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It's almost been a full year since I last posted a blog. I just want to make sure that everyone knows that this is not the result of me not seeing progress, but just the results of how you know you need to do something and have a hard time making yourself do it.
Well, now that I've said that let me tell you everything has been going great with one exception. I have been fighting the worst nerve pain for sometime now. I've tried a half dozen so-called nerve pain medications that had little or no effect. I'm not one for sitting at home and drooling on myself so your medication that is normally prescribed for pain I'm not interested in. It's in my butt and mainly my tailbone area, which is about the worst place I can have it at. Other than that, my health has been pretty much tip-top. I recently went back to India for my fourth trip in December. My father went with me and we had a wonderful trip. It sure was good to see all my old friends. As always, they were pleased to see my improvements. My hand functions are coming but at a very slow pace. Better thumb movement is present. I wouldn't say I have finger control just yet. They are kind of in the flickering stage if you know what I mean. My upper body strength continues to build. Core strength has improved enough where they took the top part of my calipers off. Now they go just past the waist. I still wear the belt to tuck in my butt and also a binder around the waist for additional support. Nonetheless, a big step to my recovery. I was really able to initiate good steps with my old calipers. I was getting good movement from my hips going forward and really good movement going backwards. With the new setup it's like starting all over again. I'm really starting to initiate good controlled movement with my legs. My trainers are all confirming this. I am able to roll from my stomach to my back easily now, which may not sound like much but is a huge accomplishment. I was able to evacuate urine from my bladder on my own on a couple different occasions. Nothing consistent though. I am able to evacuate my bowels better on my own as well. Sensation with my muscles strecthing and and tightening has increased. That all being from the chest down. Progress is slow but steady. As always, headed in the right direction.

Good Third Trip

It's been over a month since my father and I returned from our third trip to India. It's awful selfish of me not to of posted anything and once again I again I apologize. This trip may have been our best yet. For starters, we had zero problems traveling, and let me tell you that is huge. That is usually what freaks me out the most. Not that I'm going to be staying in India for an extended period of time or that i will be receiving embryonic stem cells. It's the hassle of flying to New York, having to switch airports, and than getting on another airplane and flying to India. Trust me it sounds easier than it is. Secondly, I was completely healthy the whole time I was there. I arrived healthy and was able to continue to stay healthy the duration of my stay. If you can remember back from my other trips I usually have a difficult time not catching a UTI. This trip the doctors prescribed a low dose of an antibiotic that I take daily. This plus proper hydration, usually three liters of water daily, I was able to keep infection free during the trip and the whole time I've been back. Also, during this third trip I saw some good improvements. My hands really started to come online. More with the flexon, but some extension is definitely present. New muscle sensations in my glutes and hamstrings while being streched out. Better core strength, which always promotes better balance and posture. Standing has gotten a lot better. Especially after i got a new set of leg calipers made. I have lost a lot of weight since I was measured for my first set on my first trip. Pretty much everything I have been working on has progressed in some way or another. Since I have been home it has been the same. Nothing new has developed since I have returned home. Of course everything I already have has definitely improved. It seems like my hands work better some days than others. Same goes for my standing. Some days are better than others. I guess some days my body is just stronger than others. I have managed to stat healthy, but am still battling nerve pain like no other. That's getting pretty old. Other than that life is good. Dr. Ashish I am sorry for taking so long to post my blog. I know you look forward to hearing about how your patients are doing.

Great Progress With Week One

Well, week one is in the books and i have to say it's going great so far. We arrived Wednesday evening sometime around seven. It took us a bit to get everything settled into place, but since this is our third trip it didn't take long at all. On Thursday we didn't really get a chance to sleep in because I had to be down in physio by nine forty-five for my evaluation. Didn't quite make it in time for that, so it was postponed till two-thirty. That was fine with me, it gave me time to go outside and suck up some sunlight. I hate to rub it in, but the weather is beautiful over here right now. About seventy-five to eighty degrees with the sun shinning. After lunch I headed sown to the physio room for my workout and standing. I showed improvements in every department. My upper body strength has increased noticeably, especially in my triceps. Core strength is all better. This allows my balance to be much better. It also allows me to be more upright in my wheelchair and promotes better posture. In my lower limbs I still have slight function in my quads and glutes. My adductors have really came online and strength has increased in them as well. My hip strength is also alot better. As far as foot and toe movement it is still there. I'm not sure if the movement has increased much, but my control is definitely better. With my standing I have been able to increase the number of repetitions i'm doing with all of the different exercises. So, in all the doctors and the therapists are very pleased with my progress. The weekend finally came , which was greatly needed because my father and I hit a brick wall called jetlag. We were informed Saturday afternoon that I was going over to the other hospital for a procedure on Monday, so we took advantage of the weekend, layed around and got rested up. Monday we headed over to the other hospital around one-thirty. I would be receiving the epidural procedure, which consists of one puncture into the epidural space followed by millions of stem cells shot into that area. I was informed by doctor Ashish that he would be entering the epidural space around the t-9 vertebrae. With this procedure he was hoping to get some new stimulation as well as function in the lower part of my body. As I received the injections, sensation overwhelmed the lower part of my body. First, a heavy, tight feeling starting at my bellybutton working it's way down to my toes. It was followed by an almost electric sensation all in the same area. It is hard to describe and put into words the feeling my body gets when I receive these injections. It is almost unbelievable. After the procedure of course it is back to the room, where the bed is elevated and I am to lay flat on my back for four hours. With this procedure it is not required for us to stay overnight. Dr. Ashish stops by the room for a short visit, we watch some television and eat dinner, and before you know it we are on our way back to the clinic. I am excited the next morning to get down to physio to see if these new stem cells have found a new home in my body and are ready to bring new life. As I am being stretched out in my legs, what do you know something new. I am now able to feel my calf muscles and my glutes being stretched out on both my legs. On my left leg there is a noticeable increase in strength with my leg extension. Where there was slight movement, now it is definitely noticeable. Very exciting stuff. The doctors are pleased as well as myself. Since Tuesday I noticed a few other changes as well. In my fingers, the flexsion has increased as well as some new extension. In my hips, my adduction seems to be a bit stronger. Also, while laying in bed sitting up, I was able to move my toes down on both feet quite a bit stronger. I tell you there is life in these legs and they will not be denied. So far it's been a great trip. My father and I have adjusted very well and are getting along great. I know there will be much more exciting news to come, but that is all for now.

India Trip Three

Well, it's back to India more millions of new stem cells. The last four and a half months have been a little bit of a struggle for me. First, it was a number of different UTI's I fought for the better part of three months. Lots of days fighting fatigue, sweating, and headaches. I finally shook the bacteria three or four weeks ago and have been feeling a lot better in that department. Than came the nerve pain. At first, I thought it was my seat coushion that had worn out, because I had also been experiencing some redness and iritation around my coccyx. The coccyx area is where I have been experiencing all of my pain. I never had any skin break down, but was stuck in bed for the majority of a week because the pain was so bad. This gave me some releif, but at times even getting off my butt didn't help. I purchased a new seat cushion and that helped, but the pain was still at a level that was becoming hard to live with. So, a week ago i visited my doctor and he prescribed lyrica for my nerve pain. This is a medication that takes time to work into your system, so I haven't noticed anything quite yet. The pain has gotten better and I haven't noticed any more irritation on my coccyx. All these different issues have affected my therapy off and on if you can imagine. I have still managed to get stronger and make some noticeable improvements. Some good finger movement off and on. It seems like it comes andf it goes. My stomach muscles have gained some good strength as well as the surrounding core muscles. My balance has increased as well. The strength in my hips as increased as well as in my aductors. Also, I can feel the connection between my mind and my legs the best I have since my accident. It's hard to explain, but it just feels like I'm ready to move my toes any day now. So, the progress is there but sometimes it is hard to notice. I notice it though and my family does as well. This is why we have chosen to make our third trip to India. We will be leaving on Tuesday morning and staying for another month. We can't wait to get there to enjoy the beautiful weather and take in some new stem cells. I will keep everybody posted. Hopefully I haven't ran everybody off by not posting very often. Sorry for that. Lucas Smith

Holiday Season

I just want to start out by telling everybody happy holidays from the entire Smith family. It's hard to believe we are nearing the end of another year. With Thanksgiving down and Christmas right around the corner, It's amazing at how fast a year comes and goes. It's been three months since our return from our second stem cell trip and my last blog update. Talk about dropping the ball on that one. I tell you it's hard to make yourself do stuff sometimes even though I know that it needs to be done. Like updating my blog and letting everybody know about my progress and my plans for the future.
As soon as I returned home from India it was back to work. I still work out three times a week with my trainers, use the direct current electric stimulus, the FES bike daily, autoambulator gait trainer once a week, asnd have also added standing daily in my leg calipers with the use of my new pair of parallel bars. I have been pretty consistent with all of my workouts, but again sometimes find myself having a hard time getting motivated to make myself do what I know needs to be done. The progress that I have shown has been steady, but nothing that has been really earth shattering. My strength continues to increase in every area, some areas faster than others. There are a few things I have discovered I am able to do though that are pretty amazing. While sitting in my shower/commode chair I am able to draw both my legs in towards each other. I noticed it about a month ago and practice it every night while in the shower. It seems to be getting stronger. Also while do this I actually can feel the muscles in my legs tightening and contracting. This sensation b is relatively new. I noticed recently that I have been getting some good finger movement. This probably do to all the hand writing I have been having to do with in my college class. So, some real good positive stuff going on. On the negative side lets tall UTI's. I have been living with one for the past two months. I have taken every antibiotic you can think of, and two weeks ago was the sickest I have been since my accident. It has been a real battle and really am sick and tired of feeling like crap all the time. We are planning another trip back to India for the middle of February. We feel like the progress has been good and that this treatment gives me the best chance for recovery. That's it for now. As always I will try to be more prompt with the updates. Talk to you soon.

Good Procedure-Great Procedure

It's been a busy, procedure filled third week over here at the clinic. Last Wednesday they decided to go with the caudal procedure. This procedure is done on site here at the clinic, which is nice because once you get settled in here it's kind of like your home away from home. The crappy part about this procedure was where the injection goes in at. The injection goes right into the coccyx area. Right in this area is where I have been experiencing bad nerve pain as well as some regained sensation. As soon as he stuck the needle in I knew I was in for a little trouble. The initial pain was as you can imagine. It felt exactly like someone stabbing you at the top of the crack of your butt with a giant needle. Just like any shot though the pain eased away. He gave me the injection, patched me up, and sent me back to my room to lay flat on my back for four hours. The first three hours went by without a problem. I took a nap for an hour or so, and starred at the ceiling. Just like always. What else are you supposed to do for four hours on your back. The pain hit right at seven o'clock. It felt like someone was digging a hot poker in right where he gave the injection. So, if you can imagine that felt great. We informed the doc of my "situation" and waited for his orders. Luckily they allowed me to turn me to my side which did very little for my problem. The source of my pain was coming from stimulated nerve endings in that area. Just getting the pressure off that area wasn't even a close fix. They then popped me with some pain medication which helped a little. Like I said nerve pain is different than other pain, and it is hard to treat it with the same methods. The next couple days continued slowly regressing. Like I said, I was already having problems in this area. Nothing like a good old shot of stem cells right in the butt to get the nerve endings firing like crazy. Other than that, the procedure was great. Ha Ha Ha

My next procedure was the following Monday. This would be a double procedure. I would be getting a lumbar puncture and at the same time they would be inserting another epidural catheter for three days. This is obviously the most serious of all the procedures. The lumbar puncture is where they go directly into your spinal cord. Patients usually have the most problems with procedure. Problems meaning that sometimes bad headaches or problems with high blood pressure occur. The procedure went very well as always. He gave me the lumbar puncture and than the catheter was inserted. Once I was back in my is where I started to have some difficulties. I started sweating pretty heavy in the face and body started getting very warm. I started getting anxious and this just made matters worse. They came in and checked my blood pressure. It had rose to 140 over 110. This is what was causing the sweating and the body temperature increase. We started getting a little nervous until doctor Ashish came in and described how this was very normal and not to worry. It was very reassuring to my father and I seeing how calm doctor Ashish was. He gave me an injection for my anxiety and ten minutes later I was napping. I woke up and felt a ton better. The excitement came on Wednesday morning when doctor Ashish gave me my last dose of stem cells. The sensation I started receiving five minutes after my injection was incredible. It started as a light tingling sensation in my lower back. The sensation made it's way down both of my legs into my toes. By the time it had reached my toes the tingling sensation had turned into an strong electric current feeling. This is all great , but I have experienced this before. The real cool part was still to come. The tingling sensation than worked it's way up my back, into my shoulders, and down both my arms into my fingers. This I have never experienced. What's so great about this is that it means the stem cells stimulated nerves which reach throughout my whole body. A connection has been made, or nerves repaired to be able to send that kind of a signal. The really cool thing is that the sensation lasted for about forty-five minutes. The longest it's ever lasted is about ten minutes. This kind of sensation is exactly what the doctors are striving for. My reaction to the procedure had made every body's day. This kind of outcome is what you would call "best case scenario." There is still a lot more to tell but I will leave you at that.

Steady Progress

It was kind of an interesting week we had. I was supposed to go over for a procedure on Monday morning. Well, they ran a few tests early that morning, blood work and urine, and of course i had a urinary track infection. This is something I am always battling due to the catheter I have. So, in order to speed up the process of eliminating the infection it was decided that changing my cath would be a good idea. Well, to make a long story short, there ended up being a few technical difficulties. A lot of blood started showing up in my urine. The doctors here at the clinic got the bleeding to stop. It was then that they decided that it would probably be a good idea that I be taken to a hospital and kept overnight for observation. An ambulance was called and i was transported to Max Healthcare hospital. I stayed there over night having no other issues. The next afternoon we had another ambulance take me to the guatam nagar hospital where i would be receiving my procedure starting on Wednesday.

So, Wednesday afternoon I was taken into the operating theatre to receive my EC procedure. Just a couple days being schedule but no worries. When you have problems you have to deal with them and put them behind you. The EC procedure (epidural catheter) went very well as usual. Dr. Ashish is very steady and very precise. The catheter is inserted around the eleventh thoracic vertebrae and is ran up the epidural space stopping near the fifth or sixth thoracic vertebrae. Once inserted it is time to flood the are with millions of stem cells. I received to injections on Wednesday, two on Thursday, and a double dosage in the a.m. on Friday. I was very pleased on Wednesday when i received my first dosage of cells. If you can recall from my last trip every time i received an injection of cells I would get a real heavy and tight feeling in my stomach. Well, this time the sensation worked it's way down lower into my groin region, butt, and legs. My overall sensation has improved, mostly from the waist down. I am also happy to report that I am able to push the urine from my bladder on my own. Now, all I have to do is train the other muscle that gives you the ability to hold urine in and I am catheter free. How wonderful would that be. I a scheduled to receive another procedure on Wednesday so I will be in touch. Lots of love to my family and friends. See you all soon.