Successful Procedure

Well, I made it. Scratch that. We made it!!! My first major procedure went just about as smooth as you could possibly imagine. It's kind of a hassle but with my Father and uncle Fred on the job there's always nothing to worry about and let me tell you that is a huge relief when you are stuck depending on other people to take care of you. I consider myself very lucky.
Now, the hassle isn't really the procedure, but having to switch hospitals to have it done. We currently stay at the clinic here at Green Park. It is the newer of the two facilities opened little over a year ago. The old hospital, where most of the most of the major procedures are done, is a couple miles down the road in the Guatam Nagar area. We arrived at the other hospital by taxi around eleven thirty Monday morning. The first thing you notice when you arrive at the old hospital is exactly how old it really is. I kid you not it looks like it came out of an old 1945 movie. Not to worry though, just as I expected everything running like a well-oiled machine. It took us fifteen to twenty minutes to get settled into the room, by the time we were done the sisters were there ready to get me preped for my procedure. Around one o'clock they came with the gurney to take me to the operating theatre. We entered the theatre where we were met by Dr. Ashish. They transferred me onto the operating table and placed me onto my side. Once on my side they tucked my knees as high up to my chin as possible placing me into the fetal position. During this whole process i am focused on my breathing trying to prepare my body for the arrival of my new stem cells. The procedure consists of Dr. Ashish inserting a very small catheter in the thoracic region. He then runs it up the spinal cord canal in between the sheath that holds the spinal cord and the bony part of the vertebrae. Once in place here come the stem cells. 50,000,000 million new stem cells are injected into my body and hopefully are in route to the injury site. As the stem cells are injected into my body new sensations happen immediately. A tightness and heavy feeling surround my mid section making it hard to breath. A crawling, tingly feeling works it way down through my legs into my toes. I try not to panic as the tightness increases in my stomach making it even harder to breath. During the whole procedure Dr. Ashish is explaining the whole process very calmly and asking me about the changes as they are happening. He assures me that this is all normal and explains everything is going as planned. He is confident and sincere which is very reassuring. I have total confidence in him. The whole procedure only last about fifteen minutes. Before I know it they have me turned onto my back and transferred back onto the gurney. The tight heavy feeling in my stomach starts to decrease letting me breath more normal. The whole not being able to breath very well kind of catches you off guard at first sending you into a slight panic, but other than that piece of cake. So, back to my room and into bed where I must lay flat on my back with no movement for two hours. Also, they come and put three blocks under the foot of my bed in order to incline it. This hopefully forces the stem cells to flow upward toward my injury level. For the next thirty minutes I have different sensations changing throughout the lower half of my body. I have tightness in the hips, tingling in the legs and toes but eventually all the new sensations fade. The next two days goes just about the same way. I get a morning injection of 50,000,000 stem cells and an evening dose of stem cells. The only difference is the position they have me laying during the injection and the two hour period afterwards. With every injection new sensations come and they go. The most exciting coming on Tuesday evenings injection. I was laying on my right side, of course blocks under the foot of the bed inclining it, and while I was receiving the injection I got a real heavy feeling in my head with lots of pressure creating a huge headache. It only lasted for fifteen to twenty seconds but what a feeling. I understand normally you wouldn't get that excited about receiving this sort of headache, but what this means is that the stem cells made it through the injured part of my spinal cord and into my brain. What a rush!!! Wednesday I received a double dose of the stem cells around lunch that way after laying flat for the two hours we were able to pack up and head back to the clinic.
Thursday came and i was very eager to get down to physical therapy to work out and see if I could notice any improvements. Yes, I know it well take time for the cells to work and grow but with all the early success I've had it is easy to get spoiled. I am happy to report more new improvements. My core muscles, which include stomach, side, and back, have gotten stronger making my balance better. Better strength in my triceps and wrist flexors. hips have strengthen and hand movement has increased a little. So far I would say a successful procedure. The doctors said we would give this procedure time to runs it course and we could expect the next procedure in about ten days.
Everything has been going so well and we all have been working so hard we decided to treat ourselves today and go out to eat. So, today for lunch we headed to the Hyatt Hotel, a five star accommodation, in search of beef. Big mistake. What we stumbled into was a beautiful hotel, with five restaurants, including one that was a buffet. Ouch!!! Let me just say the damage was substantial. Beef tenderloin, grilled prawns, fried fish, stuffed pork loin, cesar salad. The works. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the cheesecake and the chocolate eclairs. What a great meal to end a great week. My belly's full and hands are getting week so I think that's it for now. Talk to you all soon. Lucas