And so the adventure begins!

Well after months of preparation, planning and fundraising, I am happy to report to all of you that I am in China! Yes, that's right! We arrived on June 23rd after a looooooooooong flight to Shanghai and then a transfer to Qingdao. The flights were good, relatively comfortable, and both my sister and I slept most of the way. My parents were very happy about that! The food was even decent, and I got special meals with lots of fruit, meat and veggies that I could eat! When we were in Shanghai waiting for our connection we met another family traveling from Louisiana to the hospital in Qingdao as well for stem cell treatments. They are really nice and their room is just down the hall from us. There are lots of families here from all over....Australia, England, the US and even from the United Arab Emirates. Everyone talks a lot and helps each other out! We're like a giant family...all here with the hope of improving our lives....I'm the only one with Cerebral Palsy....lots of people are here with degenerative diseases and eye problems but no matter what the reason, we all have the common goal of getting better to some degree.

My dad and I can't seem to adjust to the time schedule here, so we sleep most of the time and then get up at like 2 in the morning! My mom and Soraya have adapted better, but we are all still out of synch! We are 12 hours ahead of home and so our sleep patterns and eating patterns are backwards! Yesterday the doctor, Dr. Tony, and the PT, Owen, evaluated me for treatment. They have decided that the first treatment will be this Friday, June 26 and therapy will start today, June 25th. I will get PT, OT and acupuncture 5 days a week. The first treatment will be by IV and the rest, if I do ok will be spinal treatments. My mom is thinking about adding a 6th treatment for an extra $3500 if they can fit it in and I respond well....the more I get, the better my chances for improvement. Some people here are getting 9 treatments! They've been here forever and still have a long way ago. My mom has spent a lot of time talking with the other families and making plans to get out a bit and see the country. I still don't have my schedule for the whole time here, but they told my parents that I will get 5 days of therapy, 1-2 treatments a week, and then have 2 days free. I know mom and dad want to take us to Beijing, but who knows what we'll end up doing! Soraya is being pretty good, but she is very hyper! She is anxious to get back home to see her friends and family.

My parents have had funny adventures in Chinese society. My dad went to the bank with our interpreter, Sweetie, and then my mom went with her to the supermarket. Both think she is a bit crazy and almost impossible to understand....and she's our interpreter! Soraya has charmed her and all the other interpreters so we actually get lots of help! They think I'm adorable too! Actually, they are so excited about the changes I might undergo that they've asked my mom for filming rights to highlight my story on their website when I'm all done! Yesterday they started filming me for "before" footage....kinda crazy because I'm sooooooo tired that all I do is sleep, eat and laugh a lot! I hope I can figure this time change out a bit so that I can be more of myself for them to see!

I'll try and do more updates as I get treatments and as we all have more funny stories to share! Thanks to everyone for your love and support! Lots of love to all!