woopie

It is Sunday evening here and Sam has returned to his room. We had a tense morning in ICU when Sam had an allergic reaction to one of the solutions they used to dilute some pain meds. It scared him (and us). His arms and hands went numb and his face got thick and cold… he thought his arms got paralyzed. He was absolutely miserable and agitated. Fortunately they had encountered this thing before and assured us it would pass. They did another blood test to be sure there was no additional infection and that turned out ok.

He came back to our room at about noon and later that afternoon had the packing from his nose removed. He was soooooo glad to be able to breath from his nose again. His mouth was really drying out.

Sam is still in a fair amount of pain (as you might expect) but is coping well. He is choosing the “lighter” pain drugs over the morphine. His attitude is better than mine would be in his situation.

We are looking forward to the return of the mid week staff. The weekend staff are good, but speak very very little English. We are getting good at drawing pictures and playing charades.

I just got a news letter from the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan (the organization that has the partnership with Dr. Lima here in Portugal). According to the note, the Discovery Channel is airing a special on this exact procedure, this hospital, and the same doctors and staff that we are working with. Here is the blurb that I received:
SCI Recovery Center Featured on Discovery Channel
Dr. Steve Hinderer, medical director of RIM’s Center for Spinal Cord Injury Recovery (CSCIR) and Erica Nader, a CSCIR client, who underwent an experimental procedure in Portugal, where tissue from her nose was transplanted into the injured section of her spinal cord, will be featured on the Discovery Channel’s series “One Step Beyond.” More than two years after the surgery, and intensive rehabilitation at RIM, Nader, a quadriplegic, is able to stand up using a walker.
One Step Beyond is a series produced by the Discovery Channel that combines entertainment with scientific facts, and where unusual experiences and technological advances that seem impossible are explained. Each half-hour episode contains ten segments with one thing in common: the extraordinary.
The segment featuring RIM’s CSCIR, will air on the Discovery Channel, Wednesday, August 3, at 8:00 p.m.
Tune in if it interests you.

Thanks again for you prayers. They were needed and they were felt (especially this morning). One thing of interest. Sam was not supposed to be able to smell or taste for awhile after the surgery. Well, Kris made a special 10 block trek to McDonalds to get Sam’s favorite sandwich (Big Mac). He was pleased that he could both taste and smell it! I also have some trivia for you… they don’t care about your health here in Portugal. Besides everyone smoking everywhere they still serve the good old deep fried apple pies at McDonalds… none of that low calorie baked apple pie stuff… mmmmmmm that was good.
We will get 2 pictures on shortly. One of Sam in ICU (they call it CICU) about 1 hour after surgery. The other of Luke trekking out to explore a nearby beach town Estoril. He said there were a few topless women there, but they were older than mom… he was not impressed.