China Day 39: Planning next steps....

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!