PANAMA: Trip 2

 Chris sent me this blog to post last night. 

Thank you Chrissy for keeping us all posted about your treatment and for sharing your journey with us. I am confident that I can speak for the whole community of  both family and friends when I say we all love you and believe in you.  

Up at 3:00am.  We left Pittsburgh about 6:40. Flight was smooth. We connected in Miami headed for Panama.   I was lying in bed the night before wondering whether I should be making this trip to Panama.  I’m just scared to have no gains. No progress would mean I probably won't come back.   It's like do or die.  I’m trying to think positive but that thought just makes me crazy.   When I made this first trip in mid June I was a different person.   God I was so sick thinking back, both mentally and physically.  I was only 3-1/2 months out of injury. I don't know how I got through that month.  It was so hard.  Nobody will ever understand how difficult.  So far, this time everything seems so much easier.  I'm so much more able bodied and capable it's amazing.   All the furniture that took Jen, Frank and Tawnya to lift me out of I can do myself now. I'm really pumped about that. I went in and out of the sofas and chairs 3 or 4 times just cause I can.  It's a hard uneven transfer but I have been doing it with ease.  It gives me more freedom from the wheelchair.   We went to the clinic about 8 a.m.  Spent a half hour or so catching up with all of our friends from the clinic.   It was so nice to reunite with all of them.  The friendliest and caring people you will ever meet.  They could probably give a few lessons back in the states on courtesy to your patients.  We went to the back room to draw the blood.  They had a hard time hitting my vein.  All the poking around made me so nauseated.  They got about 6 of the 12 tubes drawn and the last thing I remember is telling everyone I'm passing out. Lol.  I spoke too soon about feeling better!

 They need to draw about 12 tubes for the serum for your bone marrow.  I took all my meds and vitamins on an empty stomach. All the travel had me feeling funny too.  I must have created all kinds of chaos in that office. When I passed out my wife elevated my feet, I flipped out the back of the wheelchair and the doctors caught me, picked me up, and put me in a leather recliner. I was in a different zip code when they picked me up! I must have been out for a few minutes. I guess I freaked everyone out.      I was so cold. I was soaked. I asked for a drink right before I passed out and I guess Jen threw it in my face! I had an ice pack on my neck. The nurse gave me an IV of fluids before I left just for a precaution.  I don’t know what happened.   While she was doing an IV in my other arm my arm shook uncontrollably.  As happy as I was to be back on earth with everyone, all the shaking of my arms and legs scared me.  It was crazy.   The one doctor said my reaction was different than a normal able body person fainting because of my SCI.   They wanted to send a nurse to spend the evening but we assured them I was fine.  As a precaution I have to have an EKG in the morning before my bone marrow extraction.   You know my personality, as I lay there half with it, I was smiling and saying what the hell happened.  I don't think anyone was ready for jokes yet.  I scared the shit out of everyone.  My poor wife just sat across from me sobbing.   She had cuts on her arm from trying to catch me.  She also tried to rip my shirt off me.  She tugged my collar and shirt so hard you could fit a family of six in that shirt at the same time.  I loved that shirt but it's toast for sure. Lol. I was kind of bummed the rest of the day.  It was  just not a good start to all this.  But the morning came. I was a little nervous to get the bone marrow extraction just because of what happened at the clinic.  But everything went good without a hitch.  Had  great conversations with the doctors about my progress.  They feel I am on track.   My confidence wavers at times.  But right now I feel like I'm going to do this and i am going beat this.  Treatments are every day till I fly out over the next 2 weeks.  I did great things today. I wheeled a mile home through streets, hills, and a ton of obstacles with a little assistance from my Mom and my wife at times.   I feel more human every day.  Coming back here got me out of my rut I was falling into back home.  Bad first day but a good second day!