As I type this, Skeeter, ****, Peggy and *** should be on a plane headed to ****. The plan was to get on a flight out of Medford **** at 6:00 a.m. PST. They will then connect to a flight directly to Cologne, Germany. I say "should be" because they are traveling via stand-by flights all the way. I did send a text message to Skeet's cell phone at 9:47 EST and he has not yet answered (it's now 10:29 am EST). So he's either ignoring me or can't answer because he's in the air - I'm hoping for the latter.
Well - just got a text from Skeet - guess he was ignoring me :-). The flight is scheduled to leave **** at 9:00 am PST. Hopefully they will keep me updated so that I can keep you updated.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
October 18 - Payment Has Been Made
No Backing Out Now - here's another update from our sister, Peggy:
Payment has been made to Xcell Center. The bank suggested a wire transfer (duh - didn't even think of that). The cost is only $40.00, compared to $130 to convert American cash and make a cash payment in German currency, 3% fee to pay by Visa or Mastercard, or 5% fee to pay by American Express. Over a hundred dollar savings. YAY!! Sandy received her passport. Skeeter still thinks she will back out. I am sure she won't. Mom has been feeding some coconut paste concoction to Skeet. Looks gross and Skeet says it is gross. Caused him some intestinal distress (in my opinion) but both mom and dad think his speech is improved. I don't believe the concoction has made a difference, because I noticed his strength and outlook was improved in the last two weeks. And that was even during and after getting his flu shot. The doctor said yes to getting a flu shot and stressed that Skeet's disease does not compromise his immunity. Skeet's doctor seems excited about the treatment and wants to cooperate with Germany and be active in the recovery. Gonna go now Love peg
In case anyone is interested, here is a link to the treatment center in Germany: http://www.xcell-center.com/ . It really is fascinating and the case studies are so encouraging. Perhaps someday Skeet's testimonial will be there also.
And, now I'm off to read about this "coconut concoction". I've asked them to follow the diet regimen that Fran started for Steve prior to his treatment (you can read about his journey by following the link in yesterday's post), but what does the big sister know??!?? Especially one that lives 3,000 miles away.
Will try to keep you updated . . .
Payment has been made to Xcell Center. The bank suggested a wire transfer (duh - didn't even think of that). The cost is only $40.00, compared to $130 to convert American cash and make a cash payment in German currency, 3% fee to pay by Visa or Mastercard, or 5% fee to pay by American Express. Over a hundred dollar savings. YAY!! Sandy received her passport. Skeeter still thinks she will back out. I am sure she won't. Mom has been feeding some coconut paste concoction to Skeet. Looks gross and Skeet says it is gross. Caused him some intestinal distress (in my opinion) but both mom and dad think his speech is improved. I don't believe the concoction has made a difference, because I noticed his strength and outlook was improved in the last two weeks. And that was even during and after getting his flu shot. The doctor said yes to getting a flu shot and stressed that Skeet's disease does not compromise his immunity. Skeet's doctor seems excited about the treatment and wants to cooperate with Germany and be active in the recovery. Gonna go now Love peg
In case anyone is interested, here is a link to the treatment center in Germany: http://www.xcell-center.com/ . It really is fascinating and the case studies are so encouraging. Perhaps someday Skeet's testimonial will be there also.
And, now I'm off to read about this "coconut concoction". I've asked them to follow the diet regimen that Fran started for Steve prior to his treatment (you can read about his journey by following the link in yesterday's post), but what does the big sister know??!?? Especially one that lives 3,000 miles away.
Will try to keep you updated . . .
Saturday, October 17, 2009
October 17, 2009
Skeet is going to Germany! I'm excited for him, scared for him and very, very proud of him. Here is an e-mail that I received recently:
"Hi Sis. Wanted to fill you in on our plans. On October 30 we will fly from **** to ****. Catch a flight on United (UA** if you care, you can follow the flight partway on the internet) straight to Frankfurt Germany. On Nov 2 the clinic will take out bone marrow from the hip area. On Nov 4, they will re-inject me with my own cultivated stem cells. I don't look forward to that at all. We fly home on Nov 6 and get this, we leave Germany at 1400 and arrive in **** at 1600. Pretty quick trip home huh?
Still waiting for ***'s passport, but she applied for it September 13 so it should be here this week or next.
We are going to take the high speed train from Frankfurt to Cologne. Really looking forward to that. It will take us approximately 140 miles in about half an hour.
Saw your comment on Steve's blog.
Love from Skeet and Peg"
So, yes, thanks to the very many generous donations and prayers for my baby brother, he will be getting a stem cell treatment to try to alleviate the symptoms caused by the MSA-C. Please continue to pray for his recovery.
Above is a picture that I took almost one year ago before we knew what was causing Skeet's imbalance and slurred speech. I'm sure that the words on the wall were prophetic and hopeful that they will aid in the outcome.
As a family, we have been following Steve's journey, which helped to make the decision to travel to Germany for the stem cell treatment. Please read about Steve here: http://www.msajourney.blogspot.com/ to learn a little more about the disease and the treatment.
I hope to be able to document Skeet's journey here for all of you that would like to follow his progress.
Again, "thank you" just does not seem adequate to express how much we appreciate the donations made for Skeeter's treatment; please know that a day does not go by that one of us/all of us is not saying thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
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