Good to be home

Our trip home was fairly uneventful, we made it home safely, no bags were lost, no broken chair, we enjoyed the first class flight almost as much as on the way to Thailand. I had a couple friends take care of my yard while we were gone, I was just hoping to have the lawn mowed once before I returned but was blown away at how much work was put in. My yard has never looked so beautiful, after being gone for over a month I cannot describe the emotion I felt when I pulled up to the house and it looked so lovely, just an overwhelming feeling of happiness to be home. You know who you are, thank you so much for making our home coming special.

It's so strange to live the same day twice, we left Thailand Friday morning at 6am, spent almost 20 hours flying home to arrive in San Francisco by 9 am Friday morning. By the time we went to bed Friday night we had been up for 55 hours. I had about 4 1/2 hours of broken up sleep on the plane and Jerry had about 3 hours, exhausted doesn't begin to describe how we felt. 6 days later and we still have not returned to a normal sleep pattern but it's getting better.

It's imperative to keep Jerry's body in optimum condition in order for the stem cells to flourish. Jerry has returned from Thailand with a better outlook and motivation, he's going back to school at the end of the month as well as return to physical therapy at SCI-FIT in Pleasanton. In addition we need to continue the home exercise program and find an acupuncturist. If any of you know of a great local acupuncturist please let me know via post or email to katie@followingjerry.com. I truly believe the acupuncture was a great benefit for Jerry. Life is going to be very busy for us, but I'm so happy to see Jerry motivated again. 

It's great to be home, thank you to all who have helped, donated, supported, loved and followed us through this journey, we love you!

Katie

Moving Toes

Jerry received his 7th stem cell treatment Wednesday evening, which was a lumbar puncture. He seems to respond well to the lumbar injections, within 30 minutes he was able to move his toes when he tried. It takes a great deal of effort and he fatigues rather quickly however he was able to move his toes several times throughout the evening, hopefully a sign of more good things to come. It's a little disappointing and rather curious as to why the stem cells have an immediate affect but generally doesn't last much more than 24 hours. I am grateful though to have some sort of reaction, it helps keep hope alive. This never gets old for me, but I think Jerry gets a little tired of me asking him to move his toes....

The day after stem cell injections patients are supposed to have low activity and rest. Jerry had stretching and acupuncture in the morning and then had the rest of the day free, unfortunately he was supposed to rest so he couldn't venture out. I on the other hand decided I would take a little adventure. It was the first time leaving Jerry for an extended period of time, I left after lunch and returned late in the evening. The nurses were good about checking in with Jerry, feeding him dinner and keeping me posted on how things were going. There is a well known street in Bangkok called Khoasan Road, it was referenced in the book/movie The Beach. Khoasan Road is a world famous backpackers hot spot, with cheap hotels, street vendors, restaurants & pubs and much more, it has a real party atmosphere. I decided to make my trip to Khoasan Road a little more adventurous by traveling by boat. I took 2 trains and walked 2 blocks to the pier to catch the boat, it was a 30 minute boat ride and a few blocks walk before I found Khoasan Road.There are many ways to travel in Bangkok, train, bus, taxi, motorcycle, tuk tuk, boat, with the train your limited on where it goes, the bus is very confusing, the motorbike looks very scary the drivers drive crazy, but I'll have to try motorbike at least once before I go. I can't get over how economical it is to get around, the train was $1.34, the boat was .57 cents. After the day of souvenir shopping it was time to head back to the hospital, it was too late to catch the boat so I decided go get back by way of tuk tuk. I loved the ride in the tuk tuk, it could be very bumpy at times but it felt like a motorcycle ride, I loved being in the open air. The 35 minute ride back to the hospital was a little more expensive then the journey there...a whopping $5, it seems like it would be far more economical to use public transportation here than owing a vehicle. Here are a few pictures from my outing, the only thing that would have made it better is if Jerry could have enjoyed it with me.

 There are several types of boats transporting people

 

 These boats were super fast

 

 Below is the type of boat I was on

 

 Khoasan Road

The view from the back of the tuktuk

We have less than a week left, 1 more stem cell treatment and then the journey home. I'm so ready to get home, it's been a great trip but I'm getting home sick and miss my kids, I know Jerry is home sick as well. Thanks to all who have taken the time to leave comments, it's nice to feel a connection with home.