Home from treatment

[Ruth]

Hi, this is Ruth. Finally made it back home after having treatment in Mexico. Uncle Jesse, Maxine, my sister, Marie and I made the 3037 mile trip in Jesse's RV. We went from the flat coastal land of Texas across the New Mexico & Arizona desert and then crossed the mountain range in California. It was a long, fast trip. Jesse did the driving with his oxygen on. He did an amazing job. We left Huntsville, TX on Sept. 7th and arrived in San Diego on Sept. 10th. We stayed at Kona Kai Resort Hotel on Shelton Island. Hotel was very nice and scenery was beautiful. In our group going into Mexico for stem cell treatment were Bobby from Vermont (Paralyzed from waist down from back injury due to fall), Clay from Colorado (Neck injury), Michael from Alabama with ALS (no use of arms and little use of legs) and Rocky from New York (Young man paralyzed from gun shot wound to back) and Jesse and me for COPD....quite a variety. All had great hopes for improvements with the treatment. Jesse and I had no problem with our treatment. It was just like an IV. No one else complained of any difficulty except Bobby, Clay & Michael received injections in their necks that stung a little plus their IVs. Our group really bonded and exchanged names & addresses so we can keep in contact with each other's progress. Really a great group of people. Sorry, I'm so late in getting this posted (but I have trouble getting on here). The next morning after treatment I woke up with red face, neck and chest. The next couple of days after treatment I felt like I was running fever. Just took Tylenol and two more days of antibiotics and rested. It went away. Feeling okay. No changes yet but I'm not going to get impatient. We had no problem at the border. The hospital was fine and people were very nice. If you're waiting to go......GO FOR IT!
Ruth

 

[Bev12452]

Thank You

Dear Ruth thank you somuch for the update I will be leaving this Friday and taking the same route did you have any trouble finding gas along the way I have this vision in my head of being stuck in the desert out of gas too much tv I think did they say the rash was from the treatment I hope you are feeling better was the Dr concerned at all about the rash keep in touch and let us know your progress pretty soon we will have a different group giving weekly progress reports there are so many of us now maybe Barbara and Jeanine can take a break for awhile and let the rest of us pick up the computer questions Bev in FL

 

[rosech44]

Thanks to Ruth

I'm happy to hear you made it home safe and sound, How long did your rash last???? It will be fun to hear from all your new friends, and follow their progress. Keep us informed--very soon there will be five more of us---

Sending big hugs, and prayers

Rose

 

[barbara]

Welcome back Ruth

I am so glad to hear that everything went well for you. My blotchy ugly rash only lasted about 20 minutes. It is so interesting to see how each person reacts. I have tried to get in contact with Maxine via e-mail. Please tell her I was thinking about all of you. I received an e-mail from Dr. Feinerman. He said that there has been no change in his regimen for the supplements. He says in the future he is still hoping to be able to combine them all into 4 capsules. Wouldn't that be wonderful? In the meantime, I sent him the supplement list that I sent you and he said that was fine. I am looking forward to hearing of your progress. I hope you can report Jesse's also for us. The bonding experience you describe is just what happened when Jeannine and I went. I felt like I had known the people getting treatment for a long time and that they were family. I still feel that way.


Susan and Howard should be back soon also. There have been a lot of miles racked up by all of us on the highway and in the air. I guess that's why we call ourselves the Pioneers. We are willing to do the extraordinary in our quest to seek better health. I admire you all for joining this exclusive group.

 

[Ruth]

Rosech44

Good luck and have a safe trip. The redness I had only lasted a little while the nexrt morning. When I got up I looked like I had a sunburn and I was running a little fever but nothing too bad. We had no trouble at the border but we all had passports. Some in another car had to walk. We where inthe van. Have fun and don't worry it was all very nice and safe. hope to hear from you when you get back or if I can answer any other questions for you let me know.

Thinking of You,
Ruth

 

[Ruth]

Bev12452

No trouble getting gas except one time. Fillup before you get to an area that the towns are far a part and you are in the mountains. We had one time that we cut our gas short and it had us worried for a while. We had to buy gas from a station that was out in the middle of no where and he charged more per gallon because you had to have it, We just got about 30 gals to make sure we had enough to get to another station.

And the redness I had did not last after I got up and moved around. I just looked like I had a sunburn when I first woke up.

I hope you have a good trip and everything goes well and I'm sure it will.

Thinking of you and wishing you good luck and good health

Ruth

 

[Ruth]

Barbara

Hi Barb,

Maxine is having computer problems. I will tell her what Dr. Feinerman said. I sure wish he could condense the number of pills as I have a bad time with pills.

So far I'm feeling o.k. and Jesse said he is today. we both had a couple days we felt down but better now.

I can not believe how many people and from all over, that go to the hospital in Mexico. The Doctor there told us the President of Mexico came to their hospital for treatment so they must be pretty good, huh?

Thanks for being here for all of us following you and I hope you are on the road to a much better life without the hoses and O2 all the time. I can hardly wait.

Thanks again and Wishing you all the Best
Ruth

 

[barbara]

Hospital News

Ruth - You cannot convince some people that the hospital is very nice. These are mostly people that have negative feelings about stem cell therapy in the first place. I thought it was a very nice hospital. It is amazing how busy it is. I have to agree that if the President of Mexico went there, he must have decided to do so because it is a first rate facility. Please tell Maxine to call if she needs any help with those supplements. The Ask the Doctor forum debut will be in the next day or two and the doctor will explain how important he feels the supplements are. I would love to see them condensed also, but right now, we have to deal with what there is. I just shove them all in and pretend it is something really yummy. I hope you will take a few notes about how you are feeling and also don't forget to do your lung exercises. Don't you love me reminding you to be good! It sure is nice to have you back and posting.

 

[Howard]

Back Home again in Alabama

Hello everyone. We have (finally) made it home from the West Coast. A total of 13 days on the road.

All went well except that apparently Ana had never seen anyone with SOB as I was when I got loaded on to the van for the return trip. Anyway she got the doc to shoot me with some prednisone and I quickly recovered. The only other problem we had was finding decent accomodations along the way. When we could we stayed on military installations which are always a cut above the regular motels. However, ADA was almost non-existant anywhere we stayed.

We bought an eclipse before we left and two extra batteries. We did not plug into the van on the way to Mexico and had to change batteries while in the waiting room. We hooked on to the hospital's O2 during the procedure and used the van's power on the way back so had no problems there. Also had my Marathon as a backup.

The folks from SCB and the hospital are extremely nice and took really good care of us. The Kona Kai has a major deficiency in wall outlets and we had to struggle to find a place to plug in the eclipse, computer, etc. but the food was good and the view was nice.

I returned to my beloved (?) treadmill this morning after the lay off and hope to see improvement as time passes. My hospice nurse came by this morning and commented that I looked better and did not seem to be struggling so hard to breathe.

Will probably think of some more stuff later but any questions will be gladly answered.

Best wishes to Lana and Kelli who had treatment the same day.

 

[barbara]

Welcome back! I posted the e-mail Susan sent about your reaction after the infusion. Sounds like you did better than Ana did. I hope you will invite Kelli and Lana to join the forum. What were they getting treated for? 13 days is quite a trip. Glad to know you are getting back on your treadmill. I do hope you are using your lung exercisor. I am going to post my update later today. It is another anniversary for me. I hope you will find some new ways to cook tofu and that your supplement regimen will become old hat to you soon. Those things are pretty tough to get in the swing of at first. I know with Susan to help, you are in good hands. It was interesting that your hospice nurse noticed a slight change in you. Sometimes, these changes are so subtle that it does take others to notice them. They all add up and that's what we're after.

 

[Howard]

Tofu

Don't make me tell you what you can do with that tofu..............

 

[barbara]

Tofu to you too

I just had a nice plate of sesame tofu for lunch. Yummy, Howard.

 

[Howard]

Tofu

Oh Please! Please! You're breaking my heart!

 

[John]

Howard, they make tofu in pill form. Remember that Barb is like some sort of vegan missionary when it comes to tofu. LOL
John

 

[Howard]

Well, John, I am not one to throw cold water on anyone else's life style so I will just take this opportunity to tell you a secret that will just be between you and me like that famous reporter a few years ago. An article in our local paper today (The Tuscaloosa, Alabama, News), written by Dana Carpender, author of several books and articles concerning low-carb diets, reads in part: In 2000, a Honolulu-Asia aging study turned up the frightening fact that there was a straight-line correlation between the quantity of tofu consumed in middle age and the degree of cognitive decline in old age. The more tofu subjects had consumed, the worse their cognitive ability. Subjects who ate as little as two servings of tofu per week were more than twice as likely as nontofu-eaters to be forgetful.

The article consists of a half page above the fold and has very little good to say about soy products. Remember this is our secret so we don't hurt anyone's feelings, OK?

Howard

 

[barbara]

I will not forget this Howard

Howard - I will remember this. Thanks a lot. How I can possibly remember it is beyond me because I eat a lot of tofu, but be assured I will remember this. John hardly needs any encouragement from you about this subject. Now, he will sling tofu in my face once he reads this and I will never hear the end of it except when he forgets it which will happen much sooner than me. I love these crazy studies. Who funds them and why? Probably some cattle rancher or something. Anyway, you can rest assured that I will not be paying any attention to this silliness and I might suggest a hobby for you since you seem to have so much time on your hands. John probably funded the study if I know him. He is in agony with the diet he is on. My six months is up by the way, so I can now eat whatever I want. And guess what? I want tofu!

How are you feeling by the way? Let me know if you want to exchange tofu recipes.

 

[Howard]

Tofu Substitutes

Hi John,

Susan here (Howard's wife).

If Barb can be believed (and I cannot prove she has lied to us yet) LOL - she is at a loss to understand those who do not share her love of Tofu...is that an anacronym for Tough Officious Foul Unedible (food?) HAHAHA - Please forgive me Barb.

Seriously, I have found that ground turkey can be made in to chili, soup, tacos, enchiladas (but they are not the same without cheese), burgers, Manwich open faced sandwiches, and spaghetti. Any other suggestions (sans Tofu) would be appreciated.

Turkey Bacon is actually GOOD. Have not tried the sausage yet. And please don't anyone tell us we can't have the turkey bacon due to the seasonings or anything. We have to have SOME sort of lifeline, don't you know???

That is not to say Howard likes the burgers. He has been kind enough to eat the other stuff with turkey altho I don't get any compliments on my meals any more - LOL!

The other afternoon when we were having our "meeting at the patio" where we share the day's events, he said "nothing is the same anymore" and he meant none of his favorite food, no beer, and lack of interesting conversation (due to lack of beer).

However, we will survive. We only have 5 months and one week to go. How many turkey/chicken meals is that????? Seafood is not on his radar.


Susan

 

[barbara]

Vegan isn't all that bad

They do make some good vegan cheese you know. I personally did not worry about a small amount of something like a little cheese sprinkled on a taco. I don't mean drenched in cheese, but a little bit. I really am not that big on smothering everything in sight with cheese and sour cream or salad dressing and once you do without for a bit, it becomes easier and easier. It is when you continue to stray off the diet meal after meal that I think you diminish what the doctor had in mind. There are some excellent prepackaged vegan meals that include cheese enchiladas. I just bought some unchicken noodle soup too. I love to serve stuff like this to my husband because he thinks he is having real cheese enchiladas and real chicken noodle soup and doesn't know the difference. I'll never tell. He has a cholesterol problem and anything I can do to help, I will.

 

[hlichten]

One of my favorite dishes that my wife cooks is Tofu Lasagna. It tastes better than any cheese lasagna that I have ever had. It uses silk tofu which is processed in a blender until it is creamy smooth, and has spinach and black olives mixed in. Truly delicious!

I am not crazy about stir-fry's or other dishes that have chunks of tofu in them, but dishes like the lasagna that totally disguise the tofu can be amazingly good.

Fakin' Bacon is very good tofu bacon substitute. I can not stand products like Tofurky. Disgusting IMHO. Seitan is a marinated bean curd product that is also repulsive to me.

My favorite cookies are vegan.

Harv

They do make some good vegan cheese you know. I personally did not worry about a small amount of something like a little cheese sprinkled on a taco. I don't mean drenched in cheese, but a little bit. I really am not that big on smothering everything in sight with cheese and sour cream or salad dressing and once you do without for a bit, it becomes easier and easier. It is when you continue to stray off the diet meal after meal that I think you diminish what the doctor had in mind. There are some excellent prepackaged vegan meals that include cheese enchiladas. I just bought some unchicken noodle soup too. I love to serve stuff like this to my husband because he thinks he is having real cheese enchiladas and real chicken noodle soup and doesn't know the difference. I'll never tell. He has a cholesterol problem and anything I can do to help, I will.

 

[Howard]

John, you told!!!!!!