A new beginning ...

Good Evening to everyone!!!

I am so enthusiastic to say the least. I have been trying to take everything I have encountered over the last 48 hours since treatment in and process it as it has been totally and just beyond belief!!!

First off, my day on Weds. started off a little late. Weather related traffic issues held up the doctor's arrival at the hotel. He arrived, and we all loaded into two cars to travel the 15 minutes over the boarder to the clinic. I was asked to ride with the President of the International Stem Cell Institute, the doctor, one other repeat patient, and myself. It was the first in what I would consider many little blessings and opportunities to hit me throughout the day.

Upon arrival, I had some wonderful conversation with Rita Alexander, the founder of ISCI. She is an amazing woman in what she has created and it trying to present to the powers that be. She too, has undergone treatment, and did so that day as well, and I can now say, that I was a believer before, now ... I can't say enough about the potential of this treatment to help SO many individuals!!!

I am back in Phoenix since last evening. First thing I did was unwrap the bandages and take a hot shower. Given what was done, and knowing that bruising is an inevitable process of the liposuction, mini or otherwise, the photo here will show you, I am healing VERY WELL!!! This is part of the process and was just amazing as I bruise very easily to begin with. The care was phenomenal!! Once you got past the differences of the clinic compared to anything you might see here in the US, I can tell you honestly and emphatically that the care was tremendous!! My nurse, who was just the cutest little thing, young, reminded me of a little Dora the Explorer, was the only one, other than the Doctor who spoke English as well as Spanish, so she did a wonderful job translating for both me and other team members, i.e., the lab tech, another nurse, etc. The Doctor was an amazing man. Passionate does not begin to describe his investment in this treatment and procedure. I can't begin to thank him enough for showing me and talking with me about all the prospective possibilities he and I both hope for in this area of medicine. He was an absolute doll. He sees things in fat no one else would ever dream of looking at, and he made them a reality for me.

As I stated before, we were at the clinic all day, I began my process approximately 10 am, being taken to the operating room after having blood drawn. Once in the OR I wasn't nervous, only apprehensive as we had not yet started an IV and that, as I have stated, and so many of you know, is always a challenge at best. After some bilingual conversation and looking around, the anesthesiologist, who was a doctor, and an absolutely beautiful woman, who didn't speak English, LOL, started to make comments, and went from arm to arm, then she points at my wrist, not my idea of the best place as it is incredibly painful area for a line. The doctor then stands at the head of the bed, places my face in his hands, ever so gently and tells me to just relax, breathe, don't move, she is one of the best, and "look at me sweetheart" and poke, she was in!!! That in itself was a freaking miracle, as it hasn't happened in my recent recollection. Ok ... well .... now we are ready, the mask goes on, the doctor tells me to just relax and go to "twilight sleep" and off I went. The only thing I remember was a movement in my abdomen where he must have been removing the fat (adipose) tissue. Next thing I know, I am back in my bed, resting comfortably while the process begins in the lab to wake my stemmies up. That process was ready to roll at approximately 2 pm. In that time, I was shown what they looked like in the syringe prior to them being mixed with the solution to inject them via my IV. They were the most beautiful shade of fushcia!! .... once mixed they became the pink shown in the photo here. The whole process of drip time was about 90-2 hours. As this was taking place, I just lay waiting, resting, dozing off, and the doctor and the nurse would check in and ask if I was ok, how was I doing, did I need anything. The doctor came in multiple times as I could be heard coughing throughout the small clinic. He started a nebulizer treatment and I sucked down 2 doses of that (about 20 minutes each), and that made a huge difference in my ability to breathe. Ok, so ... while laying there I began to feel warm, a strange feeling in my feet, which have signs of neuropathy, when the doctor came in again, I asked him, could this be nerves "waking up?", he smiles this big ass grin and says "C" "Yes," he was so great in spite of the language barrier in communicating with me, I really felt like something special. I dozed off again. Next time in, he made a comment about how I had more color in my face .... I wanted to ask him if my wrinkles were dissipating ... LOL ...he said it was a good sign of things "happening." So I finished it all up. No complications, no real pain, I was prescribed the antibiotic, a cough "tussin", and off I went to the waiting room to wait for the other patient and his wife to finish up his drip time. We all headed back to the US about 7:30ish.

I was exhausted, but exhilarated. Wanted to make sure I didn't over-react to anything, to just get back, have something to eat, and call it a night, which I did. I awoke about 2:30 that morning (5-6 hours later) to discover that I had a strange sensation in my digestive track, stomach, lower belly, and lots of noise. This, as many of you know and will confirm, has been an issue of pain and suffering for me for many years. The gastroparesis, nerve damage from the diabetes. ..... ok... well ... this piece of info may be TMI for some, but to a doctor, and to myself, it is totally freaking AMAZING, it was the awakening of nerves which have been paralyzed since 1995 (if not longer, but that was when it was dx). Thursday morning, I "went" ... almost like a regular person!! I had my breakfast, washed, dressed, packed and went to the airport. It was a long day of traveling and with my belly doing all kinds of moving around, and my lungs also taking in a lot of those little builders/repairmen, I just took things slow. Long story short, I arrived in Phoenix, was picked up at the airport, and proceeded to come back and well.... cause a drainage problem!!! I was laughing so hard in the bathroom my friends were yelling from the other room, "ARE YOU ALRIGHT!!!!" OMG .... like I said, most of you may be laughing right now knowing what I am going on and on about, some others, might be sort of grossed out. But let me tell you this, when something is "regular" it is a big-ass deal, and when it's NOT, mama is not always a happy, comfy camper!!! To make it better, today was another excellent day!!! and this has not happened in this manner in MANY years .... I have been known to go days and up to a week or more without going. All good signs. Things are happening.

One more noticeable happening before I call it a night to rest is that my blood sugars have been very stable in the last 48 hours, the best in many, many years, or so it seems. Upon arrival in Phoenix last night, I had met this really great young woman on the plane and we talked the whole trip from Houston to Phoenix. She was interested in what I had just underwent, and boy did we laugh a few times. Anyway, as we were leaving the airplane, I started to feel a little fuzzy, warm, and by the time we were up the gateway, I had to drop my bag and lean against the wall. This sweet young woman, from Louisiana ;), was my little guardian angel, she came back, said, "give me that bag" and walked with me up to the waiting area. Told me to make my call and she would use the restroom and be right back. While she was away, I checked my blood sugar, 76, I was thinking, were these signs?? I haven't had signs of an oncoming low for many years, they just hit, boom, and no real warnings, i.e., the warmth, until it hits 38 or lower. When telling Hillary this happening she said, "document it in your journal", "this is HUGE Mom!!" This sort of thing, happened again this evening, when I awoke I felt warm, checked, 68, I got up and had my dinner. But ... what was really nice, and so unheard of these days, was that it wasn't emergency mode, I didn't have to fumble around, I had clarity in my head to know what was happening, it was/is so totally new, unusual, and long time since any of these signs or symptoms of shown face.

I spent most of today just resting, sleeping, up, eat, read a little, back to bed, which is what I am going to do now. I am so happy, overwhelmed, I really can't find a good word to describe what is happening to my body, and I am so grateful for this opportunity, and hope to promote this treatment, the science, the medicine, to anyone and everyone who will listen and have an open mind, IT WORKS!!! The human repair kit is the line on a pamphlet I got and that is true, yet seems like an understatement. It was all mine to start with, we just needed the knowledge, and expertise, the passion of a man who sees things in fat that no one else would look at. Now I know he didn't do this single handed, but he is, for me, an angel who shares my passion for cures and treatments that seem more natural, more human, and should by no means be held up in the manner of "who is going to make the most bucks?" for the US ... lets plow through some of the politics and get down to the heart of the matter here, human compassion for healing.

Ok ... well .... I am going to sleep now, until I come up with some more, and I have more, so much more, my enthusiasm for what is happening just seems muted in words, you should hear me ramble on in speech about this, and how I believe it sounds, and what strangers have seemed to witness in just the past couple of days!!! PHENOMENAL is an understatement.

Peace, Love, and Light and for all the prayers!!
I felt all of the warmth as I underwent this procedure, and they are so greatly appreciated!!!

ET