hi from beijing...i wanted to really think about my friend bonnie's comment before responding...i do agree 101% with her that there are unethical people everywhere, in every corner of the planet without regard to race, religion or any other human classification...the important difference is that in the usa, as well as in many other countries, we have a thing called 'laws' that protect people from many, tho not all, unethical behaviors. if anyone can present a non-frivilous case against someone w
hi from beijing...i wanted to really think about my friend bonnie's comment before responding...i do agree 101% with her that there are unethical people everywhere, in every corner of the planet without regard to race, religion or any other human classification...the important difference is that in the usa, as well as in many other countries, we have a thing called 'laws' that protect people from many, tho not all, unethical behaviors. if anyone can present a non-frivilous case against someone w
hi from beijing...i wanted to really think about my friend bonnie's comment before responding...i do agree 101% with her that there are unethical people everywhere, in every corner of the planet without regard to race, religion or any other human classification...the important difference is that in the usa, as well as in many other countries, we have a thing called 'laws' that protect people from many, tho not all, unethical behaviors. if anyone can present a non-frivilous case against someone w
hi from beijing...i wanted to really think about my friend bonnie's comment before responding...i do agree 101% with her that there are unethical people everywhere, in every corner of the planet without regard to race, religion or any other human classification...the important difference is that in the usa, as well as in many other countries, we have a thing called 'laws' that protect people from many, tho not all, unethical behaviors. if anyone can present a non-frivilous case against someone w
hi from beijing...i wanted to really think about my friend bonnie's comment before responding...i do agree 101% with her that there are unethical people everywhere, in every corner of the planet without regard to race, religion or any other human classification...the important difference is that in the usa, as well as in many other countries, we have a thing called 'laws' that protect people from many, tho not all, unethical behaviors. if anyone can present a non-frivilous case against someone w
hi all...after six months in the 'first teaching hospital for traditional chinese medicine' here's my final words before moving on to my current therapy: net result is that my arm improved...lying on my unaffected side i can raise it in the air...standing i can raise it la-terally with bent elbow (it's too difficult to keep it straight) to about shoulder height...i could not do this prior to january...that said, there's still really nothing i can functionally DO with my arm...my shoulder is stil
hi everybody...it's been eventful...i decided to leave tianjin after investigating a hospital in beijing that does stem cell therapy combined with a neuro-cocktail therapy combined with tcm...they have a stroke rehab program...check out 'tiantan puhua hospital'...i'll get the website address and post it asap...i'll give a detailed update on my 6 months at the first teaching hospital for traditional chinese medicine when i get my laptop back in a couple of days...i entered tiantan puhua hospital
i've been having difficulty accessing the site...my big news is that two weeks ago while lying on my right side i was able to completely raise my affected arm...i have repeated this movement many times since...!!!!...god knows i needed to see some results after 4 months of 11 acupuncture treatments per week plus all the other therapies and the additional work i do on my own!...just to review, before coming here i had some movement in my affected arm but could not lift it in any way...the lifting
i've been here since january 3 now...i'm hanging in as i still feel it's my best shot at recovering whatever percent of lost function i can get back...thusfar i have not had any miraculous returns...the people who have gone before me pretty much saw most of their returns in the fourth and fifth months here...a notable exception is a woman who came here with me back in january who did get a wonderful return...she can extend her fingers on her affected hand fully now!...she stroked in october 2004
yesterday i and my tuina doctor were happy to see wrist rotation beginning!!!!...all the progress i'm making is coming slowly but it is coming...we've seen micromovements with finger extention but nothing to type home about yet...i'm concerned about my subluxated shoulder...it looks like 1 1/2 fingers...i wear my sling often... anyone out there who's had one have any words of encouragement??...there's no pain or tightening...it just looks so awful...my biceps and triceps are firing and strengthe
well things seem to have changed for the better in my little (big??) world over here...i now have a helper/com- panion to be with me part time...it's an 8 hour shift in the afternoons/evenings...i lucked out with a good one!... he's been watching what my tuina doctor does with me in our daily sessions and he's been giving me an evening treatment in addition to going with me to the gym in the afternoon and helping me with ranging my arm (the thing i am so not motivated to do by myself!)...he help
hi...i couldn't access the site last week and i really felt like blogging to everyone...my friend's visit has been so wonderful...woo hoo!...grateful am i...but even that couldn't blot out the negative feelings that are waxing regarding not being able to leave the hospital...long long story short (for now) i am researching other tcm clinics here solely due to this reason...i'm a little too old to be infantilized...i'll weigh all my options and seek guidance regarding which direction to steer my
wednesday will be 7 weeks here...!!!!...i've put out feelers for a mandarin tutor...i can't resist seriously studying the language as i'm already immersed...an opportunity like this rarely presents...and it's a wonder- fully productive way to pass the slower hours here...a good friend from nyc is visiting...she arrives tomorrow and will stay for almost 2 weeks...how excited am i??...couldn't begin to tell you...i've become an ex-pat!...my beloved city and my beloved family friends and neighbors
american know how trumps anything going on over here in this area!...credit must be given where it's due!
during WW2 vets started coming home with a variety of disabilities and injuries by the hundreds and thou- sands...leaps and bounds of innovation was introduced in pt/rehab to meet these needs and this medical field made great strides...much later more were made when many public schools were required to start providing pt for students with special needs...now the field has expanded once aga
twina is a particular vigorous massage practiced only by people who become doctors in this technic....the type of twina we receive is designed for stroke rehab...the focus is concentrated on muscles and tendons...the affected areas of the body are worked over with deep tissue work...it's done thru clothing...no oil, massage lotion...we all get this for 30 - 45 minutes five times per week in our rooms on the bed...the practitioner i was fortunate enough to switch to recently also gives me some go
cupping and zhen xi are two other traditional chinese medicine treatments that we receive...there are different kinds of cupping...a 'cup' is a round clear rather thick glass bulb of varying sizes with a neck and opening on one side of it...in this particular form, my doctor, shen, uses about 8 cups on my shoulder/arm/hand...he uses a long lighter to create a flame within the center of the cup causing a vacuum to form then he immediately places the cup on my skin...it sticks tightly!...no oil is
hi from over here...how great to see some comments so far...hello bonnie, asha, autumn!...i feel so far away from everyone...and i am!!!!...lol
i want to blog about the acupuncture a bit as this is the single most important modality i'm receiving for my stroke recovery altho all the treatments definately work together synergistically to manifest healing...we all receive acupuncture 11 times per week...twice/day during the week plus a saturday morning session...as this is a teaching hospital a
i'm going to give you a look into the typical weekday here at the first teaching hospital for traditional chinese medicine in tianjin, china: a nurse takes a bp at around 6 - 6:20am...breakfast arrives between 7 - 7:15...i go to the gym at 8 for one hour...morning acupuncture is around 9:30...herbal soaks to the affected areas usually follow that along with cupping...lunch comes early at 11 - 11:15...there's a european-style siesta after that which usually lasts until after 1pm...afternoon acupu
hi everyone!...i'm so sorry that it's taken this long to get anything on this blog...there was an earthquake near taiwan the last week of december that damaged the undersea cables between hong kong and north america effectively knocking out the internet in all of mainland china...it took a long time to repair...it's up and running now...i'm a bit out of it with a mild cold so i'm not going to blog anything else today but i didn't want another day to go by without checking in with my buddies...th
season's greetings!...the scti, inc website has a brief video spot of me 1/2 way thru the story about raul's stem cell treatment in kiev on it's homepage...and for those of you interested in evaluating and analyzing the degree of dorsiflexion return in my affected foot, knock yourselves out!...i think the full interview will be available at the end of the month or early january...
i found out from ruth lycke that there will be a total of 15 stroke patients from the usa going to tianjin on janu
hi all...stem cell rich here with an update... i have discovered another valuable post stroke treatment:
it's the first teaching hospital for traditional chinese medicine in tianjin, china...an editor from stroke connection magazine contacted me thru a mutual friend to request an interview regarding my stem cell therapy in kiev...i'll post when this interview will be published...he included a link to ruth lycke's stroke rehab story that he had previously written about...i read this article wit
greetings from nyc...my recovery is continuing to go well...i'm grateful!...i actually left the house the other day without my cane!...it was just to go down the street to my psych classes but it felt like another big leap for me...it was wonderful to have my right hand available!...i've started working out with a personal trainer who i found on craig'slist...he's affordable thank god and i'm seeing him at least three times a week...i had some concerns working with someone so young but he's been
hi...i must say how grateful i am for my new pt guy...he really works me hard but the progress feels wonderful...he does it all...scapula/shoulder work, arm strengthening...leg work...i feel stronger and i can see improved movement and control...it's slow of course but i am more hopeful now of a good recovery!...
i'm headed for an angiogram soon which isn't something i'm looking forward to but it needs to be done...if there are partial occlusions in my coronary arteries they need to be dealt w
hi all...the test this morning was no big deal...thankfully...getting an iv inserted was the worst part...the tech told me if i could walk on the treadmill slowly for four minutes it would dilute any possible side effects of the med they inject to chemically stress my heart and possibly give a better reading...so i was definately game for that...it was all very manageable...no side effects whatsoever...it was all over in 2 1/2 hours...now i'll have to wait to see my cardiologist to see if my cor
hi everybody...on the second session with my new pt he had me walking down stairs one after the other as opposed to one at a time...i'm grateful to now have someone who can test me on what i can do that brings me closer to functional returns!...i was so happy that when i took the subway home i made it a point to walk down all those steps one after the other...stressing 'safety first' of course!...falling will do nothing to advance my recovery...i had a lot of considerations as my left leg is sti
