China Days 54: Last stem cell treatment & therapy plans

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!

------------------------------------------------------------------

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.