Pictures - match with story above

July Begins

It's hard to believe the whole month of June has passed - it seems like just yesterday we were landing in Panama on June 5th.

This last Thursday is like my usual Friday - we went to PT this morning and will go to the clinic this afternoon for our final injection and our final consultation with the Dr's. They will tell us how many million stem cells I received (yesterday at the lab they told us that they count those cells with a laser), and the Dr's will tell us what to expect over the next several months.

At PT Ivan continued to work on my balance and core. You see us on the Bosu balls - I can get on the Bosu by myself now. I have ordered one for the house because you can do so much on one of these Bosu balls. I now must convince Kathy to throw a ball with me, as Ivan would do - that may be more difficult than balancing on the Bosu.

Not many days or meals left here in Panama, so Jean is trying to plan everything so the cupboard is just about bare as we exit. She is doing a great job of feeding us meals recommended by the Bio-Fit team. So we are eating right, exercising daily, and getting new stem cells weekly - that's a hat-trick in the health world.

Well I'm going to rest now before we go to the clinic - my goal is to have my BP under 115 when Dr. Herrero comes in with the needles! Last chance to accomplish this goal so it's game time!

The LAB

Judi, her sister Sharon, Jack, Jean, and I all had a very interesting and enlightening trip to the Cell Medicine Lab today. It's out near the canal in an area called the City of Knowledge (pic) - they only do research and testing in this area - no clinics or hospitals. This complete area was built by the Americans while they were here running the canal, so all of the buildings look alike. (pic)

The Cell Medicine Lab is in one of these buildings, and it's impressive once you get inside. We met Melisa there then another young lady took us on the tour, and we had to put on our scrubs to go in the lab rooms. (pic) Every room is very clean and protective as you might expect. I have included some pics of the lab rooms - one you see the lady working in a covered area - she is preparing the injections to be sent to the clinic - you see her holding the syringes that she prepared, and these will be placed in a cooler and taped tightly shut then taken to the clinic. We were obviously not allowed in this most secure area where they were working with the samples and cells - only pictures through the window.

They also took a picture of our own stem cells under the microscope - the cells are the wiggly lines - where there is a bright spot, that is a bubble where the cell is about to divide. They keep these cells in a liquid nitrogen freezer until they are ready to do something with them. How these cells know where to go and what to do when they get in your body, I have no idea. These lab tech's (pic) were trying to explain some of that to us while we were waiting, but it was about like me telling them how and why we run the Zone Read in American football. No intiendo!

These lab techs said it was beneficial for them to meet some of the patients because they work with your fat tissue and cells and samples all with your name on them, but they never really know who it is. So it's interesting and motivating to them when they actually see the person and hear how they are doing because of their efforts. Judi and I both had some small advancements to tell them about and to thank them for.

Keep up the good work Lab crew!

Tomorrow will be my final injection day - we have moved it up to Thursday in order to help us with the final day and preparation for a very early flight on Saturday. So PIP tomorrow!

Happy Anniversary

Kathy & I celebrate our 31st anniversary today - she is at Cook Ranch near Albany with good friends and family - Sittons, Felts, Clarks & Harrells, and I'm in Panama and was at Monkey Island today. Touring the island cost $35 ($36.75 with tax) and I saw 4 monkeys and one turtle (pics) - that comes out to $9 per monkey and .75 for the turtle, so I hope you really enjoy the pictures.

Jack & Jean went on an exhibit tour featuring butterflies, snakes, orchids, fish, crocodiles, and poisonous tiny frogs. Their tour cost $15 each so they may have gotten more bang for the buck. But they did have to walk the whole time so they were tired. They missed the luxury ride in the tour boat. (pic ) Wish I could have taken Kathy for her anniversary ride in the boat! We all enjoyed the taxi ride back to the city.

I took some other pics of the city so you could see there are parts of the city that are not new high-rise condo's and fancy malls. You see some apartments, a city bus (that everyone tells you not to get on), the fish market, and some students going home from school.

Happy Anniversary, Kath!

Gary, hope you are taking care of the ranch crew - sorry I missed it this year - I'll be ready for next year!

Hasta manana!

Monday, Monday

It was a typical PIP Monday – PT, Injection, Prone. But the traffic was not typical. It was unbelievably jammed all day, and with the “May the best man win” attitude as the rule of driving, it was really crazy – honking, honking, and honking. Then you throw in that scenario the fact that Brazil, the overwhelming World Cup favorite here, was smashing Chile, 3-1, (that’s smashing in soccer), then it really became a HONK-FEST. If Brazil wouldn’t have been winning, there might have been some carnage with the traffic like it was.

We finally learned the cause of the traffic congestion – they had several main streets blocked off because there were 8 Presidents from other countries coming into the city today. Not sure if they are meeting about something vital or just coming in to go fishing with Enrique!

I included a picture of the Punta Pacifica Hospital (John Hopkins affiliated) where the clinic is located. The STI clinic is not in the hospital, but it’s right beside it. We were in the hospital for the lipo procedure, but all of the injections and IV’s take place in the clinic. I also included a picture of Judy, another MS patient from the DFW area. She’s been a trooper in my eyes – this is her 3^rd week – her husband was here the first week, her sister is here this third week, and her daughter is coming the fourth week, but during that second week, she was here by herself! Knowing how much Kathy and J&J have done for me, I really admire Judy for being such a warrior.

We are going to visit the stem cell lab, where they separate and keep all of the cells, on Wed. They bring your cells each injection day from the lab to the clinic in individual small coolers with your name on it. Today they delivered mine while we were sitting in the waiting room, and Dr. Herrero said, “here are your cells.”

Each injection day, I try so hard to relax and be calm, and I really don’t feel that much tension or stress. But each time they take your blood pressure before and after the injection, and the cuff doesn’t lie (kind of like video in football). Today I was all relaxed, thinking it wouldn’t be that high (I have real good BP – normally around 105/70), but when the cuff was through, the machine read 135/77! That’s just a real lesson in stress on your body – you don’t have to feel it for your body to be stressed. As soon as the injection was over, she pushed the button again – new reading 110/ 71 – and I really didn’t feel any different - End of Stress Seminar 101.

Hope those Presidents catch some sierras like I did.

Our Last Sunday

We will be coming home on Saturday, so this was our last chance to attend the Bible Church that Kathy & I located that first Sunday. Jack & Jean really liked this church as well. The singing was really good again, and J & J got to meet Keith and Wilma. (pic) This is the couple who has a daughter in Waxahachie (Dr. Gorman) - they invited us out for lunch, and the Napoli restuarant was excellent. Keith told us that this restuarant had been in Panama since the 50's and that it's big favorite of the locals. He also shared some stories of the years in Panama when Noriega was in power - very restless times for Americans who were living here. Since they have been in Panama for almost 40 years, they obviously can speak the language well and drive in the city. I've told you about the drivers here, and Wilma gets in her Toyota and jumps right in the middle of them - she's good!

We're heading into our final week at the clinic and at PT. We are hoping to go to the Lab where they process and keep all of the stem cells. We will also have our final meeting with Dr. Paz when he will tell us how many millions of stem cells they put in my body. I am also hoping to move my final injection to Thur instead of Friday because we have to leave the apt at 4:30 AM on Saturday so Friday needs to be a "get packed and ready" day not a "get injection and lie prone" day.

I would like to say once again - thanks for your comments and for your prayers. You have truly helped these weeks go by quicker than I ever thought they would. I hope the blog has given you a little insight into Panama and into stem cell treatments - both were new to me until June and now I'm a big fan of both!

Friday continued

I wrote yesterday's blog before we went to the clinic. While we were at the clinic, Dr. Paz, the main doctor and the one who just returned from a seminar in Corpus Christi, came by again. He asked how I was feeling, and I told him about some of the small improvements. He said that was good news because any signs this early were not real common - he said realistically the new cells need 3 to 6 months to begin doing their best work. And he reminded me that not everyone will see the same results. He's very cautious but hopeful.

My small improvements are encouraging, but I still get stumbly, bumbly as I get tired, so all is not perfect - I do seem to recover a little quicker so that is positive also.

Dr. Paz told us that they were currently working with several children with autism, and that they were getting 4 more this Monday. He also said they were getting 2 siblings with muscular dystrophy - one they have already treated once and had good results so now she is returning for a booster and her brother is going to be treated for the first time. Presently they have several of us with MS and one with a spinal injury. He said they are beginning treatments for Parkinson's and have had just a few of those. Much is happening, and now that the Costa Rica clinic is closed they can actually watch over the groups better and work with the different protocols. They do not do the same thing for the ones with autism and Parkinson's as they do with MS - for one thing they get the patient's own cells from their bone marrow in the hip but for MS patients they get it from the fat cells. He said the stem cells are slightly different in those 2 places. All was interesting to me - hope it is to you.

Since we have been down here we have seen 2 American network (ABC) shows about stem cells. One from Florida where they used a man's stem cells to repair his damaged heart (instead of having a heart transplant), and another from California where they replaced a man's totally damaged cornea by using his stem cells to grow a new a cornea - he could see 20/20 after the procedure. So obviously some US clinics are open to trying this very promising protocol - just not sure why many US doctors act like it doesn't really work. Five years from now they will be leading the stem cell band!