Jonathan's First Spinal Stem Cell Treatment

I'm the dad, standing in for the missus as I went to hospital for the treatment.

After our driver brought us to CIMA, a brand new hospital brought to you by GlaxoSmithKline, we had the usual paperwork before being brought back for the procedure.

Due to some confusion as to the time of our appointment, Jonathan had not fasted for the full time. So the choice of anesthetic was changed - this meant that he would not be "out" as deep, and would take longer to return to an alert state. Lesson - fast for eight hours! The cells had to be used same day or they would be wasted.

We were brought back to the treatment area, a set up which looked similar to an ER area at home. A vein was found without too much difficulty -- normally a challenge! He was sedated by syringe, it didn't take long to go out.

Then the area on the lower back was treated with antiseptic/analgesic - which had to dry for a bit before continuing. The Dr. showed me the fluid from the spine after the puncture, assuring me that it was a good "stick". He then made sure I looked at the syringe for Jonathan's name before administering the cell laden fluid. The actual administration of the cells took less time than typing this paragragh.

It took 30-45 minutes before Jonathan was awake enough to move - he took a nap after they were done with him. When he woke up he thought he was ready to go - NOT-- it took a few more minutes before he could walk - assisted! -- and we returned to our home away from home.

Jonathan's cerebral/spinal fluid now contains the matched adult stem cells. That was yesterday, tomorrow the second and final dose. I will report on the difference in the procedure with the preferred anesthesia.