Monday, July 23, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
A day out...
Yesterday there were terrible rains her in Beijing. Roads were flooded and at least ten people died, including a policeman who was trying to rescue people out of flooded cars when a charged electrical line fell near him. The flooding persisted till today. The three families who went into Beijing CIty yesterday got stranded by by the impassable roads and had to get a hotel. On the bright side, they said it was very comfortable hotel for only a few dollars more than we've been paying, and it includes a meal! So we checked out of the Yanda Guobin Hotel and will get a room at the other one tomorrow. Tonight, though, the hospital gave us an unused room to stay in. That was very nice.
Also during the rains, we discovered that Brian's room leaks. Badly. In the middle of the night we found ourselves squeegeeing water off the floor near where the windows leaked in the rain. Today we moved Brian to a another room. Slightly smaller, but better lit and more comfortable.
Since the roads were still largely impassable today, we didn't go to Beijing, but we did get Brian out to a local shopping area for some supper. It was very crowded and noisy, but Brian did very well in the tumult. The food was pretty good at the restaurant. Some of the things were unidentifiable, like the dessert that seemed to be a gelatinous tube with some sort of brown filling. Sean tried it; it was nearly tasteless.
Tomorrow is Brian's first stem cell injection! It will be an IV injection. Four days later, he'll get another IV injection and lumbar injection. Four days later, again another IV & lumbar injection. And another four days later, one more IV injection. On the days when Brian's not getting stem cells, He'll be going to rehabilitation services twice a day at 8:30 am and at 2:00 pm for at least an hour each time. Sounds busy! It will be. He's looking forward to it, but still nervous. Brian and Grainne were able to call their dad via Skype before Brian's bedtime and he said a little prayer with them over the call.
That was most of our Sunday. Oh, except that poor little Gaby from Columbia fell out of her bed and got a big lump on the side of her head. Her parents weren't going to take her to the emergency room, but the rest of us talked them into it. After all, Brian's brain injury was the result of a seemingly minor trauma. No point in taking chances when you've come this far. Grainne is accompanying Gaby, Juan and Carolina to the ER, which is only a two-minute walk away. Hope all goes well and it's just a minor bump!
Remember, you can email us for anything - ask questions, say hi to Brian, or just keep us in touch with what's going on back home. Grainne's email is lovenola@gmail.com, Shane's is shanehogan40@hotmail.com, and Sean's is sfitzmorris@gmail.com. We'd all love to hear from you!
Stay tuned!
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Floods after monsoons last night.
Earlier someone had set up a little boat here and was ferrying people across for 10 RMB (about $1.50)
Big fuss.
Since they made such a big fuss over it, I figured I would too. When in Rome...
Friday, July 20, 2012
Sean takes a shot for Team Ireland
Back on track
So yesterday the visit from immigration finished at about 3 pm. I guess everything was okay, seeing as we haven't been deported (yet). Afterwards, Michele said that we could go to physical therapy after all, and Brian spent about an hour in a standing machine designed to get his posture in a better position, since he sits in a wheelchair most fo the day. The next session will include more therapies, since yesterday's had to be abbreviated due to the time.
Also yesterday, one of the doctors discussed Brian's lab results. His liver enzymes came back elevated. Sean researched his medications for side effects, and liver stress was a possible adverse reaction in four of his meds. He had also had a beer the night before his tests, so that probably didn't help either. They scheduled an ultrasound of his abdomen just to make sure there wasn't anything weird going on, like a tumor or something. He had the ultrasound today. Shane accompanied him and reported back that the ultrasound came back normal. Just to be sure, no more alcohol for Brian for the rest of the trip. Which means more for the rest of us. By the way, we've gone through all the duty-free vodka we brought, so it's off to the store! We were also happy to learn from the ultrasound that Brian wasn't pregnant!
The rest of the families here went into Beijing for the day, so we're on our own for the rest of the day. We're all planning on a trip into Beijing again tomorrow, Sunday. That should be a great outing for Brian. Sirach, who is from Iraq and here with his quadriplegic son Sirhan, said "you can't keep him in a room all day, never experiencing anything new. They may as well be in jail. The mind dies. He needs to get out and experience life!" We found that very wise advice, so we're going to take Brian with us into bustling Beijing, though it may be a bit overwhelming for him at first.
Last night all the families here went to the "Social Room" for a little recreation. We played pool, air hockey & ping pong on the tables there and had a great time socializing. Team Iraq beat Team Ireland in pool only because both Shane and Sean scratched the cue on the last shot. Team Ireland would have won. So much for our mini-Olympics.
So far, no one's gotten sick. You know how when you're in a new country and someone always succumbs to Montezuma's Revenge or Delhi Belly or Peruvian Mudslide? Fortunately we've avoided the equivalent, which we'll call Chinese Dump-lings. We haven't been very adventurous in our food choices yet. Local eggs and "elaborate bacon" is about the extent of our culinary adventures. By the way, the ramen noodles here are really good. Shane & Sean are going back to Lotte Mart today for provisions. We'll see what gets brought back.
Tomorrow, Beijing City! Thanks for reading and stay tuned!
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