I would like to take a moment and thank every last one of you for your thoughts, prayers, encouragement, and everything else you all have and are doing. It is truly amazing when a crisis hits what an arsenal of friends and family a person can have and on so many days I would read Jim your comments and it would fill his eyes with tears, or he would say who and he would be like I cant believe he/she remembers ( but then again who can forget Jim). The care our small community has shown to our girls, we brag about all of you as you have taken them under your wing when tragedy struck.. something you all should be very proud of. Friday marks two months since Jims accident. As the date approaches to be coming home we both cant believe how much has really happened, to think the last time we were home together as a family was two months ago, laughing as many of you are now thinking that life was just perfect. Remember in a flash it can all change. Thought since there is such breaking news about the latest spinal cord research and so many questions about stem cells I would do my best to explain what I know. This latest break thru is one of the biggest in a very long time, there has been very little promising information out there in the last ten years as great as this. Now it is still in a trial basis which now they are accepting 4 more people, I doubt Jim would be one they would chose as his injury is so new and we all dont know what he will or will not get back so they would not want him for research on this as his positive results could be his own body healing. If and when it does go public it will most likely be made to those who cant feed themselves, or cant breath on their own as walking is almost considered a luxury.. So getting the surgery available probably wouldnt be within the next five years and then there would be quite the list. Stem cells show much promise if you research the internet you may not find a fully recovered person yet as these take time.. they also are not FDA approved and many insurances wont pay for the procedure, they will cover pretesting and rehabilitation after. Some of the stem cell procedures require killing your immune system, this I would not be so keen on as sure it would be great to be fully recovered and then what have cancer a few years later.. some have no risk and some have a lot of risks, one of the therapist said make sure you check into what you have to lose, you read about the positive stories but nobody likes to tell the horror stories either. They also have to be done out of the United States as I have said they are not approved methods yet.. key word yet.. there are a few I am entertaining but need a whole lot more information.. these usually take multiple treatments and the one quote I had gotten and this was without any insurance pick up was $32,000 I am sure the insurance would cover some of that but it would require going to Panama City and staying there a month. The other flip side is if you pursue this kind of treatment you are wiped out of any data base for research as you would not be reliable information. The holistic side of things is another aspect, Jim is on a variety of supplements, and I know this has sped up his recovery, he is in fact pretty healthy right now despite all his body has been thru. Chiropractic, Acupuncture, and essential vitamins have a lot of really good information out there as far as treating and recovering from a spinal cord injury. So when we get back he will continue to follow this regime as what does he have to lose. And of course an intense form of rehabilitation. Now as for Jim he has started to feel different little nerve things, which makes him happy as he has felt his feet sleeping, and some different things thru out his thighs...he smiles when he feels these things as he puts it at least I know my legs are not dead. And of course then there is the greatest, and that is prayer, not only has it brought us comfort thru all this but I truly believe that it is the greatest contributor to Jims recovery, here at the hospital they just cant believe how well he is actually doing. Again please keep praying as he is far from thru on his journey, as I tell him daily you are going to beat this I just dont know what day.. and its thanks to so many of you.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 02:53:47 +0000