.007-07:00

Seasons Greetings from the Maughan's...

It took some doing - but we finally got a picture of all of us together!!!

After 18 years working at Novell, LaNae has moved on to a new position with ACS (Xerox). She is still trying to decide what she wants to be when she grows up... Dan, on the other hand, is far more mature as he turned 104 this year (if you don't know, Dan always doubles his age on his birthday... he says that he FEELS that old because he can't walk and has to use a wheelchair). I think as we age, Dan will get better and before long it will be Dan pushing LaNae in her chair... what a thought! Dan is still working hard on improvement and never gives up. He is an inspiration to all who know him.

Nate has been working hard at his studies at the police academy. He finished tying 1st in his class - way to go Nate! He will finish up in June of next year and then we will see what the future brings... Heather J is working as an OR recovery nurse as well as being a great mom to Riley and Gentry. They are growing up so fast - and we are happy to have them with us and enjoy their company.

Another great event of the year was Heather's wedding to Johnny Lui. Johnny is a great guy and we love having him as a part of our family. Exciting news has it that they will be welcoming a new baby girl into their family next year. We are looking forward to having more cute grandchildren!

Jeff and Kallie did a great job and added our first grandson to the mix last February. Jackson is a cutie and we love every opportunity we get to squeeze his chunky little cheeks! He has been a really good baby and is fun to have come visit. We are enjoying watching him do his "army crawl" to get where he wants to go. Jeff is the head coach at Orem High in addition to his other entreprenureal efforts and Kallie is a stay-at-home mom now.

Angie is always on the go -- from working at the Lion House Pantry (yum!) to going to school and keeping up with all her friends, it is amazing we even get to see her! We are always glad when she cheers up our home with a visit... She will be coaching lacrosse again this year and so there isn't much of a break for her! She is our 'angel' and we think she is the greatest!

We are grateful at this time of year for our many blessings, for our wonderful children and family, our relationships with them and our friends. We are especially grateful for the wonderful knowledge that we can be together forever. We are so grateful for the life of our Savior, who without Him, this could not be possible.

We wish you the best at this 'Christ'mas season. May you find the peace that only He can bring and much happiness in the coming year.

With love,
From the Maughan's
[Dan & LaNae, Nathan & HeatherJ, Riley, Gentry, Johnny & Heather, Jeff & Kallie, Jackson, & Angie]

Dan's Therapy Updates ... April 2009

2009-04-26T22:58:00.017-06:00

Just wanted to add some of the latest therapy news for Dan...

Dan is working with a personal trainer at our local gym (Gold's Gym). The trainer's name is Dave de Hoyos and he has been a great help to Dan. Dan goes to the gym three days a week, and works out for about 4 hours. Dave provides him with guidance on what to work on, as well as nutritional advice.

Dan has been drinking some fresh vegetable drinks in addition to some fruit smoothies and protein drinks. The veggie drink consists of water, spinach, lettuce, beets, kale, parsley, sprouts, carrots - sweetened with a little acai berry juice, agava nectar, strawberries and blueberries (and flaxseed).

This is Dan arriving at Gold's Gym for a therapy workout...!

Dan with his trainer - Dave... Dan really likes Dave - he pushes him to do more all the time! We would love to get an update from Dave on his perspective of Dan's progress...

Dan doing some push up exercises...

Some pulling type exercises...

Focus Dan!

Another serious workout shot!

Now there's that smile we have come to know and love... go Dan!

Some new "shoes" -- they are called Five Fingers and they allow Dan to have better propioception (feeling where he is in space) and also with using his muscles to balance him better. Kind of a challenge to get on, but he is wearing them diligently!

Thanks Dave - we appreciate all you are doing for Dan...

New Grandbaby!

2009-02-28T18:10:00.008-07:00

Today was a great day for the Maughan family! The arrival of Jackson Jeffrey Maughan came early this afternoon at around 1:06 pm. (I got the EXACT time later... )

Details:
Jackson Jeffrey Maughan
8 lbs 2 oz
20 1/2 inches

Proud parents:
Jeffrey Scott & Kallie Marie Wilkins Maughan

Here are some fun photos of the little guy!

The handsome chap!

With the proud Mom and Dad!

Happy Grandparents....

Proud Aunt Angie and Papa Jeff!

Look how alert he is! He is such a cutie...

Grandma is loving her new grandbaby!

Another few precious moments with Daddy Jeff.

It is so fun to see your children grow up and become parents themselves. It is a great time for the entire family. We feel very blessed that all went well with the birth and that little Jackson is here to bless our lives.

Some Miracles Take Time....

2009-02-22T09:05:00.003-07:00

I am going to start blogging again! It has been a while since I posted and mostly it is because life has been super busy lately. Since Thanksgiving, we have done the following --

-LaNae got released from her Young Women's calling in her church. (miss the YW!!)
-Dan / LaNae helped Heather get into her own home
-Heather's house needed a LOT of work, so we have been in remodel mode with her and with Jeff / Kallie and their home. Lot's of painting and handyman work going on. It seemed to take every weekend and free moment, but things are looking up for both homes! :-)
-Christmas was wonderful!
-LaNae is super busy at work with a project that needs to go live in the next two weeks.

I am thinking the tone of this blog will change a bit - from Help Dan Heal to Life With Dan... we are doing great, and I want others to know that life with a disabled guy can be good. We are still working to help Dan have a better life, but that is not an event, it is a process. Like the title of the blog says.. some miracles take time.

Over the last few months, we have had several experiences that have reinforced this concept. On Christmas Eve (or thereabout) Dan and I met Angie at a car shop as she was having problems with her brakes. While waiting for the repairs to be completed, we shared the waiting room with a person that knew Dan from working with him over 10 years ago. We didn't make the connection right away, because she kept thinking - that looks like Dan, but it can't be - because he would be much older than this guy! (Dan is amazing in that he doesn't show his true age...) Also, Dan was pretty much wheelchair bound when she knew him and he had walked into the car shop, so this was another thing that made her think it wasn't the same guy. In a nutshell, she was amazed at the progress Dan had made over the last 10 years!!

Then we ran into some other friends that we knew from the WordPerfect Magazine days at the movie theater. The reaction was similar as Dan got out of his wheelchair and walked for them... they were amazed at the progress that he has made over the years.

Another highlight was when Dan was asked to give an opening prayer in our church congregation. As all who know Dan can attest that his speech has been hard to understand, when he gave the prayer, every word was understandable! We know that he has some extra Help that day...! I have had many people come up to me and say how much his speech has improved. I think it still fluctuates a bit, but I do think there are times when I have noticed this as well.

The point is... don't give up if things don't seem to be progressing!! The miracles we see can be realized over a period of time, and we know that we have been blessed, and CONTINUE to be blessed as time passes by. The Lord helps us carry our burdens through the dark times, and He also blesses us with continued progress, even if it is a little at a time. We are told that there is no progress after the first couple of years post-injury. I believe that is mostly because people give up hope and stop trying...

I am not saying it is not hard to keep believing in progress when it is so slow in coming... I am saying that giving up doesn't help anyone. Being bitter about what has happened to you in life only makes you a miserable person. I have found that as I give my pain to the Lord that He blesses me and helps me cope with the day to day challenges, and indeed find joy and peace in the journey. The journey may be a continual climb up a steep mountain slope, but there are stop points along the way where the scenery is breath taking and well worth the effort to get there.

Dan has made some progress over the last year - all the efforts that we have done to help him progress have not been in vain. ...and I believe there is more progress to come. We just need to keep moving forward and putting our trust in the Lord that the best things possible (and the best things for our good /growth) will happen to us. We don't know what the end story looks like, but God does. We trust that He knows best for us, and we are happy to travel the journey together.

There is still hope on the horizon for continued medical breakthroughs that will help Dan and others who suffer from brain / spinal cord injuries.

-- a side note --- (several years ago, our daughter, Heather was injured at a youth activity where she broke her jaw and mashed up her foot. The reaction that I had when the person came to inform us of Heather's injuries can only be understood by someone who has been closely associated to a loved one that has had a traumatic brain injury. They came to my door, and said "Heather has been involved in an accident, and you better come quick." They told me a little specifics of the accident and that Heather was on her way to the hospital. I asked "was she conscious?" They said, "Yes" - and after that I was fine. I knew that if there was no head injury that it was easy! Broken bones take about 6-8 weeks, but it is not life changing, so nothing to worry about! Just a really interesting way to assess an accident / injury situation...)

I read just the other day about research that is going on at the University of Utah and also a recent news article about stem cell research on KSL(local channel). There is still much to hope for... time will show us that in God's great plan, He is still watching over those who suffer, and will provide a means for their recovery soon. We must still have faith to believe and to hope that inspired researchers will find the way soon. Our test is to continue on with happiness for the things we are blessed with now, but look forward with bright optimism for what the future may hold in store for us. We are not alone in our journey, and that is the greatest insight of all...

May God bless you and yours in your daily struggles in life.
All the best from Dan and LaNae

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T21:16:00.006-07:00

Today we spent the day in Idaho with my Mother and some of our family. It was a small crowd, but we had a great day together. Our children are spread from Arizona to Boise, Idaho today and so it was Dan, Angie and I representing our family at Grandma's house. The food was wonderfully delicious - my Mom is an awesome cook. I especially love the homemade rolls...!

Dan and I are thankful for many things this year. It has been exactly one year since returning home from China. We flew home last year, and then traveled up to Idaho the next day for the Thanksgiving holiday. I remember that I came down with a cold and was sick the whole weekend....

What an amazing experience we have had this year! It has been one of great hope for improvement for Dan -- and also one of some disappointment that we have not been able to realize the progress that we had hoped for. It has also been a year that we have connected with others that share the same hopes for their loved ones, and we have been touched by their examples. We have fond memories of our friends that we met in China and those whose stories we have followed. In many ways, we are different people as we have a deeper appreciation of the struggles of others and the burdens they carry. We have connected to a community of people that has blessed our lives for good.

We have also been forever changed by the outpouring of love and support shown to us by family and friends alike. We were amazed at all the people that stepped forward and donated to our cause... it made us realize that we have a great group of people that care for us and have been willing to give of their means so that we could have this great opportunity for Dan. It was a risk that none of us knew if it would work, but the support came freely from so many sources that it humbled us to know how many others cared for us. We thank you again for your goodness to us and for believing in us!! Someday -- we want to be the kind of people that can see a need of others and be the ones to reach out and help. We want to give back to others as others have given so generously to us.

More than anything, we have a renewed hope and determination to keep going, even if the progress is slow. The things that we strive for in life do not always come instantly or overnight, but that does not mean they are unworthy of the effort. There are many lessons to learn on the journey and we are thankful to be traveling the road together.

Dan got a "reworked" leg brace back on Tuesday this week and so he is able to walk much better now. We are going to switch our insurance back at the first of the year - the carrier that we have been with this year has denied on many items. We hope to get Dan a new brace next year, but this one is better than not having one at all. We are working on not trying to slip back into old habits (of rotating the hip to move the leg...) I have it easy - I say "Dan, why don't you just stand there and practice transferring your weight from side to side... after you do that for about 30 minutes -- let me know how it is going..." He looks at me like I am crazy, but I think if he would listen more to his wife (therapist) that he would do much better! ;-)

We wish you all a great Thanksgiving time, and want to again thank everyone for their prayers and support in our behalf! YOU have made a great difference for us and we love and appreciate you all! Happy Thanksgiving!

More updates on Dan...

2008-11-02T20:09:00.002-07:00

It seems challenging to keep updating the blog when the progress is so slow with Dan's therapy. Many people who see him say that they think his speech has improved... that would be good. I am hoping that is the case, but it is hard to tell when you live with him everyday. It is like watching your kids grow... you don't really notice a change from day to day, but when you look back over a period of time, you can see the changes.

Dan continues to work on his improvement. We have applied for a Bioness device that can help stimulate his right arm. We are waiting to see if insurance approves this... it has been frustrating as my insurance quit paying for any therapy as they don't believe it is "medically necessary" for him to continue on in therapy. It is hard enough to stay motivated to work on therapy when the progress seems so slow.. but when you can't get the help of the insurance to back you, it becomes a situation that requires even more self motivation. Dan has been riding his bike down to Gold's gym and working out there...

He also went in for a brace evaluation - we are trying to get a leg brace that will work. Since going to China, he has been walking without the leg brace - and does ok if he goes really slow. But his right leg is still not stable, and so he has the potential to fall and thus we are looking for a brace that will work for him. We did have one made earlier in the year, but after use in therapy, it became apparent that it was not very functional for day to day use. The brace restricted him from bending his leg fully, and this made it hard for him to go from a sitting to standing position. He couldn't get the leg bent enough to get under him to lift him into a standing position. He also couldn't ride his bike due to the brace getting in the way... it seems like such a simple thing... get a brace to stabilize his knee hyperextension, but it becomes a very complicated, custom operation to get one that really works well. We are still working on it - we went back to the company that made him the best brace he has ever had. The orthotist there wears a brace himself, and so he seems a little more in tune with what is really needed to create a workable solution...

We are continuing to support Dan in his effort to make improvements. He is such a good guy, and if there is any chance of a better life for him, we want to help him realize it. We will keep you posted....

Summer Updates

2008-09-28T22:13:00.018-06:00

Just wanted to catch up on some of the activities of the summer. It seems that time flies by so fast and I don't always get the blog updated. We are doing well... Dan is actively pursuing his therapy and travels to SLC 2-3 times a week. He has been going to a therapy center that specializes in spinal cord injuries (Neuroworx http://www.neuroworx.org). He has now started going to LDS Hospital for occupational therapy... he also got a gym pass at a local gym that he works out at on the days that he is not going to Salt Lake City. He is truly "giving it his all..."

We have had some fun this summer -- here is Dan on his bike up Provo canyon. Dan rode up the canyon and met Angie and I (we threw our bikes in a trailer and rode up the canyon - we only wanted to ride DOWN the canyon and we weren't as energetic as Dan. We did bring some food and had a nice picnic in the canyon park before we made the trek down the mountain...

This canyon is very close to our home... in just a matter of minutes we can enjoy beautiful scenery like this! There is a bike trail that is very close to our house that you can bike up the canyon, next to the Provo river... very nice to get a quick get-away!

Here is Dan with his brother, Bill at Lagoon (a local amusement park). We went there for a family get together in August... (do they look like twins or what?!)

Jeff and Riley enjoying an exciting ride...

Jeff and Cody (cousin) on the Sky Coaster ride... this was quite the thrill!

This is a very high ride where they harness you up and lift you up between two tall metal towers. They then drop you and you swing down and back up -- a little too much adrenalin rush for me!

Angie, Mckayla (friend) and Keyanee (cousin) get suited up to ride on the sky coaster!

Back to earth safe and sound after the BIG ride...!

Dan gets LOST....
(ok - so maybe we left him... oops!)

This is my excuse... when my kids are with me, I get the opportunity to relax a little as they help push Dan about on the wheelchair. Well, we decided to go ride the "Rattlesnake Rapids" ride, a very fun river rafting simulation.. and I (being the wise woman that I am...) brought rain ponchos for everyone to wear on this ride. But no, everyone was too macho to have a rain poncho, so I was the only chicken of the bunch. I got to carry all of the cell phones under my poncho (apparently the group was all smart enough to let me protect their phones..!).

Well, this is what Dan looked like after a couple of times through on the ride...
This is what you call "See Dan Drenched!"

We all had a good laugh and then decided to walk around to the other side of the park for some more adventures. After we had almost reached our destination... I said "where is Dan?!" I thought that one of the boys was pushing his wheelchair, but he was not with the crowd. We had all walked off and left him! (our bad...) The worst part was that I still had his cell phone from the river rafting trip, and so he couldn't even call us and tell us how stupid we were! I hurried back to see if I could find him.. and at the same time, called Jeff and he came from another direction. Jeff found him about where we had left him... just smiling like "I wondered how long it would take you guys to wake up... duh!" We are grateful that Dan gets some "watching over and protection from Above" when we are such idiots!

Next story.... Bear Lake!
Bear Lake is a beautiful lake that is about 2 1/2 hours from our home. We were fortunate enough to get to go up there this summer and spend a couple of days relaxing... one day we went out on the lake and rented a wave runner to have some fun on. Here is Dan and Angie on the wave runner...

The funny part of the story was getting Dan out to the wave runner and up on it... it was just Angie and I, so I walked with him out to the water. We then proceeded to push and pull to get him up on the wave runner. I decided to run back to the shore to get the camera (can't miss this photo opportunity!) and so I jumped off the one side. Apparently.... Dan was not holding on and the rock of the wave runner caused by my sudden departure sent him flying into the water. It was kind of like a catapult effect... off goes LaNae on one side and there goes Dan off the other side! Luckily, Angie was still there on that side and caught her father in her arms! So... back to square one... tug and pull and get him back up on the water craft! (The things we do for a fun time... !)

It was worth it though... we got to "See Dan DRIVE" as he drove me all around the lake for a ride. It was fun, and when we got back, Dan said "I'm going to get me one of these..."

Here is Angie and her friend Kika enjoying the wave runner!

Dan "chillin" in the lake...

The water is really not very deep here....

Walking back to shore after our fun day of adventure!

Now we are back in the grind of daily living... job, therapy, etc. It was nice to have a few bright spots this summer to "recharge our batteries" and help us keep on keepin' on!

Summer Races

2008-09-14T22:02:00.014-06:00

I am not sure that anyone follows this blog anymore - but if they do... I am going to start giving more updates on Dan, our family and what has been going on in our lives. It has been a busy year with many things going on since our trip to China. Dan has re-engaged in active therapy and spends the majority of his time trying to make improvements. I think there is some improvement, but it is slow in coming. He keeps working at it, and hopefully someday we will chip a piece off this block that seems to be standing in our way.

He is now going to therapy at LDS hospital (for occupational therapy) and also at Neuroworx (physical therapy). Our insurance decided to quit paying for physical therapy due to a "lack of medical necessity". This really bothers me that I have a rehab physican and therapists that work with Dan closely, and are supportive of his desire to improve, but then some committee from the insurance company decides that the progress is not fast enough, and so they stop paying. I am working to ask for a review and reconsideration, but we will see how it goes. In the meantime, Dan continues to work out on his own and does the best that he can.

This weekend we bought him a "Jazzy" wheelchair. This is an electric wheelchair that will help him get around a bit better as he travels to and from his therapy in SLC (Salt Lake City). He is quite independent... and so this chair will help him get around a little better as he navigates the downtown traffic of SLC when he has to transfer from the bus to the TRAX train system. We only have a manual wheelchair, and to make it go, Dan pushes it backwards with his one good foot. This is ok for closer to home, but when he is trying to navigate through city traffic, he needs a bit more control... thus the "Jazzy".

This weekend we ALSO went to another 5K race! These races have been inspired by our good friends at Neuroworx. Remember our good friend Casey? What a cool dude...

He got this "5K race" thing going by running in a race this spring wearing his "see Dan" shirt.

My sister, Ruth Ann, also ran a race in the hot Texas sun this summer -- she was a trooper and wore her "See Dan Talk" shirt in support of Dan...

Here is Ruth Ann with the winning medalists - I think she took second place! You go, girl!

Then Dan decided to join in the fun and rode his bike with the Neuroworx team in July. As I recall, he came in second in his age class... good job, Dan!

Then -- he convinced me to sign up for the last race of the season... a 5K for the Independent Living Center. We went to support Mark Christiansen, a fellow Neuroworx friend that has been a quadraplegic for 47 years... it is amazing that we meet so many stellar individuals as we cross paths in life, and Mark is certainly one of them! He always is cheerful and has a smile on his face... I wonder why we even complain sometimes and I am grateful to know people that are such an inspiration to us.

Here is a picture of the team getting lined up and ready to race! Those guys on the hand cycles are FAST! The first place guy came in at just over 11 minutes! Dan and I came in at 18:07 and 18:10 respectively...

Here is a little proof that I was there and did ride my recumbant bike in the race along side Dan... ;-)

Here is Dan's therapist director (Jan) and her son, Casey (the cool dude) coming through the finish line... way to go team!

Casey took first place in the hand powered wheelchair division -- I am sure his arms are WAY tired today, but the first place status should make it feel all worth while!

Here is Dan, Jan and Casey just chillin' after the big race! It was a fun time, and I am glad that we got to be a part of it.

I will post more of our summer adventures later... but know for now that we are "keeping on" and continuing to work towards "a better life for Dan".

The 22 mile "5K"

2008-08-01T22:51:00.009-06:00

I have been meaning to update the blog – but life has been a little crazy around here. It has been a time of reflection through all the chaos, if that could really happen.

First – the chaos.... work projects, corporate politics and pressures, Girl's Camp with the Young Women, 5K races, a trip to Idaho and a family reunion back in Utah. What does this all mean? Well – I am not going to go into the details of work, but just know that the project that I am working on has had its fair share of challenges. I hope to have it back on track now and able to hit the original target set, so we will see. We just keep going, even when we hit bumps in the road, but I am confident that we can correct our course and go the distance.

I had one especially frustrating day on Wednesday this last week. The funny thing was the song that I heard on the radio that seemed to say it all...

Bring on the Rain
Another day has almost come and gone
Can't imagine what else could wrong
Sometimes I'd like to hide away somewhere and lock the door
A single battle lost but not the war ('cause)

Tomorrow's another day
And I'm thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain

It's almost like the hard times circle 'round
A couple drops and they all start coming down
Yeah, I might feel defeated, and
I might hang my head
I might be barely breathing - but I'm not dead ('cause)

Tomorrow's another day
And I'm thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain

No, I'm not gonna let it get me down
I'm not gonna cry
And I'm not gonna lose any sleep tonight
'Cause tomorrow's another day and I am not afraid
so bring on the rain.

Tomorrow's another day
And I'm thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain

I had to laugh... it was sooooo appropriate! I went back to work and had to look up the lyrics on the internet and save them off. I printed it and posted it on my refrigerator so it would remind me to take a deep breath and move on. Tomorrow is another day – and so when we get feeling down, we should put things in perspective and know that we can face whatever comes our way. Don't let it get you down... there is hope just around the corner. This is my new theme song-- call me up and I will sing it to you! ;-)

OK – now on to the FUN stuff!
Mid-July is Girls Camp week! I work with the Young Women (ages 12-18) in my church, and Girl's Camp is the big week in the summer when we escape to the mountains to clear our heads and have an opportunity to feel closer to our Heavenly Father. I was not able to participate the full week (due to the lovely work project!) but did get away on Thursday-Saturday. It was a great break and I had a wonderful time with the girls. We even went on an early morning hike to see the sunrise! It was awesome!!

This is the "lone pine" that we hiked up to see the sunrise!

The beautiful view from the top of the mountain...

The BRAVE souls that got up at 4:30 AM to go on this hike!!

Angie on top of the mountain with Mom! This is the first year that I have gotten up early for the hike... (3 years running at Girl's Camp) This is Angie's last year as she is now ALL GROWN UP and moving on to college! It was nice to have this memory!

On the way home from Girl's Camp, I called Dan as soon as I got out of the canyon and had cell coverage. We were scheduled to leave for Idaho to visit family and hear a nephew talk in church about his mission experiences, and I wanted Dan to know that I was on my way and that I would be there shortly. He answered the phone, and said that he was on his way home from a 5K event that he had participated in that morning (he was on his bike). He was on Geneva Road which is TOTALLY on the other side of town – and down a steep hill – and he had been out to Vinyard (I don't even know where this is...) to bike in a 5K race with his Neuroworx buddies! Hello?! I didn't even know he was planning on doing this..... anyway, by the time he got home, he had clocked 22 miles on his bike!! I had to look this up, but 5K is a little over 3 miles, so Dan road 19 miles round trip to get to and from the race and 3 miles for the race! He is an amazing man... he is not afraid to go or do anything.

I got off the cell phone and my friend in the car commented that you would never know from listening to the phone conversation that he is disabled. “Hi Honey... oh you have been out riding in a 5K this morning?! Cool...! Well, I will be home in just a bit... love you – bye!”

Dan with his 5K racing buddies... Ashley, Abby and Sandra.
(This was a fundraiser for Sandra)

Here is Dan with his medal – he took 2nd place in his division (the over 50 crowd!). I know he wasn't pushing it because he was just keeping pace with his Neuroworx friends who were running.

I guess they have another 5K coming up in September that he wants me to run in with him... (can't I ride my bike?!) Dan likes to ride his bike with me – because is it so easy for him to keep pace with me! Kudos to Dan-the-Man and his amazing spirit that keeps us all going!

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome Home Elder Brady Jardine!

This is our nephew, Brady Jardine that just returned from an LDS mission to Texas. He is 6'7" tall and is standing two steps below Dan and I and one step below everyone else! Brady will be playing basketball at Utah State University this fall -- We wish him the best in his future endeavors!

We look up to you - Brady - in more ways than one! We are so proud of you!

Sand Dunes... "See Dan Drive!"

2008-07-06T21:13:00.019-06:00

Have you been waiting to "See Dan Drive?!" Well - here is the proof - he did it!

Did you know that we have a place in Utah called "Little Sahara"? I have lived here a long time and have never taken the time to go to this National Park, and it is only about 90 minutes from our home! For one thing, you have to own an off-road vehicle to have any fun, and we (Dan and I) don't have such toys, so we have never bothered to go check it out. Nathan (our son) bought an ATV from his brother-in-law, so they invited us to go with them for a fun weekend getaway...

Here is Nate helping his Dad get situated on the four-wheeler...

And off Dan goes... !!

Bye bye, Daddio!

Dan is kickin' up a little dirt.... better slow it down, Dan!

Dan has gone the "full circle" and is now coming back to the camp site!

As you can tell, Dan is pretty happy about his ride! (Did you notice, he just happened to be wearing his "See Dan Drive" shirt!) He did rub the skin off his right thumb as he had to press on the gas more with the outside of this thumb/ palm to get acceleration. He said it was good motivation to get his thumb working better on his right hand!

Now for some shots of the pros...!

Jeff "catchin' some air" at the top of a dune...

Watch out! Here comes Nate...

Hey! Nate can do the "air" thing too!!

Here is our beautiful daughter, Angie!

Angie is doing some jumps too.... what are those brothers teaching her!

And here goes LaNae...!

Just a little proof that I did get on the four wheeler! The only problem was that I got stuck and had to be rescued from the top of the sand dune...!

I thought - I will just go down the trail a bit where I thought the sand dunes were smaller. I will take a nice little ride over a few dunes, circle back and then I can claim that I "drove it"! So-- up the hill I went... only when I got up there, I found that I was on a rather large dune... and the top of it was very steep, like a tent top! One side of the dune was a big bowl and it was very steep... I was trying to see how I was going to navigate this thing... it was a lot larger than I was expecting, so I slowed the vehicle down a little. (Bad move... the engine cut out!) So there I am about three feet from the top of this dune on a very steep incline! I thought... I can do this... (ha ha) ... so I turned the wheel a bit up hill and got back on and tried to start the thing. Well - it kicked me in the shin (ouch!) but I got it going again...

My success didn't last too long as when I let out the clutch, the ATV decided to dig in deeper into the sand, rather than go up over the top! So -- there I am -- stranded up on the top of a sand dune. I was lucky that I could see see the camp site and so I just went to the top of the hill, waved my arms wildly and waited for my sons to come get me! Poor guys -- they jumped in their 4-wheel drive vehicle and drove as far as they could, and then they had to hike up the sand mountain to rescue the vehicle! I just said -- I have nothing to prove -- you go ahead and just bring it down! ;-) So I walked down the mountain and they got to have an extra ride as a benefit for "saving Mom".

It's time to head for home! Here are the boys working together to take the tents down....

Everyone was pretty worn out by then... here is Gentry sleeping on the camp chairs!

We had a great time! Thanks to Nate and Heather for letting us join in on this fun family weekend!!

Our Buddy Casey!

2008-06-10T22:16:00.007-06:00

I waited to share this story because I wanted Casey to have his own recognition day on the blog. Casey is Jan's son (Dan's therapist director at Neuroworx). He ran in a marathon in Salt Lake City, but rather than wear the marathon shirt -- he chose to wear his "See Dan Run" shirt!

This is a message we got from Jan with the picture...

Here you go!! Casey is so proud that you asked for these. I can tell you that this is the second year that Casey and his Dad ran the 5K together (remember that my husband is NOT a runner). The runners get a Salt Lake City Marathon participant shirt each year (in fact, it is under your "See Dan Run" shirt). Casey decided to wear yours with his number on it and was surprised by how many people thought he was Dan. He thought is was "cool" to be "running" with your shirt and ran in anticipation of someone asking him about it so that he could tell them about YOU!! Enjoy!

We are glad to have such awesome people supporting us! Thanks to Jan and Casey! You guys ROCK!!!

Waxing Philosophical... and Kung Fu Panda?!

2008-06-07T11:57:00.001-06:00

Dan and I go to the movies almost every Friday night. The local theater in our town allows people with disabilities in for free – and so Dan and I like to go to a lot of movies. Last night we saw “Kung Fu Panda” and I thought it was awesome... it was funny and had an underlying message that has caused me to ponder.... (how can one ponder over a cartoon.... hmmm) Even though the scenery was hand drawn, it reminded me of China, the big tall temple buildings, the rope bridges, the noodle shop and the dumplings... It was fun for me to think of the wonderful people that we met in China that we grew to love. We wish that we could go back and see them all.... There were so many good people there from the nurses, therapists and doctors to the people that we met in the hospital. Going to China was a rich experience for us and the experience has forever changed us.

For many years we have not had association with others that have had serious accidents in their lives. I didn't really gain much strength from the early support groups that we were encouraged to participate in. I was expecting Dan to get better and every one else was trying to face the reality of never getting better, so needless to say, we ended up not participating. I am sure that I missed a wonderful opportunity to meet many really great people.

Those of you who know us may know that Dan is much more social than I am. He treasures his relationships with so many people and it means a lot to him to go visit and know how they are doing. I, on the other hand, get dragged into my work-day living and really only associate with family and close friends. I do enjoy my friendships and relationships – I just find it harder to reach out because of the other pressures that are in my life. Much of “keeping in touch” with others comes through Dan's emails, texts and communications than with my own.

I have been thinking a lot about our friends that we met as a result of our China adventure and Dan's stem cell treatments. Many new friendships have developed that we cherish. We think of Tori – who was the first inspiration to us all as we watched their courageous story, Missy and Travis that we have come to know since to Chris and Koo, Ty and Renee, Glen and Monnie, Jack and Dorene, Gary, Lorraine and Gary Jr (the wonderful young man that helped Dan climb the Great Wall!), Norm and Marlene, Stephen from Florida, our Aussie friends (Judy, Nichole, Maria, Dennis, Diana, Nathan) to all the doctors (Dr. Wisdom), therapists (Lily – the slave driver!) Nancy, nurses (Esther, Shirlene, Sunny, Kelly, Tina, Jingjing...) to the wonderful hospital staff (Diana, Wendy, Kamee, Kotan, Suzie, Isabelle) to the wonderful people we met at church (Mac & Janet Coleman, Phil & Donna Coleman, Steve & Kristie Hendrix, Donya Harvey and family... ). The list could go on – but these are a few that we think of when we reminisce on our wonderful adventure to China....

Dan is doing just great – he is working out and trying hard to improve. He goes up to Sandy three times a week and spends the full day at a therapy center called Neuroworx. Many who have seen him since the China trip may wonder if there is any progress... (and back to my pondering from Kung Fu Panda... where we learn that there is no secret ingredient to become the great Kung Fu master – it is only found in one's beliefs and perceptions of what their potential is...) Some may say – why hasn't the secret ingredient (the stem cells) worked already?! That was sure a long journey and a lot of money and time – where is the benefit?? ... and all we can answer is that we are trying our best to make an improvement come to pass – but it may take time, and perhaps the greatest secret ingredient we have is our belief that God will bless us as we make the effort on our own.

I am not sure what the end of this story will be... I can say that I feel good about the journey and that we trust in God enough to know that the outcome will be a blessing in our lives. We know that we have been blessed already by the wonderful people we have met. Out hearts go out to them in each of their situations and we pray that they might have some of the wonderful blessings that we have experienced. We have a desire to share our faith and beliefs with them in a hope that their lives may be blessed as ours have been. There is no doubt that life could be better – but let us not always be looking so hard for a better life that we forget to stop and count the blessings of the life we already have. There can be joy and peace, even in the midst of great challenge and sometimes it is the greatest challenges that drive us to find the anchor and the peace that we need so desperately.

So – my recommendation for the day – go see the movie (Kung Fu Panda)! I hope it will help you to believe in your potential – and also that you will have a good laugh and release any tension from the week you may have just had! Dan and I send our love and best wishes to all – we so appreciate your support and continued prayers in our behalf. It is because of you that our burdens are light, and we appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers in our behalf.

Angie's Graduation!

2008-05-31T08:11:00.025-06:00

Way to go Angie -- it was a great day!

We are so proud of our daughter Angela! She graduated from Seminary AND High School this last month. Seminary graduation was held on Sunday, May 18th and Angie sang with two other girls from our ward at the event. Seminary is a weekday program of religious study that is sponsored by our church... Angie attended for four years and the graduation is a recognition of successfully completing this course of study. We are very proud of her for this great accomplishment!

Angie also graduated from Orem High School on May 30th. It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time. Here are some pictures from the event for you to enjoy!

The big moment has arrived! Angie is on her way to get the diploma!

Angie did a dance as she came through the Orem "O" -- of course -- we thought she was the cutest one there!

A more serious moment... getting the diploma!

Angie sees her family through the crowd -- is she excited or what?!

Angie with her niece - Gentry!

Angie with her sister, Heather! (we don't know how we got such good looking children!!)

A pretty good shot of the family -- (I think Grandma Balls is checking out the great grandkids...)

Jeff and Dan wanted to play "dominoes" - they are trying to tip us all over!

The graduation line up--

We have NO IDEA what Jeff is doing in the background! ;-)

Angie with her cute nieces, Gentry and Riley (aren't they just adorable?!)

... apparently Dan and Jeff wanted to get in on some of the picture taking action!

Dorothy (Dan's sister) and Tony join us for the big celebration. Angie threw her cap up into the air and we caught it on camera! Dan, HeatherJ and Riley are in the background...

Angie with her sister Heather!

Angie getting a congratulation hug from one of her best friends... Sili Latu

... at least we think they are best friends! Angie will be rooming with Sili in the fall and living at Heather Cove (an apartment complex that Jeff and Kallie manage). She will be attending college at Utah Valley University here in Orem.

The beautiful graduate on her BIG day!!

Proud Mama and Grandma with Angie on her big day! (the three generation picture!)

Angie and her friend Melissa

Here we are at home enjoying the "graduation feast"!

Angie - we are so proud of YOU!!

What Mother's Want...

2008-05-11T14:59:00.004-06:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! Dan and I have been busy (crazy level busy) the last month or so. Dan is doing well and continues his therapy at Neuroworx in Salt Lake City. I continue to work and as of late have been re-arranging my entire house to accommodate the move-in of my son, his wife and two granddaughters. They will be living in our basement for the next year or so while Nathan is going to school. He returned to school and is working towards a Pharmacy degree. We are happy for them, and it will be fun to have them here... but it has been a task to clear out a basement (furniture and all) so that they could have an apartment down there. It is apparent we need to have a "garage sale" as I have accumulated way to much stuff in the time living here (fifteen years...)

This is my beautiful granddaughter Riley and her stuffed animal friends...

So -- now for a "mother story". The routine is that I take Dan to the bus stop on my way to work, get him on the bus which he rides to the Sandy TRAX station. He is then met by the Paratransit bus that takes him to Neuroworx for the day. At the end of the day, the routine is reversed - Paratransit picks him up and takes him to the bus stop and he rides the bus back to Orem, where I pick him up on my way home from work...

One day we were running a little late, and so instead of taking him to the main transit center, I headed to the bus stop at UVU (Utah Valley Univeristy) which is the last bus stop in Orem before the bus gets on the freeway. I pulled up and there was a line up of buses. I was going to pull in behind them, but Dan prompted me to whip in front of them and 'cut them off' so that they would not leave without him. So -- I did -- I pulled right up in front of the entire line-up and jumped out, got the wheel chair out of the back hatch, quickly loaded Dan into it and whipped up the bus ramp in record time!

I thought we were doing pretty good, but then I went to get off the bus and noticed a police officer parked next to my vehicle with the lights on... I started to say "Officer.... I was just..." and I recognized him as a previous neighbor. He just wanted to say hello -- so there we were catching up on old times and the bus line-up just had to go around the both of us... I am sure the driver was not too happy, but I was thankful that at least he thought I was getting a ticket! The next day when Dan got on the bus - the driver gave Dan a detailed booklet of all the bus stops on this route, and said.. "Here... will you give this to your mother?!!" I don't get how I get mixed up as Dan's mama - but it has happened on more occasions that I want to admit!

So-- leading into what do mothers want anyway... it is Mother's Day today and I know that all I want is for my children to be happy -- and most importantly that they will find the anchor in their lives that will bring them the happiness and peace that I have had over the years. It is not what happens to you in life, but rather knowing that there is a Power greater than us all that we can lean on in times of need. I hope my children learn to rely on the powers of Heaven.

What do I want as a wife? --I would be wrong if I didn't say I would like to see the day that Dan has his full abilities. It is so hard on him - especially when there is so much work to be done around the house -- to watch and not be able to help out like he wants to. I would like him to work side by side with me... that would be awesome! We are determined to do all that we can to help him -- what I have come to realize is that some of the goals and dreams that we have take more than we originally estimate to make them come true. I still believe that Dan can improve - I just think it will not come without a lot of hard work -- and some time. We need to not give up on our dreams, just because the road is hard to get there. That is a great lesson that I have learned this past year.

Wishing you and your family all the best! Don't give up on us... we are still working our tails off!
----------------------------------

(...later) We just got back from relaxing with the family at a time-share condo in Midway. We went up for a family dinner and get together, and then Nate and his family stayed over. It is only about 20 minutes from our home, but is up a canyon in some beautiful country, so it is a nice get-away. The children and Dan have all been so good to me the last few days. Yesterday they came over and had a big "work party" at our house where the boys put in a new sink, did some electrical work and then the girls worked in the yard, cleaned the hot tub and sanded the front porch railing in preparation for painting. It was a BIG day and we got a lot accomplished.. and I am so glad that I have such wonderful children (and their spouses) that are so helpful to me!

Chillin' at the condo...

We played games together and ate a wonderful turkey / cheesy potato dinner with all the trimmings... and then topped it of with some rhubarb cake and ice cream. Thanks to Angie for cooking such a great dinner for all!

Dan gave me a sweet card - and with his permission I share his message...
"Always remember that you are my one and only. I appreciate your unending acts of Love from putting my shirt and socks on or rushing me to the bus in the morning to telling me to come to bed at night. Thank you for bearing and teaching our beautiful children. You are a Super Mom and wife!!! I can't wait till when I can take care of you. :-) Love, Dan"

It was hand written -- now you know why I think he is such a great guy! He makes up for his disability with his love and cheerful countenance. -- oh - and by the way -- he WON the UNO game! He was pretty proud of that!

Take care friends.

"See Dan Day" at Neuroworx

2008-04-01T22:57:00.006-06:00

Thursday, March 27th was "See Dan Day" at Neuroworx! The entire Neuroworx team surprised Dan by all wearing their "See Dan... " shirts. He was really happy - they are such a great group and so supportive of the people that they work with. It is great to have such a great team to work with, and Dan really likes it there.

He also has been going to the SCI forums that they are a part of - these are held every Tuesday night at the Gallivan Center in downtown Salt Lake City. He sent me a text last Tuesday and said - "I'm on the TRAX, and I'm going to the Gallivan Center". He did the same thing tonight... I just barely went an picked him up from the bus stop (at 10:43 pm) - so it makes for a long day. I have a conflict on Tuesdays and I can not get away to go with him to these events. It makes me nervous to have him out this late at night on his own, but he doesn't always listen to me.... so we say a prayer and hope that he will be protected. If anyone wants to spend a Tuesday night with Dan - let me know!

We have had a great week - we had a fun Easter - we had all the kids over for dinner and it was a good time. I would like you to see our favorite Easter egg -- this is Wilson.

Kallie and Angie had a good time coloring this egg... they went over to the corner of the kitchen and huddled - working on their piece of art. They went and got the movie "Castaway" to make sure that they did the face right - and then they went and found the hot glue gun so that they could put on his "hair".

I just don't have the heart to eat "Wilson" - that is the only problem!

Pray for Chris...

2008-03-26T22:47:00.004-06:00

To all our friends and family --

We would like to introduce you to some very special friends that we have met during our "stem cell journey". Meet Chris Barnes and his wife, Koo...

You can follow their story at Chris Barnes Blog

When we were deciding about whether to come to China, it was Chris and Koo that gave us hope and courage to come. Koo is an amazing woman - she is a loyal and dedicated wife - who stands by her man and does all that she can to help him recover. They are now in China for a second stem cell treatment for Chris! Chris has made so much progress over the last year - and we pray for his continued improvement. Please join with Dan and I as we follow their courageous journey to China and pray for the blessings of Heaven to be with them at this time!

Go Chris and Koo!!

"Get over it!... and move on..."

2008-03-15T19:40:00.002-06:00

I am sorry for not posting in so long - we have been heads down just trying to get our life in a new rut... a good rut! It does take a lot of arrangements to do logistically, but I think we are getting there.

For LaNae - she just finished up a major project at work (wahoo!), attended a youth conference with a group of youth and then got to see a nephew get married in the same weekend-- way to go Braden and Tiffany!

Here is a really cute picture of my (great) niece and nephew, Emily and Harrison... aren't they adorable?!

Now for Dan -- he got to come to the wedding too... but other than that he has been on a pretty rigorous schedule with therapy. He goes up to Neuroworx on Tues, Thurs and Friday and is focusing on trying to improve his gait. He doesn't have the awareness of what his trunk is doing and has used his trunk (main body area) to get his limbs to move. So, in order to move his hand, he has compensated and twists his body to get his arm to move. He does the same with his legs, so his walking is a process of moving his body to get his legs to move. Right now, in therapy, he is working on focusing keeping his trunk straight and getting the muscles to work to properly move his leg through and transition his weight without the body movement. He is making good strides... improvement is slow... but it is there, and for that we are thankful.

This is Dan working out some of his unused leg muscles on the parallel bars....

Here Dan is walking up straight and tall AND without a leg brace!!

This is Dan standing on an upside down exercise ball and trying to balance on it... this is kind of hard! (I tried it...)

I am also trying to get more protein and amino acids into Dan's diet. He drinks a protein shake every day, along with some protein bars and his usual vitamins twice a day. We are done taking all of the medicine that we got in China, so we are on a regular diet with supplements. Dan takes a lunch with him on the days he goes to Neuroworx... so the routine is this - I take him to the bus stop on my way to work, and after an hour bus ride, he is picked up from the bus stop in SLC by the paratransit service, and then about 10 minutes later he is at Neuroworx. He sends me a text so that I know he is safe and sound there... then it is a full days work for him. He works out on the equipment on his own as much as he can, at 11:00 - he goes into the pool and does his aquatic therapy, then he DRESSES himself!! (this is good- very good!) ... and then he usually eats his lunch and has another set of therapy in the afternoon before either a family member comes to meet him, or he comes back home on the bus via paratransit / UTA.

I think the people at Neuroworx are enjoying Dan's sense of humor.... they send a little radio handset in with him while he is dressing, in case he falls or something, he can press the button on it to get some assistance... well - the other day - he got all dressed, wheeled himself out to the main area, and then pressed the button (he was in the same room as his therapist) and then laughed his head off when they said - somebody better go help Dan...! He thinks he is pretty funny for sure! [uh... Dan... have you ever heard the story of the boy who cried wolf?!]

Another good quote from Dan is "Get Over It!" I guess he was transferring from his chair to a piece of equipment and Jan (the head honcho) looked across the room and said -- "You still make me nervous..." to which Dan replied... "Get over it!" We think it is a pretty classic Dan quote -- they should put it on their wall! Jan had a good laugh and enjoyed telling others how Dan told her to "get over it"!

So all is well with us... we continue to work hard, and we feel good about the effort we are putting out. The progress is slow, but there is some progress and for that we are grateful. We continue to put our trust in the Lord and know that we will be blessed for our efforts. We will get the maximum benefit from the stem cell treatment - and we will take it as far as we can take it. Where ever our journey may take us, we are happy to go, for we know we will learn much in the process. We have a loving Heavenly Father that cares about us, and will bless us through our trials. This we have learned over the years and so we continue to put our trust in Him, knowing whatever the outcome, it will be the best outcome for us. But for now... we just keep workin!

A Day in the Life of Dan...

2008-02-24T21:38:00.003-07:00

This is Dan working out in the pool at Neuroworx, as Dan was working on therapy there. He really enjoys going there and we think the therapists are top notch. We only wish we could have him stay longer and get more help.

Let me tell you about our day on Friday... but to begin, I would like to start out with a disclaimer so that you don't think I am a neglectful caregiver. (I might be, but I hope you will understand...) Dan has enjoyed quite a bit of independence over the years as he refuses to stay at home and do nothing. He has a recumbent bike that he rides all over the Orem / Provo area. He rides it into stores (it is his summer wheelchair), and if he ever gets into a situation of needing help, he has his cell phone that he can call or text with. He also has ridden the bus by himself from our home, all the way up to the University hospital in Salt Lake City. That required that he ride the bus to the TRAX station, change and ride the Trax and then be picked up by the ParaTransit service which would take him the rest of the way. I worry at times about him, but he is determined to do what he wants and get where he wants to be, and such has been our life.

On Thursday, we made arrangements for him to ride up to SLC to go to Neuroworx on the bus to the Trax station, and then made arrangements for the paratransit service to pick him up there and take him to Neuroworx. He sends me a text message at each point along the way so that I will know everything is going well with him. So I get a text -- "made it to Neuroworx" or "on the bus", and even though I am at work and sometimes tied up in meetings, I know how he is doing.

Friday, however, there was quite a few mix ups... I got him on the bus at 8:12 am and then I headed for work and he was off to Salt Lake City... at about 9:30 am, I got a text message from him that he was at the Trax station, but that the Paratransit service was not there. I called Paratransit, and they told me that I had scheduled the ride for Saturday (NOT!) and so no one was coming... they put us on hold while they listened to the recording of the scheduling call, as I did tell them the schedule was for Friday, not Saturday. I then called my sister-in-law who lives in South Salt Lake City and asked if she could go over and pick up Dan and take him over to Neuroworx. She was happy to do so, and so I called Dan back and told him that she was on the way to get him...

Well - they got over to Neuroworx, and the main therapist wasn't there that day, and they didn't want Dan to stay there (he was early). They were nervous about liability issues if he were to fall or something like that... and they haven't worked with him enough to know what his abilities are. so they asked him to come back at 1:00 for his appointment. When we first decided to go there, we had been told that Dan was welcome to come and work out at the facility at other times than his appointed time, so this was a surprise to us. Anyway -- I am stuck at work and am fully booked until noon, and I can't get away to go get him. So he went over to my brother's home for a few hours and then they took him back at 1:00, and by then I was able to get away and meet them there. So it was a crazy day....

We will meet with the team at Neuroworx to get this resolved, as we are looking for an aggressive therapy program for Dan, and 3 hours a week doesn't cut it. The plan was to allow him to work at the center for at least 4 hours each time he went up. We may have to hire a caregiver to go and assist him so that they will feel better about him being there. Apparently, other patients that come and use the facility do have a caregiver with them that can provide assistance. So we will need to figure this out... We do really like the center and feel that they have a lot to offer Dan. They have been spot on in their evaluations, and are really helping with the time that he has been given. We just need to make arrangements so that we can get more of this good care, as they are really good at what they do.

We will keep you posted as things progress...

Keepin' on...

2008-02-18T19:24:00.008-07:00

We continue to move forward with therapy and more therapy... ;-). Sometimes it seems like the same old, same old... and that the progress is so small that we don't even notice it. Others tell us that Dan has improved, that he stands taller and that his handshake is much better. We notice that he continues to get stronger because of all his therapy - but not faster. In fact -- I have really been challenged lately in the area of patience because of his slowness. He tries so hard to improve, but it seems at times that it is slow in coming, and that gets frustrating at times.

Now don't go thinking we are all depressed or anything like that... we realize that it will take some time to make the improvements that we desire. We measure progress in months and in years, and so when people ask "How is Dan doing? Is he better yet?" - I respond with "Give us a year... and then I will tell you." We want things to be so immediate, and we all want results NOW... and I probably want them more than anyone, but just because it takes some time to see results doesn't mean they are any less valid. I have had the impression lately that we need to do all that we can to help Dan achieve progress, and that our Heavenly Father usually doesn't do for us what we can do for ourselves. ...and so we continue on... knowing that He will be with us in the journey and that we are growing in the process.

Here are some pictures of Dan and his NEW LEG BRACE...

Getting the right fit...

Practicing walking with the new brace! It will take some time and adjustments - but this is a great day!

This week will be a busy one -- I have a project that will launch next week, and so I am in the final stages (which means it will be a looonng week...) Dan is set to start up at Neuroworx with pool therapy this week. He will go Tues, Thurs and Friday, and I am still in the process of figuring out how to get him transported to SLC and back as well as having someone there to assist him after he gets out of the pool. So far, I have volunteered our children and my brother to help - and they have readily accepted! We are so grateful for the help that others give to us...!

We will establish a more regular routine with this therapy over the next few weeks, and then it will be easier as we will have a regular schedule to work around. The program is to have him go to Neuroworx three times a week, and then go with a friend to a facility at the local hospital on the other two days and work on a home therapy program. I talked to the therapist at Neuroworx and she will be writing up a program for us to follow. I asked her to kind of "set the bar" so that we will know what we need to be doing to supplement in a home-based program.

.. and so we continue on... may we all remember that great things can come if we will just set our course in the right direction and continue on... one step at a time. As long as we keep going, we will eventually reach our destination. ... and so it is with us and our journey in Dan's recovery.

New Therapy! (Neuroworx)

2008-02-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

Dan and I have been busy, busy -- I have had a lot going on with work, and Dan has a lot going on with therapy. He has been keeping up his routine at Now I Can and Orem Physical Therapy during the month of January. This has kept him busy working at both of these places, in addition to working out on the Quadriciser at home every day. On Monday at about 5:50 pm - he sent me a text message -- "Do I need to catch a ride with somebody?" I was heads down at work trying to finish up some things, and I had forgotten to go get him from therapy! ... and to top it off... one of the workers DID give him a ride home! We got home about the same time that night.... I am glad there are such good people in the world that watch out for Dan (aren't you?!)

In the meantime, we have been evaluating another facility to take Dan to for therapy (Neuroworx) We ventured up there on Human Rights Day (Jan 21st) as I had the day off. It was a major snow storm that day, but we have a 4-wheel drive, and made it through the deep snow quite handily! We met the founder, Dr. Dale Hull who is a medical doctor that had an injury on a trampoline and became a quadriplegic. He is amazing - because he now walks - without a cane or walker! He started this foundation along with his therapist (Jan Black) and work specifically with patients that have spinal cord injuries. We are thrilled to work with them as they know how to push hard for results and are specialized in recovery therapy.

They have a pool that has a treadmill with cameras that allow them to see what is going on with walking in the water. Here are some pictures of Dan in the pool today - we had a general evaluation there last week, and went back today for an aquatic evaluation.

Dan getting "loaded" into the pool...

Dan "swimming" - trying to get his arms to work...

Dan working against the water resistance with his arms...

Dan walking on the treadmill...

Check out those sexy legs!

(Sorry girls -- he's already taken!)

We will post some videos tomorrow - just know that we are excited to get going on this type of therapy as we think it will be really helpful to Dan!

We also are working to get him a new leg brace -- hopefully a lighter one. We have been traveling up to Salt Lake City for that as well, and last week they took the cast of his leg. We go back next Tuesday to pick it up and get it fitted. He has not been using his brace and his walking is "really -- really slow" without it. We are anxious to get this brace AND get him in therapy at Neuroworx. Jan Black(the clinic director) pointed out several things that Dan does to compensate in the pool today. I am anxious to hear the recommendations and to get a plan in place working with them. I think it will make a big difference for us...

Sorry for not updating the blog as frequently as I need to... I hope you are still out there - checking in from time to time - to see how Dan is doing. We are still plugging away, and have great hopes that with time and effort, we will begin to see the pay off. Take care, friends.

22 Years......

2008-01-20T18:57:00.000-07:00

Dan: Still working out on therapy at 22 years Post Injury!

Today was the big mile marker of 22 years since Dan's accident. It is usually a somber day, in that we stop and pause for a moment and reflect on how his accident changed our lives forever. Today, however was a good day. We went to church and also had our family over for dinner... it is always good to have the grandchildren come over... they are such a joy.

As I think back on our lives, I have known Dan longer with his disabilities than before.... and I still love him. I first met Dan in my small, home town of Soda Springs, Idaho. He was the 'new boy' that moved to our town, and the first time I met him it was at a service project where we were raking the rocks out of a local park so that they could plant some grass. I was smitten at first site, and used my girlish charm to get him to ask me out. I was his very first date.... we were sixteen at the time.

We became good friends in high school, but it did not develop into a romantic relationship until after he came back from his mission to Peru (for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). I had written to him during the two years he was on his mission, and when he came home, he was ready to get serious! It was only twenty-seven days from the time I first saw him until he proposed to me! Crazy!

He still has the watch that he was wearing at the time he was hit by the car, up a snowy canyon road -- those many years ago. The crystal on the watch was broken in the accident. It was one of his favorite watches - he had earned it as a result of a sales promotion from Citizen, and it was a really nice Citizen watch that had both an analog and a digital display. (that was pretty cool stuff back in 1986!) Anyway -- I had the crystal fixed and got it all working again, and then engraved on the back of it -- "though battered and torn, and a little bit worn.... I still love you".

Years later, he bought me a really nice Citizen watch that has a solar face on it and it never needs a battery (it is great!). He engraved this on the back.. "Because you loved me, my world is a better place because of you". We really like that song - because you loved me... and have adopted it as our song... especially the 'you were my voice when I couldn't speak' part! Those who know us - know that I tend to translate a lot for Dan when his speech is unintelligible.

I guess I am a bit reflective tonight - on our journey together through the years. Yes, the accident was traumatic and changed the course of our lives... but it did not ruin our lives. We still have each other, we still have our family, and we still have our faith. Through all this, we have learned that happiness comes from our relationship with each other and with our children. We know that Dan will be fully normal in the next life, and that knowledge gives us much comfort. We also know that it is possible for him to be healed in this life -- and that technology will be advanced to be able to help him... and so we continue on.

I am so proud of Dan and all the therapy he is doing. We have not seen great improvements yet, but I know that if there are improvements to be made, that we are doing our part and we will see how far we can go with our first stem cell treatment. (I guess I should preface that comment with the fact that we HAVE SEEN measurable progress... and that is SUPER GREAT!!! The measurable progress has not made it to increased daily FUNCTIONAL progress - and that is what we continue to work toward.) We really do want to 'See Dan run..!' We want to see him have the balance to walk without fear of falling and to run! We know that we still have a long way to go to make this happen, but we are UP FOR THE JOURNEY! Just think what can happen in another 22 years...!

Thanks for all your love, your prayers and support. We couldn't do it without YOU!
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Keep up the good work, Dan!!

Merry Christmas from the Maughans!!

2007-12-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

At this Christmas time, the Maughan family are very grateful for all the events that have happened this year. We are grateful that Jeff found such a sweetheart in Kallie, and for their wedding in May. We are thankful for the chance to meet and spend time with family at our reunions this year. We are grateful for the opportunity to go to China and receive stem cell treatment for Dan, and we are especially thankful for the many people who donated to this cause. We have been given a second chance to make a difference for Dan, and we are so thankful for this opportunity. We are thankful for the many new friends and wonderful people that we met during our China adventure - it was truly an experience of a lifetime...

Dan is working hard at therapy, we do see some measured improvements (faster lip movement, better walking when in therapy), but we still struggle with incorporating these improvements into daily life patterns. Dan has 21 years of habits -- and it takes a lot of focus and concentration not to walk the way he has walked all these years, and not to talk the way he has talked all these years... so we continue to focus and work and pray that the Lord will bless Dan with the things that he can not do for himself. We pray that the stem cells will take root in the damaged areas and that we will see a difference from this treatment.... and we pray for all of our other friends that have had this treatment... that their loved ones may be healed and that life will improve for all of us. I love being a part of this community of 'pioneers' and look for great things to happen in all of our lives.

I would like to share with you a funny video clip that Jeff put together for our family -- I hope it will make you smile and that it will bring a little cheer into your hearts at this wonderful Christmas season.

Our wonderful children wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

May we all remember the true meaning of Christmas, and be grateful for the greatest Gift of all -- our Savior, Jesus Christ -- who gave His life for us, that we might be healed of all our infirmities (whether spiritual or physical) and come to feel the peace in our lives that only He can give. The Maughan's are truly grateful for this most Wonderful Gift! Merry Christmas to ALL!

Happy Birthday Dan Weekend....!

2007-12-17T22:03:00.000-07:00

We have been on the go all weekend with birthday celebration and Christmas parties... it all started on Friday, December 14th when Dan turned 50! We had a 'surprise' get together for Dan, but by the time the night was over, it wasn't too big of a surprise - first, we started out by putting our name in at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Since this is a new restaurant to Utah, we were told to check back in 2 - 2 1/2 hours for our party of 10. We decided to go check out the lights at Temple Square while we were waiting... so off we went!

Check out Dan and LaNae in front of the Salt Lake Temple (we were married there -- nice memories!)

Here is our granddaughter - Riley - isn't she a doll?!

A very nice Nativity Scene there...

After enjoying our adventure to Temple Square -- the Cheesecake Factory let us down -- after waiting over two and a half hours - they said it would be another 2 hours! I said "you are good... but not THAT good!". So off we went up to the University Marriott, where I WAS going to surprise Dan after dinner with - but we decided just to go there and have dinner at the hotel restaurant. It ended up being really nice... it was quiet and we had an entire section to ourselves and it made for a good time.

Everyone enjoying the dinner!

Riley getting her birthday card out for Grandpa Dan!

Riley showing off her good coloring job on the card... (good job - Riley!)

Dan showing off his new birthday hat and sweater!

All the girls love Dan!! Here is Heather and Angie giving Daddio a big kiss!

Dan and I had a relaxing stay at the Marriott and then spent Saturday doing a lot of shopping, and then up to Syracuse to Dan's sister Dorothy's house for a Christmas party. It was great! Dorothy had so much good food - and Dan - of course was in heaven... we got to see some of our extended family and had a great time there.

Sunday was our daughter-in-law's birthday (Heather J). We had a great get together at our house to celebrate her birthday. Now it is back to the work week - Dan to his therapy and me to Novell. Dan had a great day today - lots of therapy - speech therapy, then an hour of additional speech practice, then off to more therapy in the afternoon for 2 hours, and then a hour on the Quadraciser. We will give him 100% effort for the day - good job, Dan!

Therapy reporting

2007-12-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

OK, I might need some help on the logic here... when Dan was in China, he had the following therapy routine:

2 hrs Physical Therapy
1 hr Occupational Therapy
1 hr Speech Therapy
1 hr Traditional Chinese Medicine

That totals 5 hours per day of therapy. So each component would be worth 20 points and if you completed all therapies, it would then be 100 points or 100% effort.

Now that he is home, this is how we will do the scoring -- each hour of therapy is worth 20 points. Walking with the Up-n-Go and using the Quadriciser for one hour is also worth 20 points. This way I can see if we are giving 100% effort, or maybe even 120%... who knows. I will report a score to see how we are doing at helping Dan reach a full day of therapy. Also - if we don't do all three types of therapy - we will get dinged 20 points. We can't just focus on one type and not the others - we need to be holistic in our approach!

Today - this is what Dan did:
4 hrs Physical Therapy
Walking
Speech

Total points for the day from therapy = 120 (good job!!)
But-- we have to ding ourselves for not doing the OT, so now we are down 20 points to 100. 100% is good (but just think -- we could have had 140! ;-))

Looking forward to Friday - when Dan will begin the down hill slide.... he turns 50! Hoping you all are having a great day!

[Note: Dan just did an hour on the Quadriciser, so the total for today is 120% Great job... Dan!]

Dan's progress thus far! Great News!!

2007-12-10T22:36:00.000-07:00

I just wanted everyone to know that I took a measurement tonight of Dan's lip movement capability. We took the last measurement of this ability on September 28th. This is a report of his progress-- !!

The open / close mouth exercise went from 48 to 60 times a minute .. this is a 25% increase (good job Dan!)

The pucker / smile exercise he was able to improve from 14 times a minute to 30 times a minute. This is over 100% improvement!!

Exciting measurement! I took this same measurement over two years ago when we were doing a Hyperbaric Oxygenation trial and that measurement was 46 for open/ close mouth and 19 on the pucker smile exercise, which was fairly close to the measurement taken in September. So the bottom line is that Dan did not make much improvement over a two year period, in fact in the measurement of pucker/ smile, he went down. Now just a little over two months, there is a significant improvement noted! I think things are happening here... :-)

I also read an article on the timing of using hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO) with a patient that has had a stem cell treatment. This explains the different phases of stem cell recovery in a very understandable way, and shows what happens during the subsequent months after the treatment.

Dan is now in the DIFFERENTION phase, and the new stem cells should have found their target, and have "moved in". They are now working on making the connections to the other neural cells around them. This is a critical time for good therapy, good food and good rest... (reminder - it is time for bed!).

Enjoy!

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-- In stemcellsafety@yahoogroups.com, "Kirshner Ross-Vaden"

After the injection the stem cells need time to migrate though the body and find their intended target. They find their target, such as the brain, by sensing certain chemicals released by damaged cells. Cells with damage have low levels of Oxygen and this state of Hypoxia prompts the cells to release these specific chemicals which are then sensed by the stem cells. Thus one would not want to do anything such as HBO just prior to the SCT or post SCT as this would increase the patients Oxygen levels and thus confuse the newly implanted stem cells. Migration and engraftment appear to transpire during the first 12 days following a treatment.

During the Engraftment period the stem cells which have now found their new home, begin to settle into the damaged tissue. One could consider the following analogy; they spent the first two weeks searching for a new home, moving in and setting up shop (as it were). After moving in they need a period during which they can unpack, figure out where to put their belongings, organize and simply get settled in. This would be the Engraftment phase which occurs most likely during the first two weeks following a treatment. Next comes the Differention phase. In keeping with the above analogy this would be the time that the Stem Cells would be looking for work near their new home. Figuring out what tasks need to be done around the new house and dividing up the daily chores. They now begin their work and this work takes a great deal of energy. This is the time to give them the support of extra Oxygen as this gives them the energy they need to get down to work and take care of business. This Differention phase begins once a stem cell has found a tissue niche and settled in. Thus the Differention phase may begin as early as 14 days post stem cell transplant.

Keep in mind that none of these time frames are set in stone; it is simply not that black and white. Where HBO comes into play each parent must decide for themselves what they feel is best. Researchers have said that they feel the treatment of the patient with HBO could be beneficial during the Differention phase but not before. Dr. Steenblock has stated that mild HBO may be of benefit post SCT and that this could safely begin at the top of the third month, a full two months post SCT.

Mild HBO could be defined as ATA's of 1.1 to 1.3 with less than 50% supplemental Oxygen given.
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More equipment for Dan!

2007-12-08T21:45:00.000-07:00

We feel so blessed to be able to provide Dan a way to have the rigorous therapy that he needs to get the most benefit out of the stem cell treatment. He is doing a variety of therapies, and I think the diversity is good.

This is the new Quadriciser machine that we received on Thursday! We are excited to have this as Dan is able to get one to two hours a day on it (so far -- just getting started!). It is like having several therapists working on all four limbs - stretching and creating patterns of movement. This is good for his circulation, especially in his right side which has not had a lot of consistent movement and use.

A little different angle...

Here I am feeding him a 'Pepper Popper' - a green chili pepper breaded and filled with cheese... he can eat and quadricise at the same time! Pretty cool!

A speech therapist also came on Thursday to do an evaluation and see if he really needed therapy... I asked him how it went (I was at work when she came) and if the therapist thought he needed speech therapy. He looked at me like I was asking a pretty stupid question! Those of you that know Dan understand that the speech is probably the worst part of his disability. The ability to communicate is such a blessing... we should always be grateful for our ability to communicate freely and easily!

We now have the following therapies available to us:
1) Regular physical therapy (focuses on improving limb strength)
2) Intensive physical therapy (focuses on walking)
3) Quadriciser (limb movement and repetitive motion)
4) Up-n-go walker (partial weight bearing practice for walking)
5) Therapy exercise list from China (speech and OT exercises - the PT exercises are covered in the other session)

I am going to work on a way of tracking how much therapy Dan gets daily and report it on this blog. It will be good to see (and to be held accountable) for what we do on a daily basis. Since Dan is not in a full care setting, it is so important that we motivate ourselves to supplement the treatment that he gets outside of the home. We will soon be adding the speech therapy and hopefully at the beginning of the year we can get him a Saeboflex - which should help him increase the functionality of his right arm.

I took some time tonight to catch up on some of our friend's blogs from around the world. I am always so impressed by others and their dedication to find a solution for their loved one. It helps to know that I am not alone and I gain much strength from watching others. I am very thankful for my new friends and for this community of caring and sharing. I went for so many years not engaging in this community and it wasn't until our China trip that we discovered this new world - we are all pioneers in a new world of recovery and it is an awesome thing to know that you are not alone. We so miss our new friends from China -- all of the staff and other patients. We think of you often and are so grateful for our good care while in China and for the new friendships that we started. Let's keep in touch and work together to help each other succeed (and help those we love succeed!) Tonight I am very thankful to know all of you...

Tomorrow is Sunday - I hope where ever you are, and how ever you worship - that is is a great Sabbath Day. I am always grateful for Sundays and the opportunity to go to church and reflect on the past weeks experiences. This is my little way to show God that I am grateful for what I have been blessed with, and in return, He fills my vessel for another week of living! I know there are many great challenges that we all face, but I also know that no matter what the challenge is, that God is with us and will help us get through it. He may not take all of the pain away, but He will help us carry our burdens so that they seem light. Indeed, my burden has been light all of these years because I have had help from Above... and I am most thankful for that.

Now Dan Can....

2007-12-04T21:28:00.000-07:00

I thought you might enjoy a few pictures from the intensive therapy center that Dan is going to (Now I Can). At first we wondered how this type of therapy would work for Dan. The center caters to a lot of cerebral palsy children and I was not sure that this type of therapy would work for him, but after going for a few times, we are very happy with the staff there and feel that they are pushing him very hard.

Here he is working in the 'spider cage' where they bungee cord him to the cage for stability and then have him practice getting up and down from a kneeling position.

Dan in "the cage" working on more therapy moves..

These are my favorite shots! Doesn't he look cute?! This is the Neurosuit that keeps his body in alignment and offers resistance to his therapy. Basically it makes it harder to do everything with the suit on, so when it is off, the movement comes easier.

I think he looks like Robin Hood -- he just needs a hat...!

The therapy heats up!

2007-12-03T23:07:00.000-07:00

Dan is back in the swing of things and is really starting to ramp up on his therapy. Today we got a new piece of equipment in to help Dan work on improving his walking. It is a walker type device that supports his weight and can provide a workout similar to a harness / treadmill apparatus that is often found in therapy centers. The goal is to practice walking in a partial weight bearing situation to see if we can improve gait patterns.

Nathan helped put it together and we practiced at home for a while, but soon felt the need to expand to a larger area -- so here we are on our first day of "Up and Go" walking practice. We worked out at the church for about an hour, and that was after Dan had spent time at home doing some exercises in addition to two hours of physical therapy today.

Check out that leg movement! Good job Dan!

We are also getting approval for a speech therapist to start coming into the home. They called today and let us know that we were approved on our insurance and will come for an evaluation later this week. We are also anticipating getting another piece of equipment called a Quadriciser this week as well - this will really be a great benefit to Dan as it will stimulate him and give him range of motion therapy in addition to repetitive patterning -- this will be like having several therapists work on Dan at the same time - but it is all automated! We are really excited to get this and start working on it.

Just a note in closing - the men in our family REALLY like egg nog. We had a nice family time last night, and the boys came over and found Dan's egg nog in the refrigerator... needless to say they wanted some. Dan had to raise his eyebrows when he heard they were into 'his' egg nog... so they decided to trick him (see picture).

No -- egg nog does NOT kill stem cells - but we did have a good laugh over it. Laughter is good for the soul -- and it helps the healing process as well. Dan got the last laugh, though -- he drank all the egg nog!

Life's Second Chances...

2007-12-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

Dan and I are very grateful for this 'second chance' for recovery. The journey this year has been amazing... first, we researched the technology and watched as others experienced it first hand. From this we became convinced that there is a possibility for gains to be made from the stem cell treatment. Our goal was to take a small gain and make a significant life improvement from it. What would a little better lip movement do for Dan and his ability to speak clearly? What would more function in his right arm and shoulders do? Of course, we also focus on his leg, correcting the hyper extension problem and the potential gains that can come in walking with a normal gait pattern. Over the years, Dan has focused on therapy to try and improve these areas, and he has been able to achieve strength in repetitive movement in therapy. This has not translated into an improved quickness in response, and no matter how hard we have tried, his response time is still labored and slow. It seems that everything we take for granted... the movements we make without thinking about it... these are the things that have been hard for Dan. If you were to compare the spinal column to a five lane freeway where signals travel, there is a section of the road that is reduced to one lane and the signals get jammed and have a delay getting through. Everything Dan does has to be done slowly -- and regardless of different therapy efforts, this has not improved dramatically over the years.

Now Dan has six million new neural cells floating around in his spinal fluid. The task is to get the new cells to connect the neurons above the injury site to the neurons below and create "more lanes of travel" for the signals. The body and the brain will need help in knowing where to establish these connections and the stimulation will come through therapy-- very intense therapy. There will also be a period of training where we take the gains made in therapy and translate them into increased functionality. We need to change years of habits and re-train the brain on what it does automatically - the part that it controls without thinking. This is where lots and lots of repetitive movement become so important.

So -- really -- our experience is now just beginning... we have had a great adventure to China. We met so many wonderful people and new friends. Dan received great treatment and therapy... and now is the time to create a plan at home that will take him from the gains made in the hospital to further improvement over the next several months. It is critical that he get rigorous and consistent therapy - and this has been the concern that has weighed so heavily on my mind. How can we provide this to Dan with limited resources and with a full work schedule as well?

This is where the blessings come in! When we first decided to come to China, we had no idea HOW we were going to make it all happen. There was so much money to raise and the expenses were not only related to China, but also to getting the right system in place for the next year to optimize the stem cell treatments. How were we going to do it all? We were literally weeks away from leaving for China and we still didn't know how we were going to pay for it all... what I have seen is nothing short of a miracle as doors were opened for us and the path made clear so that we could have this wonderful blessing in our lives. The Schenk family surprised us with a fund raiser at our family reunion. The Maughan and the Balls families and many good friends have also been very supportive and have blessed us with donations. Our friends at Nuskin came forward just weeks before the treatment with a wonderful donation that really secured our ability to make this happen for Dan.

Now that we have returned from China, the cost of future expenses - Dan's ongoing therapies and equipment costs have been an obstacle. From the generous hearts of Dan's Uncle Rex and Aunt Ruth and his Father another door has opened and we are able to provide Dan a second chance for recovery. We will be able to get the equipment we need to stimulate and create the repetitive movement that Dan needs, as well as be able to provide him the intensive therapy he desires. We are truly grateful - and overwhelmed - by the love and support we have been given. It is truly another miracle in the making... We thank you all for your support - for your prayers - and for granting us this great opportunity! This is just the beginning (of the end..) Stay tuned for more exciting updates and we begin to implement the "post-China" program!

Intensive Therapy Has Begun.... :-)

2007-11-27T19:57:00.000-07:00

Today Dan went to a new intensive therapy program called 'Now I Can". At first he joked that it looked like a day care center as the walls are brightly colored and they do cater to a lot of children, especially those with cerebral palsy. But after his first fours hours of intensive therapy, I think he was convinced that they really challenge you there. He said the therapy was harder there than in China - which says quite a lot, because they really did work him out hard in China! I will take pictures on Thursday and post them so you can see him in his suit!

They use a therapy developed in Russia that utilizes a NeuroSuit, which basically looks like a straight jacket with a bunch of bungee cords attached. The purpose of the suit is to provide the correct alignment for the body so that therapy can practice movements and prevent compensation (otherwise known as cheating...) This is when you use some of your good muscles to do a movement rather than forcing the muscles that should be doing it to do it (like bending your head over to reach your hand rather than raising your hand to reach your head...)
Now I Can Therapy

So -- today we are very pleased. Tomorrow we try another therapist that will supplement the Tues/ Thursday intensive therapy sessions. So far it looks like his schedule will be as follows:
Mon - Wed - Fri
Traditional physical therapy 1 hour
Supplement with in home therapy 3 hours
Speech therapy 1 hour
Walking 30 min to 1 hour

Tues - Thursday
Intensive physical therapy 4 hours
Supplement with in home therapy 2 hours
Walking 30 min to 1 hour

In home therapy will consist of the exercise list that we received from our therapists in China and working out on some equipment that will provide range of motion and walking pattern development. The walking will be done over at our church in the gym where he can use the walker that has partial weight bearing capability. He will need someone to go with him to do that. This is a proposed schedule - we are still waiting to get some of the equipment we need to round this out, but in a couple of weeks we should be down to a good routine.

Things are on the up and up -- I usually only get down when we aren't doing all we can to help Dan recover and I start having guilt complexes. The week of Thanksgiving was not a good therapy week due to the traveling, eating, jet lag and then subsequent sickness. Dan did do some therapy on Thanksgiving Day - as well as in the car traveling to Idaho. I am feeling much better today as he had a great therapy day!

Now for the HARD part!

2007-11-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

OK - we are back in Utah and back to the old grind... my greatest fear is that Dan will not get the help he needs because I have other demands wanting my attention. I try to slice the pie to go around, but the reality is "there is only so much pie..." and when it is gone, it is gone!

We did get Dan down to visit a rehab physician today and were able to get some prescriptions for therapy. He also took a baseline so that he can follow Dan's progress over the next several months. Dan will start therapy tomorrow at the "Now I Can" center - this therapy style employs a therasuit, which looks like a straight jacket with bungee cords. Let's see him get out of that one! ;-)

We also have him set up to go to a regular style physical therapy on M-W-F. I am still working on getting a speech therapist lined up, and hope to get that taken care of tomorrow. We should have him back on a good schedule by the end of the week! We have been working on the exercises that were sent home from the hospital, but we can go through all of them in an hour (speech, physical and OT) so it seems like we either need to repeat them more, or add other therapy. I know that if we work hard, Dan will improve, but it is up to us to do all that that we can do, and then put our trust in God to fill in the rest.

I admit that I have been a little discouraged because the progress seems so slow and because we haven't been as organized as we would have liked the last few days. I determined that is is all right to have these feelings as long as they don't deter us from our goal. We are the only ones that can choose our destiny, and that means we can choose to rise above discouragement and move forward. It is not what we feel that matters - but what we do that counts. But then the haunting reminder comes that we don't get paid in life for our passions - we only get paid on our results. We must DO those things that will bring us the RESULTS that we are so passionate about and we must FOCUS with laser sharpness until we achieve them! That is the task that now lays in front of us -- and thus the title for today's blog. The easy part was going to China and getting the stem cell treatment - now we have to do the hard part!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

2007-11-25T11:24:00.000-07:00

We have much to be thankful for at this time of year -- good family and friends that have supported us in our quest for Dan's recovery, good children that have joined with us in supporting Dan, and a wonderful Mother that helped run the house while I was out of the country. We really feel blessed at this time....!!

We went up to Idaho and had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at my Mom's house - it was really good. Dan and I were not a lot of help, however, as we were recovering from jet lag-- and then I came down with a pretty bad cold that I have been trying to shake all weekend. I guess my lungs were not used to the clean Idaho air! -- the shock of not having good ole' Beijing pollution was too much!

We think of our friends in China and we miss them already! We had a great time and met a lot of phenomenal people that have touched our lives for good. We wish them all the best and pray for their recoveries as well! May God bless you all.

We are HOME!

2007-11-20T22:58:00.000-07:00

Just wanted everyone to know we made it home safe and sound! The flight was long.... to say the least, but that is no problem. We caught our second wind after arriving home and were able to greet friends and family again. Dan's sister Dorothy and her family, and his cousin Leslie, both came to the airport to greet us! Of course Angie was there to pick us up and we were glad to be here!

Sharing some pictures of our day's journey....

Taking the IV out!! If you have ever had an IV straight for 8 plus weeks - you will know that this is a momentous occasion! Dan is free!!

Getting a little pre-flight nourishment on the plane! We are ready to rock...!

The airport welcome home committee! Wasn't that a fun surprise?!
Dan's sister and family (Angie (our daughter), Jordy, Jason, Dax, Dan, LaNae, Dorothy and Tony!)

Almost the same crew - but includes Leslie, Dan's cousin (had to take turns taking pictures!)

Welcome home to Mom and Dad! Thanks!! You sure made us feel special!

Open House Tonight!

2007-11-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, it's Kallie. Dan and LaNae are on their way home right now and will be back late this afternoon. To celebrate, we're having an open house tonight from 6:30 to 8:00 at their house. (If you need directions, email me kallie-marie@hotmail.com)

Come welcome them home with us!!

We'll see you then!

China Days 58-60: The Last Hurrah!

2007-11-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

What a busy time we have had the last few days! On Sunday we went to church and said our good-byes to our friends there – then over to our favorite home teachers home for one last scrumptious meal – and then back to the hospital to visit with our dear friends here. It was a full day --

Monday – the last big day at the hospital had lots to do with tying up loose ends... get the last therapy routines and instructions, give away all of our “See Dan shirts” to the wonderful staff here, take lots of pictures, go do just a little more shopping, come back – take down all of the pictures in the room :-( and then spend the evening with friends from the hospital and Nuskin. We went out to Dan's favorite spot here – Grandma's Kitchen – a quaint little American food restaurant. He of course had pancakes and omlette for dinner and I enjoyed a Philly steak and cheese.

Truly the thing we will miss the most are the dear, wonderful people that we have met here. There are so many good people and it is nice to be with others that are also striving for recovery. We are able to relate in a way that others can't because we have all experienced similar challenges in life. It is a place to pull together and bond and strengthen each other. We will miss the close associations and friendships that we have made here, but we know that we are all just an email away – we look forward to keeping in touch and following each others progress as time goes on.

I have included tomorrows blog today – the BIG DAY 60! We will be up in the morning, finish up packing and head off to the airport sometime between 9-10:00. Then it is that weird flight home that leaves at 1:40 pm but gets into San Francisco at 8:00 am the same day-- how does that work again?! It makes for a very short night/ day. Then off to Salt Lake City and we plan to arrive around 3:40 pm. Keep us in your prayers for a safe flight home – and we look forward to seeing you soon! :-)

(For some reason - I can't post pictures any more - I must have run out of space... I need to check into this when we get home - until then - visualize! ;-))

China Day 57: November 17th

2007-11-17T05:58:00.000-07:00

True to my last blog post – I went shopping today! Just had to take in some more of that fun Chinese tradition! I am still probably not getting the bargain that I should, but it is certainly better prices than in the USA with the exchange rate being about 7.5 RMB to 1 USD. Dan stayed back at the hospital and dutifully absorbed the 6+ bags of IV solution while I was out and about.

Tonight we have had a quiet evening, we stayed in and are working at eating the remaining items in our refrigerator and working to get organized to come home. It has been such a wonderful experience for us to be here.... we have met so many wonderful people and in some respects we are very sad to leave all of our new friends... but it is back to the grind and daily routine when we get back home.

We have Dan scheduled to start therapy on Tuesday, November 27th with an intensive therapy center. He will work on therapy there two days a week for four hours a day. We also ordered a piece of equipment that will help with partial weight bearing so that he can work on his walking therapy as well. This is similar to the harness and treadmill that you have seen him work out on in the therapy videos, but is a 'poor mans' approach to get some equipment to help him simulate this type of therapy at home. The device is kind of like a walker, but has a harness built into it to offload his full weight. It should give him and environment similar to walking in a swimming pool, or aquatic therapy. We are really trying to focus on improving his weight transfer and patterning of walking with this exercise as well as practice walking without the leg brace to see if we can get his leg strong enough (and responsive enough) so it doesn't hyperextend when he walks. We so take walking for granted... it is such a science to re-learn to walk! Proper weight shifting, heel-toe foot placement and teaching the brain the rhythm of it all so that it can do it automatically – pretty hard stuff to do when your brain doesn't know how to do it anymore!

Dan also wants to get a piece of equipment called a quadriciser – this he could use several hours a day and would simulate a therapist doing range of motion exercises with him as well as simulate the rhythmic pattern of walking. It is quite pricey, however, so we will have to see about that one. We have a video coming and have some people to call and follow up with to see the impact on other users... so still checking this one out.

The other item that we are hot to obtain is called a Saeboflex – we will have to wait until we can get into an Occupational Therapist at home and get an evaluation on this. This should allow him to have his right hand in an extended position which would actually allow for functional use! We are hopeful that functional use of his right arm with the device on will also allow him to improve so that he could use it without the device. The recovery videos from this product are amazing to watch and progress has been tracked on patients for up to a year with amazing results. We want to be one of their success stories!

Basically the goal is to have a schedule that Dan can work with at home and in conjunction with professional therapists to give him 5-6 hours a day of therapy. My fear is that I will get home and start working and my focus will change and we will not meet our goals – please harass us and help us so that we transition successfully from the hospital to a great therapy routine at home! We need your help on this...

China Days 55-56: Only 2 more China shopping days left!

2007-11-16T10:42:00.000-07:00

OK – the really big news is that I only have 2 more shopping days left until we leave for home! I have really got to get crackin' if I am to get in all in before then... ;-) (just kidding!)

The real deal is that everything is just great here for us. We are starting to wind down the treatment and preparations are being made for our return to the USA. It is kind of a happy-sad situation as we are totally excited to be coming home, but sad to leave this beautiful country and all the wonderful people that we have met here.... from the hospital, to our church and our Nuskin friends, we feel like we have had a great experience here and would love to come back.

Here is a picture of a nurse that we missed in the group picture – her name is Shirley, and she is awesome! (just like all the rest!)

Today was the last doctor's visit with the 'Directors'. It is always good to have them come and evaluate and answer questions. We are thankful for the good care that we have received here in China – they have a great team here. We received our discharge papers today and all of the medications that Dan will need to continue to take over the next 3 months. We will also be receiving a list of therapies as recommended for speech, OT and PT.

Tonight we went out with Gary, Lorraine, Monnie, Glenn, Jeremy and little Blake for a great steak dinner – we had a really good time, and it WAS a really good steak!

Blake is our little sweetheart – he has Batten's disease – a hereditary condition that impacts children. He was growing normal and strong as a toddler and has digressed to a state where he is now blind and has a feeding tube. They brought him to China for treatment to try and extend his life until a cure can be found... what an amazing family! You can learn more about Blake at www.blakespurpose.org.

China Days 54: Last stem cell treatment & therapy plans

2007-11-14T05:39:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to those who have reached out to Dan after the passing of his dear Grandma Schenk. Dan appreciates the comments and emails of support and while he misses them dearly, is happy that his Mother, Grandma and Grandpa Schenk are all cheering him on from the other side of the veil. He loved them all so very much!

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Today was Dan's last stem cell treatment! Wahoo!! I think they did it in record time today – about eleven minutes from the time he left until he returned. Here is a picture of him getting on the operating gerny and off he went!

This is what it is like for six hours after the stem cell treatment - lay flat on your back, no turning to the side, no pillow for six straight hours! Truly an endurance test for only the hardiest of souls!

You are probably wondering how Dan eats during the six hours on his back -- well -- let us demonstrate this for you! First, line all of the food up on a paper towel on Dan's chest...

Next - let Dan feed himself! He did quite well with the Doritos, Snickers and Kit Kats that we gave him (yes - we too are excellent caregivers! This was Renee's idea from next door and I thought it worked out quite nicely!)

Just so you won't worry too much - I also fed him an excellent breakfast before the treatment - Chinese congi with bananas and raisins, USA oatmeal with the same fruit, ruby red grapefruit juice, raisin bread and banana bread! Then for lunch he did have some juice and a meal replacement soup packet from Pharmanex...

He has done very well today - no temperature and he feels good! We are now ready for Therapy 102 to begin!

This is what I have put together thus far on the therapy that we would like Dan to have when he gets home. It will need to be a combination of home based workouts combined with therapy outside the home. I switched insurance providers at work and signed up for a plan that offers more therapy visits for next year, so we will utilize my current policy this year and then switch over in January to Aetna. They will most likely offer a program that is 3 sessions a week, and so we will need to augment this as we would like to continue with a five to six hour program at least five days a week. That is what we are receiving now....

These are some of the things that I am hoping to find in a therapy treatment facility:
Gait training equipment:
LiteGait
Robomedica
Gaitrite

Right arm and hand therapy:
Seaboflex

Speech and swallowing therapy:
Vital Stim

Another option that we are looking into is Now I Can - an intensive, four hour a day program. This is quite costly - from $6000 to $8000 per session (3-4 weeks per session). We might try to augment using this program, but they do not bill insurance and so I would have to request reimbursement and I am not sure it would be covered.
Now I Can

We are looking at the following to help out with our home based program:
Seaboflex
Easy Walking Up and Go
Quadriciser

The important thing will be -- therapy every day, work hard in each area as this will help the brain help the new stem cells find the proper places to heal, bridge the damaged areas and create the new pathways that Dan needs.

China Days 52-53: Therapy, shopping and more stem cells...

2007-11-13T06:14:00.000-07:00

Monday was a busy day – Dan spent the day in therapy and LaNae went exploring with some friends to a few of the shopping malls in China. The thinking is – get your Christmas shopping done in China where it is 1/7 the cost! We had a good time, but I still need to get better at bargaining.... that is the shopping way of the Chinese. “How much will you pay, Lady... Lady, I will give it to you for this price... really good price... come on Lady!” That is what you hear all day long when you try to shop! Not much opportunity to just browse and select because if you stop – you get sucked in....

In the evening we went out to a great restaurant – Grandma's Kitchen. It is REAL American food with hamburgers, french fries, milkshakes, pancakes and apple pie ala mode. It was really good.

Today Dan went to therapy and I went out to Wal-mart with some new people that just arrived from Australia. (Nicole and Maria) We had a good time, and I picked up some groceries that we needed. It is always good to have someone to ride with in the cab and it was great to get to know Nicole and Maria. They are here with Nichole's husband who has MS.

Tomorrow is the BIG #3 stem cell treatment for Dan! This will be the last treatment before we return home next Tuesday. They are starting to make the winding up preparations for us here – today they came with a list of medications that they want Dan to take after he returns home... so the preparations are beginning to happen for our return! Day 60 is the big return home day – and so as you can see the countdown has begun. It is amazing to me that we are about ready to come home – in so many ways – we would like to stay longer – the therapy, the people, the country – it has been an amazing experience!

Our wonderful nurses! (L to R) Shirleen, Irene, Tina and Jingjing

Dan is surrounded by all of this great nurses.... aren't they beautiful?!
(L to R) Tina, Sunny, Ester, Dan, Jingjing, Caca, Linda and Irene

Saying "Good-bye" to some great new friends... wishing you the best on your recoveries!
Judy (Australia) left on Monday and Carlos and Elsa (Argentina) are leaving tomorrow. It is so neat to get to know all of these great people!

This is Diana, Judy, Lorraine and Judy's caregiver. Wishing Judy the best - she is a great lady!

Dan with Carlos from Argentina - Carlos has ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease)

LaNae and Dan with Carlos and Elsa

We had a birthday get together for three of our friends here at the hospital - Metin from Turkey, Gary from Pennsylvania and Stephen from Florida.

China Day 51: Another Great Day...

2007-11-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

Today was AWESOME! We had a wonderful day at church today – we had some special guests visit us in our little Branch and it was a really neat experience. The take-aways from church today are that we need to be willing to do the hard things in life and how this will ultimately help us to grow and become more like our Savior. Our afflictions can be consecrated for our gain...(2 Nephi 2:1-2). I needed to hear this because sometimes we pray that our pain and suffering will be taken away and that life will be easy for us... but sometimes it is hard, and that is ok. I am going to quote Missy Ashton (mother of Jeremy – who came over here to China not long ago with Jeremy to receive stem cell treatment) “What's wrong with hard?” ...that is what she says – and I think it is a good quote to keep in mind. Hard things help us to grow, and if we didn't have hard things in our lives, we could not reach our potential.

As we look to the future in hopes of Dan's recovery, we believe that we must do our part if we are to expect the blessings from Heaven. We must 'do the hard things' like daily, repetitive therapy and not get distracted or give up. It will take time and a lot of hard work on Dan's part to see the benefits from this amazing treatment that he is getting, We are committed to do our part, and we appreciate all of the support that is offered through prayers, comments, emails and phone calls. When we are discouraged and the progress seems slow, we remember all the people that are behind us, cheering us on... and that gives us the courage and strength to move forward! Thank you all for your support – it really does make a difference for us!!

Here is a picture of the building that where we go to church – it is called the 'Golden Tower'.

We went over to our hometeachers (Mac and Janet Coleman) for dinner again today – they are so great – we get a FABULOUS meal there every week! Today they invited the young, single adults over as well – and I think there was about 34 people there total! As you can see the food was great!

Mac and Janet Coleman – Mac is dressed in his military uniform as today is Armistice Day / Veteran's Day. He reminded us that on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month the agreement was signed to end World War 1. As we appreciate our freedoms and all that we have been given, we should take some time to remember that we have this because a soldier fought for us to have this blessing. We should take a moment to remember and honor those soldiers and appreciate all that we have because of them! Thanks, Mac, for reminding us of how lucky we really are!

China Day 50: Beautiful Beijing

2007-11-10T05:37:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the 'directors' came and gave Dan a good checkup. I really like them – they always take the time to answer the questions that I have... which is usually a lot! As we talked about what needs to happen in the healing process, they helped me to understand that the damaged area needs to be 'bridged' so that the neurons from the upper brain area can reconnect with the neurons in the lower spinal cord. It was good to have them come and help clarify the healing process for me.

Earlier in the week we went to dinner with Renee, Ty, Monnie and Glenn to a really good restaurant – the best I have been to since being here. It was the Beijing DaDong Roast Duck Restaurant, and the food was absolutely fabulous – and more than tasting good, the presentation of each dish was just as amazing...

Monnie is getting ready to eat a shrimp delicacy! They don't waste any parts of the fish or animal over here... so if you look closely, you will see the little eyes of the shrimp staring up at Monnie! It was pretty funny to watch the expression on her face! :-) Glenn and Monnie are from South Carolina, and they are here to treat Glenn's Parkinson's disease.

Some of the amazing presentations of the food! It tasted as good as it looks!

The roasting of the duck... we were allowed to go back into the kitchen and select the duck that we wanted... it was pretty cool to see how they cooked them over an open fire.

The carving of the duck....

Renee and Diana enjoying dessert....

To top off the evening... some refreshing Doublemint gum!

Beijing is an amazing city and China is a wonderful country. We are so fortunate to be able to get out on the weekend and take in some of the sites of this amazing place! Today we went to the Summer Palace with Renee, Ty, Monnie and Glenn – it was a wonderful experience! This is the summer palace of the emporer and it was absolutely beautiful!

The beautiful bridge and view across the lake to the Summer Palace...

The palace from across the lake...

The ferry and the beautiful surroundings as we crossed the lake!

A couple of shots of Dan at the base of the palace... one on the walkway out side and the other on a little bridge that leads up to the palace. Dan didn't venture up all the steps to climb to the top of this one -- but it was pretty cool here as well! (over 200 steps)

The view from the top of the palace!

The main palace - up close!

Saying 'Good-bye' to the beautiful Summer Palace!

China Days 48-49: Happy, sad day... a tribute to Grandma Schenk

2007-11-09T06:40:00.000-07:00

We got the news this morning that Dan's Grandma Schenk had passed away... Dan cried. He so loved his Grandma... she was (and is) very special to him. He was born on her birthday, along with Aunt Kathie – and that has been a bond for them throughout their lives. She was an amazing woman – you always felt loved when you went to see her – we will miss her dearly, but are happy that she is with Grandpa Schenk again, and with Dan's Mom. I am sure it was a happy reunion for them!

I am posting some of our favorite pictures of Dan and Grandma Schenk in remembrance of her today – her funeral will be on Monday. We are so sad that we will not be there, but we know we are doing the right thing here in China to help Dan recover, and we know that is what Grandma Schenk wanted for him. We will continue to work hard to realize this dream, knowing that they are watching from Heaven. We will do our best to make them proud....

Dan continues to work hard in therapy, and we have the opportunity to get out and see Beijing from time to time. We will post more on a later day, but today we want to stop and appreciate the great life of Neomia 'Pat' Schenk. Thank you for your wonderful example of goodness and righteous living! Thank you for your warm hugs and kisses! Thank you for your encouraging words and unending support! We love you, Grandma!!

China Days 46-47: Back in the saddle again...

2007-11-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

Well, Dan had a little hiccup on Tuesday as he did have a continuation of his temperature and this made him feel very weak. He did not attend any of his therapy sessions due to this. Today, he was back to (almost) normal. He did get tired after a couple of sessions, and took a 30-minute break, but then he was back at it again in physical therapy. Today he did a new therapy as they put him in a harness to support his weight so that he could work on his walking and focus on how he moves his legs and plants his feet. I took a nice snapshot of it which I have included below. He also had a great day in occupational therapy – he is getting the rings higher and higher on the peg tree – now his is up past the pegs and putting the rings on the top! Way to go Dan!

Tonight we went out to eat at one of the Nuskin leaders here in Beijing. John and his wife, Sonya fixed us a great Chinese meal with a wonderful variety of food. It was really good to have some good home cooking-- much, much better than the hospital food!

I am still working on researching the kind of therapy that we want to have when we get home. When I am at home and working, I don't take the time to look at all the options out there, and this has been a good opportunity for me to look at the latest and greatest in therapy options and centers. We are trying to figure out what type of program would best fit Dan's needs and our lifestyle. We want to make sure that we continue with what we have started here and not drop the ball when we get home. There are lots of things to consider, and we will keep you posted as we better formulate our plan....

... until then – thanks for your prayers and support!

Dan getting the 'extra special' treatment from the three Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors!

Check it out! Dan is on top of the ring tree!

The new 'weightless' walking therapy!

China Day 45: Stem Cell Treatment #2!

2007-11-05T05:53:00.001-07:00

Today was our second stem cell injection for Dan – they came and picked him up around 9:20 am, took him to the operating room and had him back by 9:45 am. It didn't take long – and then the rest of the day was spent with Dan laying on his back. He did pretty well (he doesn't complain much...). I fed him a good breakfast before the treatment, and he survived on peanut butter sandwiches, bananas, yogurt and trail mix the rest of the day.

Tonight when he was allowed to get up, he was quite weak, and has a slight temperature. I sponged him down on his abdomen, which will hopefully bring his temperature down. It is normal to have a slight elevation in temperature after the procedure, however he said he felt weaker this time. He is resting now, so we will see how he feels in the morning.

Dan is ready for stem cell treatment #2....!

Off to the surgery room Dan goes!

Dan back in the room after surgery with the nurses checking him over.

Dan with our wonderful nurses, Esther and Kelly, taking care of him after the stem cell procedure. (Dan is waving hello...)

China Day 44: Happy Sabbath!

2007-11-04T08:20:00.000-07:00

Today has been a great day... we were able to attend church this morning and then after church, our gracious home teacher's family invited us over to their home for dinner – apparently this is going to be a weekly habit as they had Dan and Heather over the last two weeks as well and have invited us for dinner next week too! Mac Coleman works for the Embassy and he was busy today preparing for the arrival of the Secretary of the Defense, but his lovely wife Janet was our hostess today.(Janet's maiden name is Maughan - we are related!) She had invited a few other couples to join us and we had a really nice time. She has a Chinese cook that prepares all of the food, and it was just like eating out! Several dishes to choose from – all very good – and the company was great as well...

We had one of those 'small world' experiences as there was one couple that is here in China on a service mission from the Seattle area. We met them in church when the woman approached me and asked if we were allowed to leave the hospital and have dinner... of course I said – Yes! We were interrupted in our conversation and never were able to finish it, but then they were one of the couples that came to dinner! Their names are Phil and Donna Coleman and they are from the Seattle area – they know Ken and Earlene very well! (my brother and his wife--) They were very complimentary of them and I got quite a few kudos from being the sister of Ken Balls! So thanks – bro – for setting such a good example up there in the Seattle area! Apparently you have a great reputation for 'getting things done' and I am just proud to be your sister! :-)

Also -- we tried to track down Cory Sellers - he is in the ward here, but we couldn't locate him today. I think his wife was there, but we couldn't find her after church... we will hook up with them next week. (Cory is an uncle to Nic Clark's wife Steff and we are looking forward to meeting him!)

They came and informed us tonight that Dan will have his second stem cell treatment tomorrow.. so this will be a great experience. Heather did such a good job of taking care of Dan during the last treatment... I hope to do as well tomorrow. (By the way, Heather, all the folks at church think you are just wonderful... quite an accomplished young woman! Just thought you would want to know that...)

So – until tomorrow's report – enjoy your Sabbath where ever you are! :-)

China Day 43: The AMAZING Great Wall of China..... and Dan climbs it!

2007-11-03T07:07:00.000-06:00

Today we will have a picture show of the Great Wall Adventure by Dan and LaNae (and our new friend Gary!) We are exhausted from our trip out – Dan is resting on the bed getting his daily IV's which probably won't be done for a long time as we were on the go most of the day. We went out to the Mutianyu Great Wall site, and trust me – it was NOT handicap accessible! I don't imagine many of them are, but this one was not. The driver of the car most likely thought it would be a good spot as it does have a cable car service – but the trick is getting up to the cable car! ... and then after the cable car ride, there are also a lot of steps! Gary was a real trooper though – he helped push Dan up a very, very steep incline, and then when we got up to the top of it – we found there were a lot of steps to climb up before we could even get to the cable car! True – there were a lot of Chinese guys trying to sell us a service to hand carry Dan up the mountain in a chair with two long sticks on it.. it would take 4 men to go up the incline, but they wanted 200 RMB per person – and so we told them no way. That would have been 800 RMB for four of us and 600 RMB for three. So we just bought our tickets (which alone were 95 RMB) and ventured up alone. I never could have done it on my own... bless Gary ... he is a fine young man.

Here are some pictures of our adventure--

Dan's swollen right leg... I mentioned this in yesterday's blog - thought you might like to see it... not too good.

Our group ready to go in the van! (L to R) Shirleen our wonderful nurse, our driver (don't know his name..), Judy's caregiver, Gary (the hero), Judy and Dan.

The Olympic stadium that we passed on the way to the Great Wall.

A camel – I realized after I took the picture that if you want a picture with the camel, you are supposed to PAY for it.... oops.

The VERY steep trail that we pulled Dan up in his wheelchair!

The stairs before the cable car ride!

The stairs after the cable car ride! Dan climbed all of these - and more that you can't see!

A map of how far we had come to get to the top...

Dan on the Great Wall of China! Wahoo!!!!
Dan just emerged from some VERY steep steps to get up on the wall...

Looking the other way – much better view.

Someone was kind enough to get us BOTH in the picture – see I was there too!

Cool picture from inside one of the buildings up top the Great Wall.

This is inside the building – a little Chinese girl was playing hide-and-seek with her Grandma in here... it was really cute!

Dan holding up the Great Wall... sure glad he is there...

Dan and his buddy Gary on the VERY STEEP steps up to the wall.

Gary helping Dan down the steps. (I took a cool video of this event – however I turned the camera sideways and so you have to watch it sideways! Sorry about that.... )

Dan checking out the scenery on the way back down in the cable car....

The Great Wall of China!

Be happy for this great team accomplishment today!

China Day 42: Research... research

2007-11-02T08:09:00.000-06:00

More therapy today – all I can say is that Dan and I don't have nearly as much fun as our kids did while they were here..! (just kidding.. just wait until tomorrow!) We usually stay in the hospital room and eat food we bought from Wal-mart, send Dan to therapy and research our options for therapy on our return to the USA. I am finding a lot of cool machines and gadgets – I am still looking for the right mix of things for Dan to have the best chance for recovery over the next several months.

GOOD NEWS! Well – it was a good day because the 'directors' come to the hospital on Friday's. The directors are the neurologists and they come and see each patient in their rooms and then have a meeting to discuss progress and provide guidance to the doctors on staff and the therapists for the upcoming week.

I had the MRI films that were taken of Dan's brain before coming to China (fairly recent – April timeframe). Anyway, as I might have mentioned before – this MRI technology was not available when Dan was first injured and I had never seen any films of his condition. So I have always pictured in my mind where his injury was in his head and how it has affected his abilities. Any time we had ever asked for an MRI to be done, the response was – we can tell he has sustained a head injury by a neurological exam – so we don't need to do an MRI to know he has a head injury. But, in my mind, I want to understand how these new cells are going to fix the problem that he has, where is the problem and what needs to happen to help him recover. Today the neurologists took enough time to look at the films, and explain the areas of the brain that have been damaged (in Chinese). Basically, Dan has two main injuries – one on the upper left frontal lobe and another in the brainstem area – the medulla. It is the second area that impacts his motor abilities and is the most noticeable to his current capabilities. Anyway – it was really good to learn and to see on the films where the injury sites are. Also, there is good hope for recovery for Dan – the main improvement will take a few months to see, but we are told that anywhere from two to six months from the treatment is when the cells start to take hold and improvements are seen. The prognosis for recovery was really good from these doctors opinion... pretty exciting news and very encouraging!

It was kind of fun to watch them today – they took the films and held them up to the window and talked very rapidly amongst themselves in Chinese. There were about 10 of them in the room as they go around as a group for the checkups. After they had the big discussion about it all – the interpreters told us what they said. So it was all good!

The only other thing to note is that lately Dan's right leg has been swelling with edema. They have stopped the acupuncture for now as they think that has aggravated something and they don't want the problem to continue. His right leg is noticeably larger and has been causing him some pain in the foot area.

Last and certainly not least – we are going to the GREAT WALL tomorrow! A few of us, including some patients are heading up to the Great Wall tomorrow for a day trip. I am sure Dan won't be able to go very far – but we will definitely make him hike up a few stairs to get a picture on the wall! We will keep you posted on this grand adventure tomorrow.

China Day 41: A new month ... a new life?

2007-11-01T08:56:00.000-06:00

Well-- here we are to November already! My how time does fly when you are having fun...! Happy Birthday to Joy! (Dan's sister) – it is her special day today. Dan wants you to know that he is thinking of you Joy...:-)!

Dan spent the day in therapy and also spent a few hours cleaning up the blog. You will notice that there are new links to our main web page as well as to the videos posted on Maxcast. This should make it easier for you to navigate to them. For some reason the default 'add a link' wasn't working but he looked into it and figured out a way to make it all work right.

I spent the day reading today and catching up on a few things. I leave you with a quote for the day--

"Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -- Thomas Alva Edison

I think we need to work even harder than we are to make this dream a reality. The body doesn't seem to 'get it' that it is supposed to be using new neural paths unless we beat it into it. The body is not very smart – it needs the brain to tell it what to do and in many ways this is a lesson of mind over body and which is the master of our destiny. We must show the body a new way of functioning, and that sounds like an awful lot of 'work' to me. I hope that we do not miss this opportunity because it is dressed up in overalls and looks like work....

Take care friends. All the best from China....

China Day 40: Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T07:08:00.000-06:00

I am very sad to be here in China on Halloween! I can't see my cute grandkids in their costumes! Riley was going to be Pocahontas – she had an authentic costume straight from Disney World! I am sure Riley and Gentry both will look adorable... I hope Nate and Heather send me a picture!

We have already had our Halloween festivities! Renee and Diana got some pumpkins and carved them – and we got together and had some snacks and lit them up – they were cute. I have included some snaps from our party... the hospital staff is so good to help everyone get to know everyone else. It really helps when you are so far away from home...

Dan was active in therapy today – not much new going on. I ran to Wal-mart this afternoon and picked up a cushion for my bed.... I couldn't take it anymore (the hard bed)... so I am excited to try it out tonight. The kids will be mad I didn't get it BEFORE they were here. Dan says he is tough and doesn't need extra padding on his bed... the cushion is basically an egg-carton foam pad with a silk cover on it. One of the other families here clued me in on them, and so off to Wally's I went. (by myself) The alley has been under construction, and so Dan can't really go out until it is finished and the taxi's are once again able to come up to the hospital. It is a major pain to try and get them to come through the back way as there are several guards that they have to pass by, and someone who knows the route has to go out to the street, get a taxi and then guide it through the maze. They also have to have a special card so that they can get through all the checkpoints. So – that is why I went by myself today... it is easier to walk out to the street and get a taxi yourself than to go through all that trouble!

Dan's next stem cell treatment is scheduled for early next week – most likely on Tuesday. We are looking forward to it!

Best Wishes to Jason Harrison who will be leaving on his LDS Mission today! I hear Grandma was his companion for the first couple of days -- you can't get better than that, Jason! Good Luck to you and we will be praying for you!

Happy Halloween from the Chinese pumpkins!

Dr. Guan giving the pumpkin some acupuncture?! Elsa is trying to scare you with Seline in the background.

Dan and Dr. Guan - toasting on a Sprite!

Wendy, Diana, Renee and Kotan with the pumpkins!

Heather in front of the main palace at Tiananmen Square...

Heather at Tiananmen Square...

China Day 39: Planning next steps....

2007-10-30T08:47:00.000-06:00

Here is the report from China – Dan is doing well, as feisty as ever. LaNae is stubborn and tenacious. It is amazing these two get along so well! ;-) But they do – and are trying hard to work together to beat this thing!

They will be increasing Dan's physical therapy to two sessions a day – double the fun (too bad we don't have some Doublemint gum!) Today he worked hard on his hamstrings – the back muscles in the upper leg – as well as the side to side movement. He also worked on the treadmill and practiced gait training – balance, weight transfer, etc. The goal would be to ultimately get rid of his AFO (leg brace) and be able to walk with out it, but that will take a lot more improvement in the hamstrings as he has a hypertension problem in his right leg (thus the need for a brace). Problem is – the brace is heavy and he tends to drag his leg around rather than doing a proper heel-toe foot placement. I know... I know.. the details are boring – but as my boss says at work – the devil is in the details... so that is where we must fine tune our efforts!

I am spending time researching the next steps for therapy when we get back from China. We all hope that Dan would just get some new cells and then he would be 'all better'... but the reality is that it will take several months of intense therapy and effort, good nutrition and adequate rest to realize the improvements from the new neural cells. We have to 'tell the body' where to send them and put them to use. So I am looking into all the options and have found some very promising leads. (expensive .. but promising!) I will keep you posted as I learn more....

Check out the VIDEOS – Dan has organized all the videos into a single area. Watch one or all of them... your preference – and you can watch online – you don't have to download the video using the cool Maxcast technology!

Stem Cell China Videos

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Here are some pictures Dr. Guan took of Dan during a TCM session (Traditional Chinese Medicine). How would you like acupuncture in your head and your lips! Ouch!
Dan seems to enjoy it – he is still smiling!

Dan and Dr. Guan - note the acupuncture needle in the head!

Check out the needles in the lips!

Dan is still smiling - even with needles in his lips!

China Days 33-38: Keep on, keepin' on... ... and LaNae is back in China!

2007-10-25T22:44:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I haven't updated this in a few days! Sorry about that... I have been focused on getting everything wrapped up at work as well as the other aspects of my life – so that I would be ready to come back to China! I am here now safe and sound and Heather is still here. She left today ... and at the time of this post - she is 'in flight' United Airlines Flight 888.

Here is an update that I started to write, but then Dan's photo site was down and I couldn't get the video urls. (I wrote this on Thursday.... notice the blog post date!)

Hi all! We are excited to know that Dan had his first treatment this week! He said that he is feeling well, and Heather said that his therapists said he was faster and had better ROM (range of motion). I am thinking I need to get over there and check this situation out! I am leaving on Saturday morning early ( 7 am flight – have to be there at 5 am – who booked these flights anyway?! --oh yeah, that was me!--) I am excited to get back and can report on some progress and take some pictures to send your way. I do have a couple of videos to share if you have time to watch...

Stem Cell China Videos
http://www.maxcast.com/stemcell
(copy and paste url into new browser window to view)
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Here are some other pictures of his recent therapy and some shots of Heather taking a little break.

Here Dan goes - off to his first stem cell treatment!

Dan is back from the stem cell treatment, and is tucked happily back in bed! He had to lie flat on his back for 6 hours!

Dan is trying to eat pizza while laying flat on his back!

Dan working on a new therapy exercies with Lily -- the hoops!

Dan praying for his recovery -- even during therapy!

That famous Dan smile that we all know and love...

Lily working Dan over... come on... come on...

Heather having a little fun going out to eat with some new-found friends.

An interesting pot outside the Buddhist Temple that Heather visited.

China Day 32: Stem Cell Treatment #1

2007-10-23T23:42:00.001-06:00

Dan and Heather called tonight about 6:30 pm – they were just getting Dan ready to go into surgery for the first stem cell treatment! How exciting is that?!! It took less than an hour and he was back in the room, ready for his six hour nap – haha. He has to lay flat on his back – he can't get up to go to the bathroom, or eat or anything... I wish I was there to help – but I will be there for the next one! Heather is doing a great job – she is a good helper. They had Chinese pizza for lunch – and it had hot dogs in the crust. Heather didn't like it – to say the least.

Heather took some pictures of Dan laying on the stretcher before going into surgery, as well as him laying on the bed after his FIRST stem cell treatment. I will get them to upload them to me so I can share them with you tomorrow..

The hospital is now making plans for our final departure from China – they may need to change our plans as they need 4-5 days after the last stem cell treatment before they will let Dan leave. So – I may be giving you a new date for our return flight... they said they will type it up and send it to me, so I will keep you posted.

I love this quote that Christi included in her comment yesterday --
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NOTHING is impossible!
'Impossible' is just a big WORD thrown around by small men and women who find it easier to live in the world they've been given rather than exploring the power they have to change it.
Impossible is not a fact, it is an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration, IT'S A DARE. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary.
Impossible is NOTHING.
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I am going to print it out and hang it up on the wall in Dan's room when I go back! Thanks Christi! ...and Koo... the voice of experience... Dan is now living his 'longest six hours in China'! Thanks all for your support - it makes a huge difference to know you are all pulling for us!

China Day 31: First stem cell treatment on Wednesday !! (tomorrow)

2007-10-22T20:33:00.000-06:00

I just got off the phone with Heather and Dan and they said that Dan will receive his first stem cell treatment tomorrow! This is exciting news!! So since they are ahead of our time about 14 hours, that means that sometime Tuesday evening US time that Dan will have his first treatment. I would imagine they would start about 9:00 am Beijing time which is 7:00 pm the night before MDT. When I talked to them on the telephone, they said that he would be getting the treatment tomorrow, but then when I got off the phone I realized that they are already living our tomorrow (it is Tuesday am now for them) and so their tomorrow is really Wednesday! What a brain cramp!

Heather is doing great. They met some really nice people at church and Heather made some friends her age (Young Single Adults). They went out to lunch yesterday and then visited a Buddhist temple. It had a statue that was about three stories tall – I guess it is the tallest in the world. Tonight (their Tuesday) she is going to go to institute and then the group might go out to dinner or dancing. So, it sounds like she has some friends to be with while she is there. Also, some of Dan's Nu Skin friends came over and took her shopping and have invited them to their home for dinner. It looks like everyone is being well taken care of in China! :-)

I am at home working hard to get everything taken care of with my job as well as getting organized to go back to China for several weeks. I am sure it will be a busy week – but I am excited to have Dan's treatments officially beginning! Say an extra prayer for Dan the next few days! Thanks all! We so appreciate your support!!!

China Days 29-30: The changing of the guard (2) (Oct 20 - 21st)

2007-10-21T22:11:00.000-06:00

Wow! Can you believe it has been 30 days in China already?!

Heather has arrived safely, and as I understand has already spent most of her money on shoes at the Pearl Market (the first day in China!). I knew that would be a dangerous place to take her... ;-). Jeff and Kallie met her at the airport, and took her back to the hospital. Then they went out to the Pearl Market and out to dinner with the hospital group to a French restaurant. The hospital is really great because they do plan activities and get-togethers with the patients there. Another way to meet people and help each other out when you are so far away from home. It is great...

Today, Heather went to church with Dan and Jeff and Kallie headed back home on the airplane. I picked them up at about 6:30 pm Utah time and brought them home for a nice American meal. Nathan came over and brought the grandkids (Riley and Gentry). We had a good time, and it is nice to have them back safe and sound. I head out on Saturday and then will stay for the remaining duration of Dan's treatments (November 20th). Watch out when I get back there, Dan (... and you thought Lily was a slave driver!).

I went up to Idaho over the weekend to my home town of Soda Springs. I visited with my Mother, stayed over night, got up this morning, attended church, and then went to see Dan's Grandma Schenk, who is in the rest home there in Soda. She is a wonderful, kind woman – and I wanted to see her one more time before I left for China. I took her up a picture that is one of our favorites – of her giving Dan a hug the first year after his accident. On his shirt is says 'Another Miracle' – we think it is a pretty special picture, and we wanted her to have a copy of it to look at while Dan is in China, so we blew it up and framed it for her. Dan was born on Grandma Schenk's birthday and she is an extra special Grandma to him. Dan is working extra hard to improve – especially for Grandma Schenk! We hope to see her on Thanksgiving when we return from China.

I have uploaded a copy of this picture for you to see---

China Day 28: Great Wall Day

2007-10-19T20:57:00.001-06:00

Today Jeff and Kallie went to the Great Wall - they had a fun time. Dan is doing great and is working hard. Tomorrow Heather comes and Sunday Jeff and Kallie come home. I am sure grateful the our children could spend this time with their Dad...

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Jeff and I took a trip to the Great Wall today. We knew it would be huge…and it was. What we didn’t know is that there are so many STEEP stairs there. It was hard to climb all the way to the top, but we did it. We had about 2 ½ hours to walk around and spent every one of them going up and down the stairs all over the Great Wall at Juyong Pass. I wish there were a way to tell you exactly how it was…pictures don’t quite do it justice.
It took us about 2 hours to get to the Great Wall, even with a stop at the Jade Gallery on the way. The ride home was long and maybe even miserable. It took us at least 3 hours to get back, since the traffic was so bad. There are 12 million people in Beijing, and I’m pretty sure every one of them was out today between 2:30 and 6. J We felt bad about being gone so long and walked as fast as we could once we got out of the taxi, but when we got here, Dan was just fine in the hospital room. He didn’t seem to be bothered at all that we’d been gone.
That’s about it for now…we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow. We want to go to the Pearl Market in the morning, then we pick Heather up at the airport in the afternoon. After that we’ll go to Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City with everyone and maybe hit the Roast Peking Duck for dinner. Hope everyone is well!
xoxo
Jeff & Kallie

Jeff and Kallie at the Great Wall. This was after we’d already climbed everything behind us in the picture and more.

Funny Chinese to English Translation

Funny Chinese to English Translation

Steep Stairs…but not as steep as some of the others

Funny Chinese to English Translation

The Wall

We really don’t know what they’re trying to say with this.

Jeff on the stairs. Dan’s Physical Therapist keeps trying to get him to lift his knees high and walk. We think the Great Wall would be an excellent place for therapy.

China Day 27: Dan and his 'caretakers'

2007-10-18T21:48:00.001-06:00

Update from Dan the Man...
I feel stronger than when you were here. I think I'm getting stronger with my left arm. I got my right arm to go behind my back while sitting on the bed in front of Dr Leo yesterday but didn't today when the Director came.

Update from the 'wonderful caretakers'!
Today was a pretty uneventful day. We stayed with Dan and went to some of his therapy appointments. We took a little trip to the bank to exchange some of Dan’s money and to get some out of the ATM for ourselves. What we thought would be a quick trip ended up taking an hour. We’re not sure why, since we couldn’t understand what in the world they were talking about, but we were in good company, so we didn’t mind.
There was a going-away party for some people Jeff and I hadn’t met today. They’ll leave on Sunday. We all got together in the little café at the front of the hospital for cake and to talk. It’s super fun to get to know the other patients and their families. I wish everyone could meet Marlene and Norman, Renae, Susan and her family and everyone else. While we were there, someone mentioned all the love that’s here. She talked about how it’s hard to be far away from home and familiar things, but how easy it can be when strangers are kind and offer encouragement and love. Everyone helps everyone around here, and even though we’ve only been here for a short time, these people have become an important part of our lives. I hope to be able to keep in touch with them.
Anyway, while Dan was working hard in his acupuncture/massage appointment :-), Jeff and I finally put up the pictures in the room. I didn’t realize how boring the room was until we put them up. It’s good to have everyone here with us now. :-) The nurses love the pictures and take a minute each time they come in to look at them.
Hope everything is well there! Hopefully we’ll have more exciting things to report tomorrow. Good night! ;-)

Dan eating dessert before dinner. We’re awesome caretakers.

All of Dan’s IVs .. yikes

Speech therapy. Haha

Hanging the pictures on the wall (Jeff as Vanna)

More pictures - doesn't it look nice!

The Alley – Kallie and Marlene
(This is the alley that you have to travel down to get to the hospital property. The first time you come, it really makes you wonder where you are going to end up. At the end of the alley is a guard with a locked gate that lets you into the hospital area.)

This is a sign on one of the buildings in the alley-way going toward the hospital. I saw it on the way in and wasn’t sure what we were in for.

Kallie by the sign she saw on the way in.

Monks? We saw these guys at Tiananmen Square

China Day 26: The adventure continues...!

2007-10-17T20:39:00.000-06:00

Every day in China is an adventure. Yesterday we went out to see Tienenman Square, which was exciting. We met a Chinese couple who spoke English and walked around with them for a while. They took us to the old Beijing, where there are no cars or bikes allowed...only pedestrians. It was pretty cool. They told us about the old buildings and that most of them were built during the Ming Dynasty. I'm not sure when that is, but it sounded super cool, so I was excited to be there. :) They took us to something called a Tea Ceremony, which looking back, we're sure was a hoax, since the people charged us an outrageous amount once they were done. We went into one of the buildings and they showed us several different kinds of herbal teas that the chinese use for different things....weight-loss, blood pressure, circulation, etc. Most of them tasted like grass, and I'm not a huge fan of tea, but one of them tasted good. It was fun anyway to learn about them and to taste them. I mean, you can't go to China and not have tea, right? Aside from the time it cost us, it was cool. Once we were finished, the chinese couple wanted to go with us to the Forbidden City (which is right next to Tienenman Square), but we wanted to get back to the hospital to be with Dan, wince we'd already been gone for a couple of hours. We hope to be able to take Dan and Heather to the Forbidden City and Tienenman Square when Heather gets here. I've heard there are a lot of stairs at the Forbidden City, but if anyone can handle it, Jeff can. Plus we'd like to see some places with Heather.

When we got back, Dan was in PT, and I stayed with him there while Jeff went back to the room to do some work via GoToMyPC. It's fun to watch the therapists work with Dan and the other patients. Dennis (another patient) has therapy at the same time as Dan. He's an old man who had a stroke and has trouble moving at all. He's here with his wife and daughter, and will be going home on Sunday. His daughter, Suzie, says his movement has improved very much...he can move his eyes and head faster and his leg that used to tremble all the time has gotten much better too. They have a care-taker...a chinese man who stays with them all the time, I think mostly to help lift him and get him around. Yesterday the caretaker brought Dennis in for therapy and I said hi. The caretaker seemed to be as pleased as a family member would be that I talked to him, and carefully combed Dennis' hair with his fingers. It was so sweet and made my heart happy to see his care-taker treat him so well. The people here at the hospital are all sweet and loving to the patients, who are mostly in much worse shape than Dan.

Nancy, the physical therapist makes Dan walk the length of the PT room without his leg brace, which REALLY freaks me out, even though he does well with it. Yesterday, she told him to raise his knees high and put the heel of his foot down before his toes, instead of putting the whole thing down at once. Since he has to bend over so he can bend his knees and prevent his leg from hyperextending, she told him he walks like an old lady. Haha.

Last night we went to a German restaurant for dinner with Renae and Susan. It was a truly multi-cultural experience. Jeff and Dan had Weinerschnitzl, and I had a bacon and potato omelet. We also tried Spatzl, which was very good. They had a chinese guy with a guitar and a microphone singing classics in English - the San Francisco Bay song by Eric Clapton, lots of the Beatles, even Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It was a good time.
I am more amazed every day by Dan's great attitude. This morning, while I was lying awake I thought about what it would be like to live the life he and LaNae live. I think it would be easy to wonder about the past and wish that the accident never would have happened, and to dream about what life would be like without the challenges and trials they've been handed. I suppose when something like that happens, you can go one of two ways....looking back or looking forward. Dan and LaNae have chosen to look forward. I've never heard an unkind word spoken about the person who hit Dan almost 22 years ago. I've never even heard a word of resentment about Dan's disabilities (unless you count telling him to hurry up or try to go to the bathroom before everyone else is headed out the door...haha). They live with it and look for solutions. They walk a high road that I don't think a lot of people ever find. It's a challenge for Dan to touch his right ear with his left hand. He grunts and struggles and breathes hard to do it as part of his therapy...but he does it and he does it smiling. It sure puts things in perspective for me.

Anyway, I think I'd better start trying to get these boys out of bed. It's almost 7:30, which means we should be up, dressed and eating by now...I hope we don't get fired...We love and miss you all! Can't wait to see Heather on Saturday!

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Thanks for all the nice kudos, Kallie – it sure is great to have you part of our family! (--with all those nice compliments – you are a keeper!) I will only say one thing about attitude – I will not kid you, there have been times over the years that we have been down – probably me more than Dan – but I have learned that struggling over the question '”Why” did this happen to us, and wishing for our previous life only makes one bitter.... and being bitter doesn't seem like a whole lot of fun. So you have a choice to make when life hands you the unexpected curve... you can't change what has happened – so you just have to move ahead. Asking the questions “How” and “What” seem like more answerable questions. How will I get through this and what would you like me to do? I have read the scriptures and that seems to be what the great examples there seem to ask – so that seems like the best questions for me as well.
I look around and we are certainly not the only ones with struggles in life – it seems like life was designed with struggles, if only to make us grow and reach our true capacity. I have seen others face enormous challenges – like a young child that gets leukemia or is autistic, losing one's job or getting laid off from Corporate America, or losing a loved one... the list goes on. Pain and suffering are not new, but I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have that this life is not the end all, be all. There is a bigger picture and we can be together forever in a Heaven where pain and suffering no longer exist. This is our anchor – this is what helps us move forward. We are so grateful for our religious faith that provides such comfort and strength during tough times. I don't know what we would do or how we would cope without it, for this is where we derive our strength.
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Jeff and Kallie have some great pictures – I hope you enjoy them! They are doing a GREAT job of taking care of everything in China – and it looks like they have a little time for some fun too! I was looking at the pictures and I thought – I know that place – I saw that last week in Nathan's pictures... or the week before in some of mine!

Here is Dan getting a new IV. I don't know how many times they have 'poked' him, it is too high to count now...

This one is Dad walking across the room like an old lady for therapy, with Dennis and his caretaker in the background.

From Jeff:
These are the pictures of the frozen eggs that were in our refrigerator. They were really fun to play with. We peeled them and then thawed and cooked them in the microwave for breakfast. I had never seen frozen eggs before.

The next two are our little Chinese friends that we met at Tienenmen Square who took us to the ghetto… old Beijing. Their names were Tim and Betty…

This picture is of dinner with Renae and Susan at Schindler’s… the german restaurant.

China Day 25: Update from Jeff & Kallie

2007-10-16T12:06:00.000-06:00

Looks like my comment in yesterday's blog got some results – here is the latest update from Jeff & Kallie! :-)
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Hey, Dan was reading the blog today for speech therapy, so we heard about how we're in trouble for not being better at writing. :) The truth is I planned to write last night, but I took a hot shower and was so warm and cozy and tired that I went right to sleep.
Yesterday, we spent the day going around with Dan. We went to all his therapy appointments and were with him for everything. You're right about the therapists, they're slave drivers. :-) But we like them. Yesterday the physical therapist was trying to make him do a leg exercise and kept spanking him on the butt to make him do it. He kept trying to tell her that it hurt, because he'd gotten shots there. No matter what we said, she didn't get it. She just kept laughing and doing the same thing.
The therapists, doctors and nurses are all really great. It was interesting to watch each one of them work with Dan. The acupuncture/massage was especially interesting. I didn’t realize that the acupuncture needles are so long and that they go in so far. During Dan’s appointment with Dr. Guam, we asked him about the acupuncture and how it works and why. It was hard for him to explain everything in English…something about meridians and energy flow. Dr. Guam explained that the body knows what it needs and will fix itself by itself if it’s given the right tools. Several of the doctors have asked about Dan’s sleep habits. Dr. Guam especially…he said Dan needs to sleep more in order to get better. A brain injury requires more sleep than other injuries to heal. Dan told the doctor that he has trouble sleeping and asked what he could do to make it easier for him to sleep. Dr. Guam told him he should do breathing exercises, which I thought was interesting. I’d like to learn more about traditional Chinese medicine. They seem to have such a great understanding of the body and how to help it help itself.
Everyone in the hospital is really nice and eager to help us out with anything. Today we went out with Marlene, who we really like. She and her husband are super nice. Marlene took us to the Silk Street Market, which was quite an adventure. The market is like 7 stories high – each story is full of a different kind of market. One floor was jewelry and accessories…that’s where we started. We went through the shop to a back room where they sell the knock offs…Gucci, Prada, Coach etc. It was crazy in there! I looked at some bags for my mom, but couldn’t see her in any of them. Jeff got a nice wallet though. Next we went to a floor where they sell silks...ties, scarves, kimonos, etc. It makes me laugh right out loud to think about everything that happened there. Walking through was a bit of a nightmare with the people all grabbing at you and asking you to come look at their things. “Lady, you need scarf? Come here.” I ended up buying 2 silk handbags, which are beautiful. Jeff started looking at some ties in one of the little booths and had 3 picked out to buy. When it came to price though, the lady was asking more than he wanted to pay and since he wanted to pay with a credit card, she was going to charge 4% more. He finally ended up changing his mind and decided he had enough ties at home anyway (she was asking about $45 for 3 ties once she’d come down as far as she would). When he said never mind and we started walking away, the little asian lady grabbed his sleeve and wouldn’t let go! She literally pulled him back into the store, and kept trying to get him to buy them. We kept trying to tell her nicely that we were leaving, but she was persistent. Then she got mad and said “What’s wrong with you?!” Jeff finally ripped his arm away from her, and she hit him on the back as we were walking away. She yelled “you crazy!” as we walked out of the shop. It was very funny and makes me laugh every time I think about it. The shopping experience is much different in China than in America. :-)
On the way home, we went to Wal-Mart. It was pretty much the same as Wal-Mart anywhere else, except for some of the items, like the meat everywhere…things were set up differently, and we couldn’t tell what a lot of things were. It was nice not to have to dicker with a salesperson though. :-) Jeff was REALLY excited about the carts at Wal-Mart. They wheels on both the front and the back of the carts swivel around, so they’re really good for tight corners and 360s and stuff. They moved sideways and stuff.
(Jeff just went to get Dan…I think he left him in the stand up stretcher thing too long. Woops.)
Anyway, we got back from our big adventure at Silk Street and Wal-Mart around 2, and Dan was in speech therapy with Lily, so we only stayed for a minute, then left again to see the Temple of Heaven, which was much bigger than I expected it to be. We decided that when in Asia, do as the Asians….so we took tons of pictures. We’ll send some of those later.
Some observations about China: personal space is different for us than it is for them. If you’re in line (like at Wal-Mart and the Temple of Heaven) they stand RIGHT behind you…sometimes touching your rear. It’s weird. Also, when we were at the Silk Street Market, the people didn’t just call out to us, they pulled at our arms and tried to physically get us into their stores. The Temple of Heaven taught us what it’s like to be in line here…if there’s a space in front of you, you’d better fill it quickly, or someone else will. Something I think is weird is that the nurses wear masks when they do Dan’s IVs, but they don’t wear gloves. Different culture I guess.
Beijing is a giant city…I’m not sure how many people live here, but is seems to go on forever. Everything is written in Chinese characters, so we don’t even have a chance of understanding what anything (or anyone) says. The people are patient with us though, and try to help us. The taxi drivers all waited patiently for us to try to show them on a map where we were going.
We were thinking we’d go out for dinner tonight, but nobody else here can go, so we think we’ll stay in and go out tomorrow night. It will be a nice chance to relax anyway after a busy day. Maybe we’ll turn on a movie and actually stay awake for it tonight. (Last night we put Cinderella Man on and I don’t even think I was awake long enough to watch a preview…Jeff either).
We’ll be better about writing you every day. We miss you all, but are excited to be here and glad for the chance to be with Dan this week. He sure is a fighter…I don’t know how he can stand all those people bossing him around all day, but he seems to handle it fine and always manages to have a smile on his face. He works hard and is a great example to me. It’s a privilege to be a Balls-Maughan…what faithful, good, happy and helpful people you are.

We love you and hope you’re doing well at home! Until tomorrow….
xoxo
Jeff & Kallie Maughan
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That was an AWESOME update! Thanks for sharing!! :-) :-) [Happy Mom!]

China Day 24: The Chinese People

2007-10-15T23:03:00.000-06:00

Today I haven't heard much from the team in China – they seem to be doing just fine – I am going to have to educate them on the importance of daily updates to Mom! It is just not right that I can't be here and there at the same time... ;-)

Jeff and Kallie did arrive just fine, but Kallie left her purse in the car that picked them up from the airport. They didn't realize it until they were in the room unpacking and by then the car was looonnng gone. I was talking to Jeff on the phone and he said he needed to go so that he could go track down the purse. Luckily Jeff had Kallie's passport and all the cash with him – but they did have a lot of credit cards, ID and their camera in the purse.

Well – Jeff quickly found out that there is a language barrier – he had a hard time acting out what 'purse' meant to the nurse... I guess the doctor that was working (this was on Sunday) told them that they would contact the company the next day. I am going – what?! The next day?! Why not call immediately and get the guy to bring it back now...? I got online later that night to see what they had found out Monday morning – but the hospital still seemed to not be to worried about it. Jeff wanted to know where the administration building was so that he could track down someone who spoke English to talk to about it.

He finally was able to contact Wendy (the really good translator) and they tracked down the driver and were told that “you handbag will be delivered this afternoon”. Well – it was and EVERYTHING was ok! They had all of their credit cards and camera returned! I think that it is quite a credit to the Chinese people – I am not sure that this would have happened in one of our large American cities! Anyway, I was impressed by their honesty. I have found the Chinese people to be very warm with a desire to be helpful. I say this about all that I have met with the exception of the street vendors... ;-)

I also wanted to tell you about the culture of bicycling in China. My good friend (and old roomie) Wendy reminded me of this Chinese anomaly, and mentioned how that was such an eye opener for her when she was in China – then Nathan sent me some pictures of this phenomena so that I could share with you! (Thanks Nate for the pictures!)

Biking in Beijing -

This is a picture of a typical biking scene as you drive down the road. There are bikers everywhere! They weave in and out of the traffic – it is amazing the way they drive there! The cars come within inches of other cars and bikers, but I haven't ever seen an accident (nor any dented up cars). They must have a REALLY good driving school!

Now there's a bike with a cart!

This guy looks like he is out to earn his day's living... I am just not sure how much he is going to get for those boxes! Perhaps some one can educate me – he might be using these boxes for a personal use, perhaps flooring for his home... I am not sure. Some of the conditions over there are pretty poverty stricken.... but look at his face... hard working and determined... amazing people!

This shot looks a little scary – I hope one lane of traffic stops for the other!

More to come on Dan tomorrow --

China Days 21-23: October 12-14th, 2007

2007-10-14T19:12:00.001-06:00

Hello all – I have a lot to catch up on! Nathan and Heather's fun outings to the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, the second 'changing of the guard' from Nate and Heather to Jeff and Kallie, and the adventures at home.

Nate made a few videos of Dan's therapy and we have posted them on http://www.maxcast.com/maughanfamily

Dan has our entire life published out there, so to see the therapy videos, just scroll to the bottom of the list. Now you can meet our great therapists!

Friday Nate and Heather were able to go up and see the Great Wall of China – you can't go all that way and not go there! Dan and I hope to make it up there on a Saturday before we come home in November, but from looking at the pictures, it doesn't look too wheelchair accessible. However, it does look like there is a visitors center at the base that would be interesting to go through. We may just have to see if from the base, or perhaps we can talk someone into going with us so that we can split up on hiking up the wall for a bit. I don't feel comfortable with leaving Dan at the base while I go wandering off... in the USA we both have cell phones and we keep in touch pretty well, but I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving him without someone else there with him. Perhaps our home teacher will go with us – the branch in China has assigned Dan a 'home teacher' which is someone to visit us and watch over us from our religious congregation. Anyway – he called (Mac Coleman) and he was going to go to the hospital and check on Dan today during the time between when Nathan left and Jeff arrived (no – we didn't plan these flights too well for timing purposes -good news is this is the last time I have to worry about this as the rest of the caregiver hand-offs have an overlap.) It is sure nice to know that wherever we go in the world, that we can find a congregation of our faith (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) and just plug into it! It makes being so far away from home and family a little more bearable.

On Saturday, it was raining in Beijing and so they didn't do too much – except they did go out and have a steak at some restaurant – I think they enjoyed that!

Today – Sunday was the hand off day. It has been a long day for many people (including myself). I - being the ever worrying mother – had to stay up until Nate had taken off (about 10 pm Utah time) and Jeff had landed (about12:30 am) and then when they made it to the hospital and were united with Dan (2:00 am). I also had been tag teaming with Grandma Jensen on the babysitting. We had a good time – I took the children for a soak in the hot tub, then we watched a movie, then Riley helped me clean the house (vacuum) and then we read stories and put everyone to bed. It was a good day.

Nathan landed in San Francisco about 9:00 am (Utah time) – their flight was delayed getting back to Utah, but they made it here safe and sound and we are glad for their return. We are excited to have them back!

Here are some pictures of Nate and Heather and their adventures. Dan said they all had a really good week together and it was nice to have them there. They did a good job of taking care of Dan, and got a little fun in on the side... :-) Thanks Nate and Heather for all your good care taking!!

Forbidden City - it looks like a cool place to visit! I told Dan to get working so he can do the stairs...!

Forbidden City - Nate

Forbidden City - Heather

Great Wall - Nate

Great Wall - Nate & Heather

Great Wall - Now we are talking some stairs here!!

Nate says the Great Wall was the best....!

China Day 20: October 11, 2007

2007-10-11T12:15:00.000-06:00

Hi all – I chatted with Dan this morning and everything is still going well. He had therapy and IV's as usual today and was able to take a HOT shower tonight! Nate and Heather were able to get out and go see the Forbidden City today – they said it was nice, but there are a lot of stairs. I told Dan he better get practicing running up and down stairs so we could go when I get back to China!

The Zebec's are leaving tomorrow – they are the family from Australia whose son has a head injury from a rock climbing fall. Diana has been especially friendly and helpful to all of us newcomers.. so she will be missed. We wish them the best in Adrian's recovery! It was their second visit back as Adrian made such good progress the last time! :-) They had a farewell party for them at the hospital tonight for them.

I think Nate and Heather are going to the Great Wall tomorrow – so that should be fun for them. We look forward to seeing some pictures from their adventures...!

China Day 19: October 10, 2007

2007-10-10T22:16:00.000-06:00

I am slow getting this blog posted tonight - it still is October 10th here in the USA, but it is now noon tomorrow in China! Nate called me today at about 5 pm, and it was 7 am tomorrow then... I will try to get the updates posted earlier in the day!

I have been babysitting the grandchildren, and we had a small mishap last night. Nate and Heather had called to talk to their kids, and I went out in the back yard to get Riley so she could talk to Mom and Dad – well Gentry (the youngest – almost 2 now) came running over and tripped and fell right into the cement step on her chin. So here I am talking to the parents and the child gets hurt! Oh-- that is your daughter screaming – oh, she is bleeding all over... I think I better go.... not the kind of words you want to hear about your child when you are half a world away!

Gentry is fine, but she is a tough little girl. She had to have four stitches in her chin – Grandma Carol took her down to the after hours care center and got her all taken care of. (Since I was the Grandma on duty when the accident happened, it is only fair the other Grandma has to take her in to get fixed up-- right?!) Grandma Carol is a registered nurse and knows all the ins and outs of patient care – so she was best prepared to handle the crisis. I guess Gentry really put up a fight when she was strapped into the papoose board – she got her hand and her foot loose – I wonder where all that fighting spirit comes from..? I think her Grandpa Dan has a little of that in him, and I know I can be a little feisty (...if needed ;-))

Here is an update from Heather J (our wonderful daughter-in-law!)
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They sure keep Dan busy here. They run a tight schedule. He's in PT right now and we love his therapists-they are very funny but sure make him work hard. But we agree we really like Lily the best. We've been very impressed with the hospital staff, they are very good. He got a new IV when we came out on Sunday and then his IV went bad on Monday as well as yesterday and they had to start another one this morning - which only took 2 pokes-Dan was grateful of that. I really wanted to start one when they were having trouble but the nurses here are great and they finally got it.

I don't know if Dan sent you the new pictures of him with his acupuncture. It's quite interesting when they put the needles in his head. Today's needles looked like horns sticking out of his head. If you haven't gotten them yet-I'm sure he will be sending them to you.

There's not much going on here-I think it's the same old thing. Nate and Dan did take cold showers this morning - it was quite funny listening to them while showering. We do think when Dan concentrates on his speech and takes it slow-we are impressed with how clear it sounds. He is also seems to have slightly improved on his range of motion with his left arm. He can take his left hand across his body and touch his right ear. We feel he is doing better-he sure is a jokester and has a good attitude. It's fun to be apart of this and watch him work so hard.

The nurses love the curtain we put up-Wendy and Kotan came and asked if they could take a picture of it. Maybe you're starting a new trend.

There is a brother and sister that arrived here 2 nights ago and we took the sister RaNae shopping at Walmart - it was quite funny. The brother has an accelerated form of Parkinson's and is from Florida. The sister is from California and they are in the room next door. We stopped at KFC to get Dan some American food but when we entered we realized everything was in Chinese - we didn't quite know what we were getting but pointed at some pictures. Anyways we sure enjoyed what we got. I don't know if Dan or Nate were more excited for American Food. We have realized that we are definitely American and not Chinese. We wouldn't really recommend the Chinese breakfast - but it was fun just the same.

We want to take Dan out tonight but don't really know where to go. We may try to find a restaurant since we think the forbidden city closes at 5:00pm. We will see what Dan wants to do.
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So – a little background info here – I had Nate and Heather bring a shower curtain over with one of those spring loaded rods so we could hang it up in front of the bathroom area. This allows for more privacy when the boys are helping to care for Dan. Apparently it is a bit hit...

Also – please note that when I talked to Nate and Heather I warned them that the water would be cold! It is always cold from about 6 am to 9 am – so we decided to start showering at night. Can't say I didn't warn them about it!

Did you know they had snowmen in China?

Another Chinese breakfast -- some of you have asked what is in a Chinese breakfast, and we really don't know. But I will try to explain it! It contains a dinner roll that is dense rather than fluffy and has been steamed rather than baked - so it really white and kind of sticky. Then they have another roll that they put stuff in the middle of it - kind of like cabbage and carrots. Sometimes they are filled with a brown bean paste - I actually like those type a little better. Then there is the boiled egg, that is somewhat normal, but they are always brown shelled eggs over there and sometimes the shell is cracked and so when you peel it, you have a brown egg white as well! (and no salt and pepper on the egg!) Then there is rice soup - it is either white or brown rice in a broth, rather tasteless. To top it off you usually get cut up cucumbers that have been soaked in vinegar or something else that is sour, and some shredded stuff (it might have started out as a potato) that is brown now and it is sour as well. Sorry, no fruit and cream, no french toast and pancakes... but in the long run, perhaps it is healthy because all the Chinese people I met are slender! Eat up!

Here is Nate checking out the center of that roll and wondering 'What is this stuff?'

Some new therapy shots with Dan--

Occupational therapy with a paddle...

Speech therapy - he is scaring me with that tongue!

Nathan happy to be shopping at Wal-Mart (getting food to eat--)

Check out this escalator - you can take the carts on it!

China Day 18: October 9, 2007

2007-10-09T12:48:00.000-06:00

Update from Dan~
Nate & Heather are both zonked out. They went to Walmart today and brought back lots of food. They went with a new lady from San Francisco? named Renee that is with her brother from Florida being treated. Nate & Heather or Renee don't like the Chinese food and Renee bought a blender.

Dr Leo and Lilly both say I've improved but I haven't noticed improvements yet. I thought I was noticing my leg and arm being more relaxed and thought it was due to the TCM treatments but Dr Leo said she had given me a relaxer. I'm jumping around again...

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I am attaching a few pictures for your enjoyment. The first is of our beautiful grandchildren modeling their new kimonos that Grandma brought home!

Dan, Nate and Heather at Tiananmen Square

Dan and Heather enjoying the site seeing...

More shots of Dan and Nate...

Heather getting inundated by the Chinese street vendor -- I think she gave in and bought the book!

China Day 17: A new day for Nate & Heather

2007-10-08T09:45:00.000-06:00

Dan has had some challenges getting the internet up and running on his computer – but I did see him online earlier this morning – he has now gone to bed, so we didn't get to chat as I was heading out the door for work when I saw him online – and he wasn't responding then. I did call earlier and found out that they had been through a full day of rigorous therapy. Heather says the food is 'slim pickings' – I said 'no kidding!'.

They were able to go out an see Tiananmen Square with a group from the hospital. So after the day of therapy they got to do a little sight seeing, so that was good! I have asked Dan to send some pictures and we will get them posted soon.

Heather did say that Lily was the best and that she is indeed a 'slave driver'. This is a great thing to have her work on Dan – she really is a good therapist.

I am back in the USA, and feel refreshed for the moment. I had a good sleep in my bed with my pillow, although I did wake up a few times – I was just getting used to living on the other side of the world, and my body clock needs to adjust again! I will be 'sleeping over' with the Grandkids tonight and tomorrow – so we will see how refreshed I feel after that!

China Day 16: The changing of the guard--

2007-10-07T20:42:00.001-06:00

I am just 15 hours from leaving China – and Dan is already in trouble (with me)! He was supposed to send me a text message to let me know that Nate and Heather had arrived safely. We did not get our flights arranged very well on this first hand-off because I left Beijing at noon, and Nate and Heather were to arrive at 3:00 pm. Now I am in San Francisco waiting for my flight back to Salt Lake City and wondering if Nate & Heather are ok and if Dan is ok. Mothers and wives worry I am sure, but I will feel better when I have heard that all is well in China.

I got up this morning and helped Dan get ready and finished packing my bags. Dr. Xi came in (a favorite of Koo / Chris). I asked her – hey did you take care of Chris when he was here? She asked 'the model?' She must of thought Chris was pretty good looking! ;-) She is a great doctor and we had a good conversation. She checked Dan for any improvements and talked to us about the fact if we see some improvement, even if we only see it once – that is a good sign. If Dan can do something (even once) then there is hope that the stem cells can do their work in repairing that area. She talked to us about how if we work hard on an area, that the body will know that is where to send the new cells and repair. Again – I just love the positive approach and the hope that there is for recovery. Some may question this approach, after all- you may provide a lot of false hope – if the patient doesn't work hard enough to make the improvement needed. But for us, it is refreshing to have hope and to be grateful even for the small improvements! By the way – there is an improvement to be noted – in Dan's speech therapy, his facial muscles are responding better than I have ever seen them. He normally has not been able to move his lips and forming a 'pucker' does not work very well. However, yesterday when he was working on his speech, he was puckering really well! We all noticed an improvement in this ability, and we were excited! (Of course – Dan has always said I need to kiss him more to work on this exercise – probably my fault this hasn't improved as fast as it should have over the years...!)

It is really weird to come back to the USA – it feels like 'back to the future'. I got up – got Dan ready, had a nice morning and then went to the airport. Then the flight was about 10 hours long – in which it was dark outside for part of the time. I tried to get some sleep, but it is a challenge – especially in economy class! We arrived in San Francisco at around 8:00: am (on the same day– and so now I am re-living my morning again... I sit here at the San Francisco airport, and I was able to get logged into the wireless here, and am now listening to the morning session of the LDS General Conference session while I write this update. Isn't technology great?!

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OK- I didn't get this posted earlier as they started to board the plane and I had to go. I got home and called Dan to make sure everything was ok – Nathan and Heather arrived just fine, except that one of their suitcases was lost by the airlines. I had to call the hospital and get through all the Chinese messages to get to them, but we finally made it through as I guessed the room number and entered it in – Nathan answered the telephone in the room, so I was very happy! Dan was working on getting his computer set up with internet and was having some troubles-- this is why he had not been able to email or text message me...

I look forward to getting updates from Nate and Heather and to follow what is going on over there. It feels really strange not being there with Dan, but I know my children will help him. It is good to have the rest of the family be a part of this – it is just hard to come back to reality and have to 'go back to work and make a living...' but that is my other life, and it needs attention too. I am grateful for the way everything has worked out and that I have been allowed this time to take off with to be with Dan. When I return the end of October, I will be gone for three weeks (plus) and I am just grateful that the management team has been so supportive. It really has been a 'team effort' to pull this all together!

Well – it has been a long 28 hour day, and I think I am going to turn in~ (I am looking really forward to my NICE bed and pillow tonight!!)

China Day 15: The Saturday Before Sunday Last

2007-10-06T17:28:00.000-06:00

We had a good day today – Lily came back! She is our great occupational and speech therapist, and we have missed her this last week. I have included a picture of Dan back at work with Lily. We learned some new Chinese words today – hang hou = good job, hou = good. This adds our vocabulary to about 5 or 6 words now -- shei shei = thank you, boo curt ze = you're welcome, ni hou = hello. We can also count to 10, but still need a little prompting from Lily. I learned turn right, turn left and go straight – this is helpful when coaching the taxi driver on where to turn. Getting back to the hospital is quite tricky as the only entry into the hospital is a little dirt alley way that is under construction. It does not look at all like an entrance to a hospital... so we have to coach the taxi drivers to – yes – take this road... it is really the right one! (I know I didn't spell the Chinese words right – sorry about that!)

After therapy, I went out with Marlene (new friend from Florida) to the Pearl Market. I should have taken the camera and took a picture! It is similar to an indoor swap meet where you can bargain for goods such as silk, purses, jewelry, shoes, etc. I really fear that Heather is going to have WAY too much fun at that place! I wanted to check it out because I was not sure what kind of environment it would be before I ventured out with Dan, but I found that it would have been easy to take him with-- so we will have to go again. The way I was swamped with street vendors the other day, I was a little nervous as it is hard enough to navigate a wheelchair through a crowd, but trying to get away from a bunch of vendors AND navigate through a crowd can be a little bit of a challenge.

After I got back, we went out to dinner with a group of patients and their families from the hospital. It was a Russian style restaurant that had items such as mashed potatoes, beef, pork, etc. It was really good food and we enjoyed visiting with the other families and getting to know them better.

Tomorrow – I head out back to Utah and Nathan & Heather arrive. I have checked their flight and they are currently 'In Flight' – we Dan will look to see them about 3:00 pm tomorrow. I leave China at noon – we didn't arrange our flights very good – I am a bit nervous, but we will say a prayer and I am sure all will go well.

We just got done listening to the first session of General Conference over the internet. It was great! It is only 2:00 am here now... but at least we got to hear it live. We will listen to the second session in the morning – I would like to be able to download it to my computer so I can listen on the airplane. We will see how it goes.

China Day 14: A Lucky Day

2007-10-05T09:52:00.000-06:00

I think day 13 felt unlucky – it must have been the rain. It has been raining here the last few days, and so that seems to make everything a little down. But – as I say – give it a day and it usually blows over. Today was a great day – great to be up and able to do our therapy! Great to go out shopping with some friends (always good for a woman's spirits!) It was just plain good to get out for a bit – I was starting to go stir-crazy here at the hospital. A new family arrived in town yesterday, and Marlene offered to take them over to Wal-mart to get a few things. So, even though I have been there before, I went along to pick up a few items. I am proud to say that the kitchen is stocked up and ready for the kids to come next week.... I had to smile at some of the items bought by the new family – some pillows, foam pads for the beds (did I tell you the beds are really hard here and the pillows even harder?!) So I got a kick out of it. Tomorrow will even be better because we are going to check out the Pearl Market. I am sure it will be an adventure. Now that I am familiar with the street vendors, I think I can take them on at the Pearl Market. Just drop the asking price by 70% and then start working up from there – that is the tip that I got today, so I am anxious to try it out tomorrow.

Probably the most 'UP' thing that happened was that Dan figured out how to get to our blog site using a proxy service. So we were able to go out and read some of the posts that others have been putting out there and it was really fun to read all the comments from our friends and family! Thanks so much for contributing-- it is fun to collaborate together on this great experience! We do so appreciate all of your support and it was nice to finally be able to read and catch up! Many, many thanks!

For those of you who may not be aware, the Chinese government blocks a lot of internet content, including blogs. When we first arrived in Beijing, the personnel from the hospital had to take our passports to the police station and register us so that we could access the internet. It is an interesting approach to things – but sometimes I wish the USA would filter some of the corrupt content that is out there.

The Special Olympics have started in Shanghai, and we actually found one English speaking channel on the TV- so now we know a little more of what is going on in the country!

Our favorite therapist, Lily, comes back from vacation tomorrow – I am anxious to meet with her again. Dan has been doing a lot of his OT on his own and we have questions about what is the most helpful 'outside of therapy' exercises to do for him. I am anxious to meet with her and further collaborate on 'the plan' I have worked up a schedule for all of us to follow – I sent it to the kids – but I will share it with you as well.

Schedule for Dan
Time Dan Schedule
6:30 AM Blood pressure / temperature
7:00 AM Breakfast
7:30 AM Get dressed
8:00 AM IV / Leg, arm, speech exercises
9:00 AM TCM - acupuncture
10:00 AM Occupational therapy
11:00 AM TCM - Chinese massage
12:00 PM IV / Lunch
1:00 PM Speech therapy
2:00 PM IV / Leg, arm, speech exercises
3:00 PM Physical therapy
4:00 PM
5:00 PM
6:00 PM
6:30 PM
7:00 PM
7:30 PM
8:00 PM Shower / IV
9:00 PM IV / Leg, arm, speech exercises
10:00 PM IV

Number Leg, arm speech exercises Type of exercise
20 Knee bend - face up leg
20 Knee bend - face down leg
20 Hip lift back
20 Raise arms - while laying down arm
20 Open close mouth speech
20 Pucker / smile speech

Exercise descriptions:
Here are some diagrams of the exercises to be done. These are independent of the OT, PT and Speech that he will be getting each day. The purpose is to work harder the muscle groups that do not work very well, they need more that what can be given during the regular therapy sessions.

Knee bend – face up
Have Dad lay down on the bed face up. You will need to hold on to his ankle while he raises his leg and bends his knee. This will help strengthen the muscle needed to stop the hypertension of his knee.

Knee bend – face down
Have Dad lay down on the bed, face down. Apply resistance to the ankle while he raised the foot and bends the knee.

Hip lift
While lying on his back, have Dad raise his hips off the bed.

Raise arms while laying down
While lying on his back, have Dad raise arms straight up and back behind his head. Try to get him to touch the headboard with his fingers. This can either be done independently or he can clasp his hands together. Clasping his hands helps him exercise the right arm, which can't do this very well on it's own.

Again – thanks for all your support – it is good to know we have so many people backing us!

China Day 13: The Days are Starting to Blend Together

2007-10-04T07:58:00.000-06:00

I feel a rut starting to form – it is starting to feel like same old, same old – and we are just beginning! I am reminded of the movie My Fair Lady – poor Professor Higgins! Night and day he slaves away! Oh, poor Professor Higgins! You see it was Eliza doing all the really hard work, but Professor Higgins seemed to take all the credit for it! Now I have no intent of taking any credit for Dan's hard work, but sometimes I feel like the professor, working with my 'subject' and trying to help him improve! Perhaps I should get some marbles to go in his mouth to help his speech enunciation-- what do you think?

Perhaps a couple of quotes to help motivate us all – to work a little harder and to keep trying even when it seems repetitive and dull. I suspect that the progress we will see will not be immediate – although that would be a dream come true – what we will see will be slow and painful to come. It will take a lot of work and a lot of 'not giving up' when it seems that there is no progress, just work. These are the times that we must reach inside and find a reason to keep going.

Some thoughts to ponder~

If necessity is the mother of invention, discontent is the father of progress. –David Rockerfeller

GOALS are dreams with deadlines. –Diana Hunt

The DIFFICULT is done at once; the IMPOSSIBLE takes a little longer. –Armed Forces Motto

What we are trying to achieve here is the impossible – perhaps it will take a little longer....

Take care, my friends – and thanks for your continued support.

China Day 12: One our Own - Day 2

2007-10-03T09:39:00.000-06:00

(Temple of Heaven)

(View from Temple of Heaven)

Tomorrow the therapists are back and we will resume a more rigorous schedule again. I am proud to say that we did pretty good on our own today. I worked Dan's legs this morning and he worked on his OT and Speech as well. I am working on a schedule that includes doing some extra work in specific areas, his right leg flexion, his shoulders and his facial muscles. We would like to work each of these three times a day in addition to the regular Occupational, Physical and Speech Therapy (and TCM). We really want to do all that we can to make progress during this time, so we are adding some extra sessions for Dan. I am getting it all organized so that when the children come over, they can pick up and know what is needed at certain times throughout the day.

We were able to go out about 3:30 this afternoon and we walked down to the Temple of Heaven. It is within a short walking distance from the hospital, in fact, we are on the same block (it is a very LARGE block--) We experienced the street vendors – they can be quite aggressive, especially if they see you buy from someone else – I bought a color picture book from a guy and then there was another selling Gucci and Rolex watches and another selling handbags, and another selling Olympic hats, etc. One lady kept putting a hat on Dan – I had a hard time getting away, but we did it! (Good thing I am not a 'handbag' kind of girl – the lady selling handbags kept following us and kept saying that I could get two Gucci bags for a great price. I kept turning her down and out she would pop with another style.. still included 2 bags... but I don't EVER carry a handbag, so it was EASY to turn her down...!)

The Temple of Heaven was quite impressive – it covers a lot of ground though, and a lot of the walkways were kind of rough – which means I have to pop Dan on his back tires and push him while holding him up. We did ok for the most part, but Dan couldn't climb all the stairs to look into the buildings, so I would just have to go up and take some pictures for him. My dream when I saw the Temple of Heaven staircase on the hospital web site (before we came) was that Dan would be able to do a 'Rocky' up those steps before we leave China – now wouldn't that be cool! I better bring the iPod over with the Rocky music loaded so we can get practicing!

We got home and ate at the in-house Western cafeteria, it was pretty good. We had chicken with potatoes, carrots and broccoli, stir-fried vegetables and some fried rice. We had too much, so we have leftovers in the fridge for tomorrow. I was going to try some more Chinese food, but when the lady came around I got looking at the menu and some of the selections were roast suckling pig burger or yellow mud eel with ginger over rice... we decided to eat Western tonight!

We also got news that Dan's Grandma Schenk is in the hospital and is not doing very well. We will call in the morning and check in on her, but wanted to pass this on to others who know her – please keep her in your prayers as well. We love her very much – she is a very special Grandma.
Can you find Dan? (Where's Waldo?)

Chinese Echo

Dan and his icecream

LaNae at the Temple of Heaven

China Day 11: On Our Own

2007-10-02T10:29:00.000-06:00

Today is another holiday for the therapists, so that means that we are on our own to do therapy. It takes more motivation to get up and work on boring tasks such as clasp your hands together and raise your arms high above your head, repeated twenty times. Then after that touch your foot to your opposite knee with each foot for twenty times. There is also speech therapy that includes opening and closing the mouth several times and puckering and then smiling repeated over and over.

This may sound like something that is simple to do – and it is for someone that has all of their abilities – however it is very hard for Dan to do because we are targeting muscles that don't work for him – his shoulder muscles and his facial muscles. He will strain so hard to raise his arms with his hands clasped together that his knuckles turn white and his fingers make indentations in his hand he is pressing so hard. It is like his brain sends a 'broadcast signal' to his entire arm area, and not really specifically to his shoulders. He just tenses up all over and it doesn't really get the specific signal directly to his shoulders.

We take things for granted a little, don't we. I bet you have never consciously thought about moving your shoulder muscles in order to lift up your arm. You just lift your arm – that is what I do... but with Dan -- he has to think, move the arm up and then try to focus to get the brain signal to tell the muscle to move so that his arm can move. It is all a labored process for him... and this is what we hope to improve by adding more neurons. Since neurons don't naturally regenerate in the healing process, we are hoping that by giving him some new neurons that this 'highway' for electronic signal transfer will get bigger and allow him better access from his brain to his body.

So we did work on our 'boring exercises' today! We also took a bench mark walk around the hospital premises to see how far Dan can walk in a five minute time period. We did this at home in the University Mall as previously noted, but now we know what his benchmark is here at the hospital so that we can check periodically for improvement while we are here.

Tomorrow we will be on our own again – so we hope to get up and 'get at it' early in the morning. I hope that the therapy room is open tomorrow so that we can at least use the facility. I would like to use the therapy mat to see if Dan can raise his arms easier in a gravity free environment (from a laying down position). We hope to get our therapy and IV's done by early afternoon, and then maybe we will go take a walk to the Temple of Heaven which is very close by. We have not been out much, and on Thursday all the therapists will be back and we will be back to the daily 'forced' regime. Then they will work through the weekend to make up for the holiday time lost. We will be glad to be back on the regime as it is more fun to have people helping you when you are trying to recover.

Quote for the day:
“If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all.”
-- Michelangelo

I hope you have a great day!

China Day 10: National Days in China

2007-10-01T10:12:00.000-06:00

Wow! Can you believe we have been in China 10 days? We are one-eighth of the way through our experience here! Time does fly -- Dan and I spent the day doing therapy on our own as there were no therapists here today due to the holiday. Dan also spent 6 hours on the IV drip. We did some OT exercises and some speech exercises.

Later in the day we went for an excursion to the local Wal-mart. I had been there before to get some needed supplies, but this time Dan went with me. It was an 'interesting' experience. Dan pushes the cart with his legs and one hand and I push him in the wheelchair. Combine that with about a gazillion Chinese people to navigate around and you get 'interesting'... :-) We did find on lady that spoke English and she showed me where to find the cheese... I was almost in front of it, but couldn't see it. It is packaged differently and I didn't recognize it immediately. They mostly just have processed cheese slices, but that is just fine – we had toasted cheese sandwiches for dinner tonight (how nice to know what I am eating..!) We bought some fruit and cookies (for Dan and his sweet tooth), some ice cream (more for Dan... see what I get when I take him with me!) and some juice, a variety of nuts and some socks. We even bought a couple of movies to watch on our Chinese DVD player in the room – American movies won't work on it. The total bill was 442 Yuan or about $63 USD. I don't ever remember getting out of Wal-mart (or Costco) for under $100 in the US-- it is nice to have the exchange rate in our favor! It is about 1:7 ratio, so we come out pretty good. (for example, the DVD's cost between $2-3 USD.) We noticed some nice overnight luggage there for about $28, so shopping can be fun from the cost savings perspective. I included a couple of pictures of our outing – one of Dan in the cookie row and one of him getting some treats from the Oreo ladies... enjoy!

Getting a taxi back to the hospital was a fun experience. Sometimes the taxi drivers won't take Dan because they don't think the wheelchair collapses or they don't want to bother with it. So here we are out on the street trying to hail a cab with umpteen bags and a wheelchair. Two taxis turned us down, but the third was nice enough to give us a go. We decided he deserved a tip – he was pretty happy I think.

When we came back to the hospital, they were having a birthday party for Isabelle and Marlene. Isabelle is originally from the Shanghai area of China, but has lived in France for several years as well. She is here with her daughter, and her daughter was making so much progress that she decided to get a job and stay in Beijing to continue the treatments. She works for the hospital now, but her husband is working in Shanghai – he was coming tonight to join her for her birthday. Marlene is from Florida – she is originally from Michigan, but retired to sunny Florida, after her husband, Norman, retired from working at GM. Norman has Parkinson's disease and they are here for their first treatment. One family is here on the second go around – they are from Australia and felt that the first treatment made such a great difference in their son that they are back for a second round after six months. Their son, Adrian was injured when rock climbing (not using any ropes) and he fell. They have a great family here to support him as well. As you can see there are many others that come from all over the world to get treatment here for many different types of cases- injuries, strokes, cerebral palsy and parkinson's – the list goes on. Stem cell treatment is bringing hope in many areas of medical treatment, and it is exciting to be here in the pioneering stages of this wonderful new era of medical science and advancement.

Hope all is well with you – thanks for hanging in there with us!

China Day 9: The Sabbath is a Day of Rest

2007-09-30T19:38:00.000-06:00

Your Sabbath is beginning and ours is just ending.... we have had a good day. We have been to church, done some therapy, had what seemed like another eternity on the IV drip (5+ hours), took a short nap, had spaghetti and chicken curry for dinner, and watched the movie, 'Ben Hur'. We are now ready to hit the showers and hit the sack (it is best to shower in the evening when there is plenty of hot water!)

We hope you all have a wonderful Sabbath Day!

Take care friends and family! :-)

China Day 8: Saturday is a Special Day

2007-09-29T14:55:00.000-06:00

I thought we might get a little break today as it is Saturday – but no – still forging ahead. This is a good thing – but I think it is unusual as next week is a major week long holiday and a lot of the therapists will be gone. They will be taking turns, so they are all working the weekend before the holiday to make sure we get taken care of. Apparently the 'Moon or Autumn Harvest' festival is a big family gathering event, much like the Christmas holidays are for us in the USA.

Today we had speech therapy for the first time – I really liked it as well. It is with Lily – our occupational therapist (she doubles up and does speech therapy as well). Where speech therapy in the USA has always been about breath control and pronunciation, this therapy was about moving Dan's lips. She massaged his face and molded it until it would pucker – this is exactly what Dan needs. It is great! I included a picture to show you how she worked him over. We taught her a new English word that she didn't know before – 'slave driver'. Now she sees us in the hall and laughs and says 'Slave Driver!'. She is fun to work with...

Baseline: We did a baseline last night of Dan's speech in areas that we had records on about two years ago. These are a couple of lip exercises that Dan has done to try and improve his speech.
Open / close mouth = 48 (normal 88)
Pucker / smile = 14 (normal 60)

I timed myself for the normal readings – when comparing to his time a couple of years ago he had 46 open / close mouth as opposed to 48 this time, so a bit of an improvement. However, in the pucker / smile category he went down from 19 to 14, so there still needs to be some work done here.

Before we left for China we also went to the mall and did a baseline walking exercise for 5 minutes. Dan walked from Mervyn's to a store just after the Tree House. Angie and I walked from Mervyn's to Radio Shack-- so as you can see we have taken some measurements and videos of what his current capabilities are so that we can clearly measure the progress made.

Tonight we all went out to dinner as a group from the hospital. They arranged to take some vans so that all the people in wheelchairs could go. We went to a traditional Hong Kong style Chinese restaurant. It as a lot of fun and we were able to get to know some of the other patients better. We are now back in our room and Dan still has two bags of IV to go through before we can retire... my guess is at least a couple of hours.

Hope all is well in the USA – we miss you guys, but we think this is a great opportunity to be here! The changes won't happen overnight – but we are prepared to do our part and work hard to see improvement again. It is a good environment here to work toward these goals (and hopes and dreams...)

China Day 7: Treatment Schedule Taking Shape

2007-09-28T08:37:00.001-06:00

If a group of geese is called a gaggle, and a group of birds is called a flock – what is a group of Chinese doctors called? I have not figured this one out yet! Each morning we have a visit from the doctors and I am amazed at the size of the 'group'. Sometimes it is just a group of nurses that come and check Dan and other times we get the 'directors' in addition to the nurses. They always make sure that Dan can follow their finger with his eyes and that he is not in pain. They tap, they poke and then they say a bunch of stuff in Chinese-- and I just get a kick out of it.

The other thing that I love are the therapists. They smack Dan around a bit (tapping him between his shoulder blades and keep saying 'Your head... your head!” ) This indicates to him that he needs to keep his head straight up. I just laugh – it is great entertainment for me... the funny part is that if I ever tried to do this, I would get the evil eye, but Dan is good with the therapists, very obedient to their commands and I thoroughly enjoy watching the process!

We had pizza for lunch today – it was quite expensive given China's standards. I figured out it cost about $16 USD, which is quite a lot considering we get a Chinese breakfast for two for about $1.40 USD. We did have some leftovers, so we will use it for more than one meal, but it was kind of fun to see what Chinese pizza is like. (It is very similar to US pizza, but no sauce. They also sent a couple of packets of Ketchup with it – perhaps that was the sauce...!)

I put together a schedule of what a typical day looks like for us.

7:00 AM
Shower / breakfast
8:00 AM
IV / Speech exercises
9:00 AM
TCM - acupuncture
10:00 AM
Occupational therapy
11:00 AM
TCM - Chinese massage
12:00 PM
Lunch
1:00 PM
Speech therapy
2:00 PM
IV
3:00 PM
Physical therapy
4:00 PM
IV / Speech exercises
5:00 PM
IV
6:00 PM
IV

It varies a little bit, but this is the general schedule. Tonight Dan is still receiving IV treatments and it is almost 9:00 pm. He goes through about five to six bags of fluid a day.

We really like Dr. Guan, the Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor. We were talking and we mentioned that our biggest goal / hope was for Dan to have improvement in his speech. Ever since then, he will work with Dan on his pronunciation of words while he is doing the acupuncture and Chinese massage. I believe he also told the other doctors about it as we just got speech therapy added to the list of therapies today. We were just going to practice the lip motor exercises on our own, but now we have additional therapy to help Dan out in this area.

We will work tomorrow to set some specific goals for each type of therapy so that we can be 'laser focused' in our approach.

Thanks for all your support – we do appreciate the love and friendship that we feel. It makes all the difference for us.. :-)

China Day 6: Bone marrow operation (9/27/07)

2007-09-27T09:49:00.000-06:00

Today Dan had the operation to retrieve the stem cells from his bone marrow for processing. They extracted the bone marrow from his hip, with an incision on the left front side. Dan was awake during the operation as only a local anesthesia was used. He told me that they removed about 4 tubes full of the bone marrow substance and that it was magenta in color. The entire operation took about 20 minutes, including the anesthesia.

After the operation, it was required that he lay on his back and rest for 3 hours. They told us when they do the lumbar injection to put the stem cells back into his body (via spinal fluid) that he will need to lay flat on his back for 6 hours. We may need to watch a movie or something to help speed up the time going by! Today we watched the Success Formula training on the Nu Skin site. It was really good – it talked about having clarity and focus when working toward our goals. We need to write down our goals, and keep them in front of us so that we focus on what we really want to achieve. Good stuff!

Because of the operation we did not have occupational or physical therapy today, but we did have some Traditional Chinese Medicine. Our favorite doctor (Dr. Wisdom Guan) and his associate (William Hou) came to our room and worked on Dan while he rested. They performed acupuncture and moxibustion treatments. We have included some pictures so that you will have a better understanding. It was like smoking a cigar, except that they held the burning herb up to Dan's leg at a certain acupuncture point. At the same time, they put about 5-6 acupuncture needles into his head! This is supposed to help Dan's energy flow better and increase his energy levels. I have enclosed some pictures of todays events for your enjoyment...!

Today is also our daughter, Heather's birthday! Happy Birthday to Heather! It is strange being on the other side of the world and having a full day of events happen before Heather's birthday even gets started in the USA! It is 5:26 p.m. on September 27th here in China and my computer tells me that it is 3:26 a.m. on September 27th in Utah! So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to HEATHER! We LOVE you!!

China Day 5 : Settling into the Regime/Doctor's Visit 09/26/07

2007-09-26T07:42:00.000-06:00

Here we are, another day down in China... we are starting to get into a regime with our therapy schedules. We start in the morning about 9:15 a.m. with acupuncture, then occupational therapy at 10:00, followed by a Chinese massage at 11:00 a.m. Then a bit of a break as we don't have physical therapy until 3:00 p.m. During that time we return to our room, have lunch and allow Dan some time with the IV drip. Getting through all the IV's takes a few hours, so we need a block of time that we are not interrupted. I have detailed out some of the therapy and medicine Dan is taking for those interested:

Traditional Chinese Medicine – Wisdom Guan, William Hou

Acupuncture once a day.
Breathe in the good, breathe out the bad.
Use the mind to visual a healthy, strong (fast) body.
Chinese massage.

Occupational Therapy – Lily Li

Control your head!
Hands clasped – move up above head with elbows extended. Keep head straight, look in the mirror.
Arm lateral – forward position. Move hand up and down.
Hand flat on mat, lean on hand.
Lay down flat
Move arm straight up and down (exercises shoulder)
Arms up & down with resistance
Snow angels (arms) with resistance
Move head side to side with resistance.

Physical Therapy – Nancy

Stretching / resistance with legs
up -down
side – to – side
Handrail
Stand on one leg
Lift leg outwards
Front to back movement
Squats
Balance bars
Weight shifting when walking practice
Chair
Leg lifts (Cybex like chair with out the forced motion)
Standing table

Medicine List

IV: once a day
-deproteinised calf blood serum injection (engery supply)
-ginko leaf extract and dipyridamole
-paverine (5-7 days) (change micro environment of brain)
-reduced Glutathione for injection (reduce oxygen free radicals)

IM: once a day
-nerve growth factor
Oral:
-flunarizine (1 tab) 5 mg. every night
-Vitamin B12 500 mg (1 cap) three times a day
-Viatmin B1 10 mg (1 cap) three times a day
-Idebenone (1 cap) three times a day
-cerebroprotein hydrolysale (2 tab) three times a day (trophic the nerve)

We also met with a Director (neurologist) today and were able to get some questions answered. Basically, the procedure is not much different than what we previously understood, but it was a good opportunity to talk and make sure we had all of our questions cleared up. My understanding of Dan's injury seemed to be higher in the brain stem than what I originally thought. However, as we discussed our understanding of Dan's injury primarily being a 'connection' problem between the brain and the spinal cord, we were right on target. We have the MRI images taken early this summer and we will be able to review them in detail once we get them over here. I have wanted to review this with a medical doctor but have not been able to get an audience in the US to discuss the details of Dan's injury from a tangible perspective such as an MRI. I would just like to see it on film and have someone discuss it with me, so it looks like we will be able to have this discussion in the upcoming months. For those of you who wonder why I have never seen / discussed an MRI on Dan's injury is due to the fact that the technology was not developed when Dan was injured in 1986. Most of what I know is from conversations with doctors, and then I am left to put the puzzle pieces together in my mind and figure out what I was just told. Hopefully this will bring a greater understanding for us of what we have been up against.

GOOD NEWS! The doctor did say that we should expect improved motor and balance abilities, in addition to improved movement in the facial area (lips, mouth). This should improve his speech...!! So the prognosis at this point looks good.

Dan's bone marrow operation is TOMORROW! So – off to bed without an more to eat until morning! He needs to be fasting in order for them to take the blood tests in the morning prior to the surgery.

We are meeting lots of really nice people over here... from Australia, Mexico, Canada and the USA. Many, many people who travel a long way from home in order to help the ones they love. Everything from cerebral palsy to stroke to spinal cord injury patients are treated here. We are enjoying getting to know them, and so admire their determination and spirit. We are kind of 'all in this together'!

Last and most important – make sure you say an extra prayer for Dan tonight that his bone marrow operation will be successful!

Thanks bunches!!
Dan & LaNae

China Day 4: 09/24/07

2007-09-25T07:21:00.000-06:00

So far – we love the China doctors and therapists!

This is awesome! The thing that we like best is the attitude that if Dan will try, he can improve. We love the holistic approach of mind and body. Today Dan is continuing his IV treatments, has had some acupuncture, Chinese massage, occupational therapy, and physical therapy.

The acupuncture looked painful, but Dan said it didn't hurt too much-- I am sending some pictures for you to enjoy Dan's torture! He said it was alright until he tensed up. He has one leg that does its own thing, and so when it was tense, the acupuncture hurt a bit. He was a good sport about it though.

I loved the occupational therapist!

I have never gotten along well with OT professionals, most likely due to my first experience in 1986. Dan was only 4 months post injury and we were released from McKay Dee Hospital. We started up a therapy program in Logan, and we were expecting the therapists to work the muscles and get further improvement. What we got was 'compensatory therapy', which means to compensate for the loss of functionality rather than work to improve muscle coordination, and hence functionality. So they ask – 'can he dress himself?' The answer is 'yes, if you give him about four hours, he can do it!' The focus is then on offering substitutes like buttons on the shoe or Velcro, etc. Now these are nice devices, but at 4 months post injury I wanted to continue on THERAPY!! I got in a little argument with the therapist in which I was informed that I just didn't understand the severity of Dan's injuries and that Dan would NEVER recover and the I just NEEDED TO ACCEPT this! Needless to say, we quit therapy there and never went back to that establishment.

How can one expect to improve when there is so much negative attitude around that you will NEVER improve! No wonder most people don't improve after two years post injury. They have been programmed in their minds that there is no HOPE and when there is no HOPE there is no improvement!

Sorry for the tangent there... back to the occupational therapist here (Lily). She worked with Dan to help him improve his muscle coordination and skill. She forced him to stop using his full body when making movements and to keep his head straight (something that is hard for him to do). He tends to 'compensate' and will move his shoulders and head to get his arm to move. She positioned him in front of a mirror so that he could see how he was 'cheating'. She worked hard on helping him improve rather than compensating for what he can not do. Five stars for OT today!

In the session with the Traditional Chinese doctors, we talked a lot about how Dan need to focus his mind on healing. There is much power in the mind and they are helping Dan to learn how to tap into this power and have it help him as he works to improve. In the Chinese massage, he worked a lot of the meridians of the body, especially in the stomach and head area. Heather will like this – he did some cranial sacral massage on Dad... ;-)

It looks like we will need to work with the physical therapists to show them Dan's capabilities. We didn't quite get there today, but Dan did have a good session with lots of stretching. This is good for him as the tendons in his ankle are really tight and he doesn't have good flexion, especially in the right foot. It seems that these therapists have not worked a leg brace before. They had me remove the brace and tested Dan's functionality without it. It would be nice not to have to use it, but in order for that to happen, the signals have to travel faster from the brain to Dan's knee area on the right side. He hyper extends the knee without the brace and his walking is really slow. (slower than normal slow...). I will talk to the doctor about this tomorrow and we will formulate a plan. I would like to see the focus be on balance, proper weight shifting and stretching. We will continue to work in this area.

We have an consult session with all the doctors tomorrow at 1:00 pm. At that time we will be able to get a lot of our questions worked out, and we will finalize the treatment plan. For now, the bone marrow operation is scheduled on Thursday.

One last note... if someone ever offers you 1000 year-old eggs, the correct action is to politely refuse them! We had some at the Autumn Moon Celebration party that the hospital put on last night. Next week is a holiday for the Autumn Moon and so they had a party for the patients this week. I got to tell the jokes and yes, I did tell the 'Ocean Roar' joke (sorry kids – but no one laughed at that one – probably because it is NOT funny!). I did tell a pretty good joke on the Clinton's though, if you remind me I will share it with you.

Take care friends!

Chinese Breakfast - can you guess what we're eating?

Acupuncture - See Dan Flinch

Taking a walk with the physical therapist

They like to come as a group, which is an interesting approach. We really like the doctors thus far

Getting his proliferation cocktail via IV

Dan with his AWESOME Occupational Therapist

Dan getting stretched in Physical Therapy

Dan with Dr Wisdom Guan - he is a wise guy in every good sense of the word.

Dan on the tilt table - also good for stretching the tendons!

Day 3: China Adventure

2007-09-24T07:26:00.000-06:00

Here we are at Day 3 - the China adventure! Dan was able to see several different doctors today and Dan started his oral and IV medications. First they started the IV proliferation cocktail - a combination of several different drugs that are supposed to promote his body to generate its own stem cell production. I will get a list of all the medicine included in the cocktail tomorrow. Then the physical and occupational therapists came. They are starting Dan on a therapy program in the morning - starting at 9:30 a.m. Next the traditional Chinese medicine doctors came -- they spent quite a bit of time evaluating Dan and asked lots of questions about his abilities and issues. We will all meet on Wednesday with the team of Neurologists to complete the final treatment plan for Dan. I have been told that the bone marrow operation will most likely be on Thursday - so that we can get the stem cells over to the lab prior to a 'Chinese New Year' holiday next week. We want to get things going before all the partying starts!

I was also privledged to go to Wal-mart today. I bought lots of necessities like bread (for our peanut butter / honey sandwiches) and some fruit. I bought some kind of fruit that is Chinese and I don't have a clue what it is... but the lady with me said it was good, so we are being a little adventuresome! I also got some bananas, hangers, liquid soap and a hair dryer that works on 240 volts (I am really sure that you wanted to know all of that!)

Tomorrow marks the beginning of therapy-- we are looking forward to that!

We are also greatly saddened to hear of a neighbor and friend that lost her husband today in a house fire that collapsed on him while he slept. Sometimes life just does not seem fair, but I know that through all of the pain there is a glimmer of hope as we are consoled from Above. I am grateful for the times that I have grown through my pain and become stronger through my trials. I pray now for this dear sweet friend that she may be comforted and lifted in her time of need. Please say a prayer for our friend, Catia.

Day 2: Sunday in China

2007-09-23T08:55:00.000-06:00

Today is Sunday in Beijing and we were able to find a branch of our church here and attend their services this morning. It was great to be able to meet new friends and fellowship with others of our same faith in a different part of the world. It was kind of tricky finding the place to attend as the information that we got from Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City listed the Branch President's home address, rather than the address of the church service! Luckily we were able to hook up with some of our cousins (Melanie Clark) friends here and they were able to get us the correct address and directions to the church in an email. it was nice because they sent a diagram written in Chinese that we just had to print out and give to the cab driver. Getting back to the hospital was a bit trickier... we took a brochure of the hospital that had the address on the back and a diagram. The cab driver took us somewhere else first, but then he looked at the diagram closer and we finally ended up at the right place!

The language barrier is very difficult. Most people do not speak English at all! It is hard to get around due to the language barrier. I am not sure what they are going to do when the Olympics come to town, as it will be a challenge for people to get around. The exchange rate works to our favor, however, and so far we think that we spent $5 on dinner last night, probably .70 on breakfast, about $5-6 dollars on the cab ride to and from church.

Dan thinks the hospital is a bit restrictive --- we have a room that the door locks and we have to get permission to come and go. It is probably a good thing, as they are watching out for us and our safety while we are here. We need some pictures to put up on the wall so that it is a little friendlier atmosphere. We are EXCITED and HAPPY to be here -- just a few differences to note from our home sweet home... Dan starts his program in the morning. We will meet the doctors then and they will develop a customized program for him. It will be exciting to get started. He will have the operation this week to take his bone marrow - but we do not know which day that will happen. Therapy and Chinese medicine will also commence soon. We will keep you posted!

Many, many thanks for all of your support to get us here!

Dan & LaNae