Me Gusta

Day 13 & 14: Conclusion and Return

Here we are. I’m sitting in India, writing this after the days have passed. The treatment is over. On the 13^th day, all that happened was an acupuncture treatment and sentimental goodbyes from my doctor, translator, nurses and cafeteria lady.

The 6.5 hour flight from Beijing to New Delhi was rather uneventful, other than a bit of turbulence – it was a moonlight night all the way, and oh my god, it was amazing! We flew over storm clouds! I saw lightning from above the clouds! It looks VERY interesting from a perspective up in the air as it bounces around from side to side. Then there was the fact that there were huge storming clouds and I honestly think (I’m no expert at this) that we passed close to what looked like the “eye” of a huge storm. It was amazing! It’s too bad that there wasn’t much light (other than just moonlight lighting up the sky that night. It truly was beautiful and I’d have loved to be able to take a photograph of it.

So, here are my final thoughts as far as the treatment went: They didn’t deliver what I went there expecting to get. I expected to get stem cells taken from my own body. Instead, I just got stem cells from baby-blood. If I wanted that, I could’ve gotten that done in India. But, since I’d already paid, and was sitting in a hospital in Beijing, I figured, “what the hell, might as well do it!”

From talking to other patients, I’d expected there to be an immediate improvement in my condition. Instead, the only thing that’s happened since I’ve gotten the treatment is that I’ve had to increase my insulin intake – so, it got worse. However, to her credit, my Chinese doctor told me not to worry about irregularities in blood sugar – “it’ll happen for a little bit”, is what she said. Now, I know that one size doesn’t fit all, and that everyone is different. I was told that I’d be under “observation” for the next 6 months, so I haven’t lost hope yet. After all, the treatment just got done. Maybe it’ll take more time for it to work on me. Or maybe it won’t work at all, and I’ve just wasted my money. I don’t know. Only time will tell.

Other than that, there really isn’t much else that relates to my experience in Beijing at this point. The stem cell treatment is over, now it’s just a waiting game. I’ll keep anyone interested on the progress I make (or don’t make), and of course, will continue to write about interesting stuff related to stem cells that I find online.

For anyone reading this, I hope I was able to help somehow, in some way. If you’re thinking about getting stem cell treatment, I hope that you will please keep my experience in mind as well.

Day 10: The Great Wall

Yeah, I went to see the great wall. My initial reaction to seeing said wall: “That’s a BIG wall…” Indeed, it’s not the best of reactions, but it’s certainly a reaction of sorts. The great wall is certainly a marvel of ancient human engineering – especially considering the time it was built in. To find out more about the Great Wall of China, go here.

The hike on the great wall was a fun, tiring and rewarding experience. Blood sugar rose due to the exercise however, so that wasn’t good. Ate cashews for lunch, with water. One thing I realized today is this: one needs to be able to read/write/speak some Chinese if one is to lead a comfortable life here. Very few people know English here (outside of specific places, like this hospital). So, make sure you hire a translator/guide to help you out. I used my smartphone, and asking random people if they knew English to help me get out and about town on the local bus network. Busses are excellent and the fairs aren’t bad either.

It’s the weekend here, so no treatments today – yay! There seems to be no effect of the stem-cells yet… but, the doctors never made any promises to begin with, so it’s a luck/waiting game now. My last treatment happens on Monday. I leave for India in the evening on Wednesday. I’ll be sad to leave this place (even though I don’t know the native language). Beijing is one of the most beautiful and vibrant cities I’ve ever had the pleasure to live in and explore (for more than a week). 

It seems that since my blood sugar has started remaining higher than usual – I’ve had to up my basal insulin by 2 units tonight, and have taken a pill called GalvusMet. Let’s see if that’ll help me keep my blood sugar under better control tomorrow.

As for tomorrow, I am going to see THE Square, and then, after taking a few photographs there, I’m going to head to the Forbidden City. That’ll be it – There really isn’t much else left for me to see in Beijing other than those things. I already saw the great wall… so, yeah – I can go to my last treatment on Monday, and then leave this country with no regrets, ready to face a brave new world.

Day 8: First day after treatment

Nothing much to report yet. The stem-cells seem to have an effect on my insulin sensitivity though (the amount of insulin I take has a better effect, thereby helping to reduce the amount of insulin required in total).

Just the acupuncture today. Other than that, nothing much.

Our toilet got clogged. Great, tomorrow, the plumber (hopefully) will come and fix that little issue – until then, I’m stuck using the public toilets here at the hospital (ugh).

Also, on a brighter note, I did go and see a place called The Temple of Heaven (and the gardens around it). I have to say – it was beautiful. I’ll upload a photograph too. 

Tomorrow, round 2 of treatment begins. More stem-cells! Yay!

Day 5: The Dotted Line

That’s it. It’s done. I’ve signed the dotted line today. Treatment begins the day after tomorrow. Though I don’t think it’s quite what I expected. They promised “own-blood” therapy; instead they’re doing something else. I’ll have the details in the epilogue. Still, it’s stem cell therapy, and I’m here, so I’m getting it.

Other than that, the day was nearly uneventful. Well, except finding out that one of the products in the local market (the yoghurt) that we’d been told was “sugar-free” wasn’t so free of sugar after all. So, that caused a few spikes in blood sugar. In fact, that’s what has been causing my spikes all along. I just didn’t realize it until now. So, no more yoghurt (of that brad) for me.

So, I’m planning to go see the Great Wall on Saturday. More details to come later.

Day 4: Sunday

Yeah, I wanted to go to the Great Wall and/or The Forbidden city this weekend. That didn’t happen. I need to go see those two places while I’m here! The Great Wall is 2 hours away from here and the Imperial city is an hour’s drive away! I am going to see those two places! Perhaps next weekend, if not sooner…

Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary happened today. It’s a Sunday, so obviously nothing medical took place today – everyone’s off. Only the nurses are here. Which is fine… Though, I will admit, I am kind of nervous about tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day when all of those test results come in, and we have a meeting about the actual stem-cell treatment schedule for the remainder of my days here. Not to forget the fact that I get to enjoy being a human pincushion for another 30-40 minutes (acupuncture). The nurses have been checking my temperature every single day. No change there, it’s normal.

I miss talking to all the people I used to be able to talk to before coming here, but since there isn’t any Facebook, the number of people I can reach is kind of limited. Oh well, I can live without it for a little while (unlike some other people I’ve seen). The yoghurt here is amazing – they have sugar-free (artificially sweetened) yoghurt, and it’s amazing! I love the taste of it!

The weather here is pleasant enough. I walked around today and took a few photographs (that I’ll upload when I get the chance later on). I’m thinking of taking my DSLR camera and taking photographs at night of the local markets. The lights, among other things, are rather unique here.

The Treatment

So, I have decided to do it. I’ve decided to go the China to get myself treated for Diabetes using the stem-cell treatment they’re offering there. I’ve talked to a few people who’ve been through the treatment, and the results look promising. Almost all Type 1 diabetics see some sort of improvement. 3% (approximately) are cured entirely. I’m going to cross my fingers and hope that I’m in that 3%. Wish me luck!

T1

When you’re diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, nobody gives you much hope. Least of all, the doctors. These last three weeks, while I’ve been in India, I’ve been through quite a bit.

I’ve met with doctors, and have had my blood drawn several times for several different tests. A part of me feels like that poor girl in the Exorcist – possessed by an unseen and evil demon – out of my control, ravaging my body as it sees fit, eventually killing me.

To top it all off – a girl I liked, actually told me to “stop whining” and “deal with it.” When I wasn’t really whining, I was simply telling her what was going on in my life. She said a lot of other things too… that I really don’t want to discuss here, but let’s leave it at this: the things she said were hurtful, and cut me deep. I don’t believe that I’ve ever done anything to deserve the kind of treatment and verbal abuse (remember, you don’t necessarily have to cuss, or yell at someone to be verbally abusive) she hurled out at me all because she didn’t want to “deal with” my “shit anymore.” If she wanted me to stop talking, she could’ve simply said ‘I don’t want you to tell me about your medical problems anymore. Please. I can’t handle that right now. I’m just being honest.’ I would have stopped.

After all the stuff she said, I don’t think I want to be with her any longer. That’s for sure. Maybe I want to be her friend and help her manage her problems… yes. That is definitely the case. But I doubt I would want to be with someone who treats me like that.

Well, enough about her. I’ll get over her soon enough. Plus, I can’t really be stressing myself about anything else right now.

I have a feeling that the diabetes specialist in my city (Dehadun, India) doesn’t really know that much about diabetes…

“If this guy is the only specialist, in the entire city… god help the people of this city!” ~ My mother.

 Well, either way, if I’d have listened to his advice, and injected the dosage of insulin that he prescribed, with the kid of diet that I actually eat – I’d have ended up in a VERY dangerous situation, very very fast.

So, now that I’ve had adequate time to deal with the diagnosis, and now that I’m actually equipped with the tools to deal with my diabetes (Insulin syringe, vials and needles) it’s time to head back to the states. I’m siting here, in a hotel room – all by myself. Getting ready to board a flight tomorrow at midnight (almost) to head back to the states.

So, now that the medical community has given up on me and labeled me as “T1 Diabetic”, what do I do? For one thing – anyone who’s ever known me knows that I usually don’t go down without a fight. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a violent person by nature, but – If I’m faced with something as big and as significant as this – god knows I’m going to do everything I can to cure/fix/reverse my condition to whatever extent I can. God knows I’m not giving up that easily. Again, the ADA (American Diabetes Association) tells us that the disease (Type 1) is incurable. So, I’m setting out to do the impossible… and guess what? You get to come along with me.

What am I going to do to try and get my diabetes under control and hopefully reverse it – first thing is first – I need to look at a time frame. I’ve decided to commit myself to this lifestyle for the next two years. During that time, I’ll be monitored closely by my doctor – that’s important when trying to do something as crazy as this.

Here’s a breakdown of what I’m doing:

The Diet: Now, diet should be an important part of anyone’s life. That much goes without saying. Unfortunately, few of us (myself included at one point in time) ever take the time to actually look at what the hell we’re putting into our bodies.

The Exercise Plan: One of the benefits of the new diet that I’m following is the abundance of energy. I love it! I can use all that extra energy for exercise!

Well, that’s all I can say for now… I guess.. only time will tell if i’m successful or not… I’ll keep you posted.