Sightseeing

Today is Republic Day of India so Gavin and I watched the awesome parade and festivities on TV. It seemed like a crazy idea to go down to India Gate and deal with the giant crowd so we enjoyed the day off by being lazy. We've been pretty busy lately with Gavin getting lots of treatment and physiotherapy. We had a nice day out with Misha (another Lymey) and her mama Louise last Sunday. We went to Lotus Temple, Delhi Haat & Dilli Haat. Delhi & Dilli Haat are both lovely markets where the three girls got to do some shopping while Gavin patiently sat in his chair and watched us. It was great to get out of the hospital, even for just a couple hours, and see some of the vibrance of Delhi.

The picture above was taken right after I overly embarrassed Gavin in front of the girls. I do what I can to get a smile out him. It seems to work well.

3rd time's a charm

We spent the last 3 days at Guantam Nagar, another hospital across town where Gavin received over 300 million stem cells which were injected into his spinal canal. The cells immediately start to divide the second they are injected. The doctors say that this procedure will be much more successful because Gavin's immune system is up and functioning. The cells know where to go and what to repair. They are essentially blank and can replicate any cell in the human body. This is why the embryonic stem cell is so miraculous. The cells are young enough that they don't require cross matching. Also, he should see positive results for the next 5 years.

All the feedback from Doctor Asheesh Yerma has been extremely positive and reassuring. If Gavin keeps up with his physical therapy, diet and positive attitude he should be on the road to walking in 6 months!

This third trip to India has produced amazing results. Only to get better.

The picture above is Gavin with Ningboi, one of the lovely sisters who takes care of him at Guantam Nagar Hospital.

Inpiration

This is our friend Louis. He is an ex-policeman from New York. 14 years ago a tree fell on him and broke his back. He had a complete injury making him a paraplegic. When Gavin first met him a year and a half ago, he had no feeling from the ribs down. He is now an incomplete injury and walking with a walker! Last night he made a grand entrance into our room walking for the first time in 14 years! It was INCREDIBLE! So inspiring for Gavin! There wasn't a dry eye in the room and we were so proud of him. He is definitely determined and it shows.

Miracles happen everyday here. We are so glad to be a part of this.

The picture above is of him balancing with one hand on the walker. He said something to Gavin last year that he will never forget, "I have a hole in my back that I need to rebuild, like a house. You need to repaint the inside of your house. A new, white coat of paint."

Gavin's got the primer on. Now we're starting with the paint at the baseboards.

Progress

The above picture is of a sign for the construction going on all around Delhi for the Commonwealth Games. It applies to Gavin too.
Yesterday we went on another crazy adventure to get a SPECT scan on Gavin's brain. After some uncomfortable injections and a lot of waiting, the test results showed most of the lesions on his brain have shrunk!!!!!! Only a small part of his brain is affected now, where before it was most of his brain. We were both so excited to hear the results. We knew he was feeling better but it's a whole other feeling when you have documented evidence on paper saying you are recovering! It was an amazing day and Gavin has been all smiles. It's only going to get better.

Today he has two physiotherapy appointments so he should be standing longer and getting much stronger. He's doing great and looking even better!

Epidural Procedure

Yesterday, we headed to Guantam Nagar which is the other hospital, for an epidural procedure. He had to lay still on his back for 5 hours after the procedure so we had a lot of time to talk about nothing. We had a great time and Gavin did amazing. He said he could feel the cells working in his feet, legs, thighs and lots of pressure in his brain. Heavy doses of stem cells tend to make him a little delirious so, as always, he was talking nonsense and I was overly amused. At one point he thought I was Dog the Bounty Hunter trying to straighten out his legs. I was flattered.

The picture above is of the gentlemen getting him ready for the Operation Theatre (which may be the best name. I'm thinking about starting a band called that.) The doctors are all barefoot while they preform the surgeries. Kind of bizarre.

There is a pig slaughterhouse and a schoolyard right next to the hospital which I found to be interesting. In such a close proximity there was so much death and so much life happening. This hospital giving people hope & life with stem cells and a schoolyard with children playing & laughing while these poor little piggies are being killed. No one seemed to think it was as weird as me. Maybe I had too much time to think about it.

Gavin was so happy to see the girls who took care of him the last two times he came to India. They all live at Gauntam Nagar and mostly work over there as well. They absolutely love him and were so excited to see him again.

Today he was a little tired but still managed to stand for 5 minutes total in the parallel bars. So awesome!!! He's still having trouble getting adjusted to the time change so his energy during the day isn't quite 100%. There was a lovely thunder & lightning storm around 4:30am so he at least had something to enjoy while he laid in bed.

All in all, things are going very well. I can see him getting stronger by the day and his skin & eyes are incredibly bright. So much life! It's only going to get better.

Today Gavin had Physiotherapy and stood for a few minutes on his own. He is definitely getting stronger but is still fatigued from jet lag. As soon as he starts sleeping through the night he will have a lot more energy and strength.

After physio he received an IV of stem cells straight to the blood stream. He's feeling great but very tired from the cells working overtime in his body. It's a beautiful thing to watch his body repairing itself in before my eyes.

Yesterday was Sunday so Gavin had the day off. We took a stroll into town and hung out with the dogs and did some grocery shopping. We also went to Deer Park and to some beautiful ruins that are down the street from the hospital. Beautiful.

Feeling good!

Gavin with his new mustache. He fits in perfect with the rest of the men.

Standing tall!

Gav standing in his calipers. It's amazing how tall he is compared to the staff. And most of India.

Another beautiful day at Nu Tech

Here's a video of Gavin in Physiotherapy. Vishnu is the kind gentleman who is manhandling him. They are all extremely nice but a bit rough. Gavin is such a good sport, he doesn't mind at all unless they completely drop him. Even then he doesn't really mind.

Gav stood for about 5 minutes in the parallel bars after this video was taken. I accidentally took the video sideways so I'll post another one tomorrow.

Love,

G & K

Outside our window.

This is a view from our window in the hospital. Just a little of the chaos that is happening nonstop. This is a four lane road, two lanes going each direction. As you can see there are no rules. WE LOVE IT! There is always something to see.

Celebrating New Years Eve over Greenland. 14 hour flight with nonstop crying babies but we kept each other company and laughed the whole way.

We've arrived! Happy New Year 2010!!

Hello everyone! After a good 30 hours of traveling, we arrived at the hospital around 10:45pm on New Years Day. We celebrated New Years Eve on the plane somewhere over Greenland although we passed through a time zone so we never saw midnight. Just straight to 1:00am. The flight itself went very smooth except for the multitude of crying children surrounding us. We didn't sleep for 2 days so we are very excited to finally relax and take in the whole experience.

Gavin starts a small dose of stem cell therapy this afternoon and will continue to get injections daily. I will be here for moral support as well as entertainment and unconditional love.

We will update this regularly! Pictures to come very soon.

Lots of love!

Gavin & Kristin