Hooray! For Caliper Day!

Today they got me up on my two feet, encased by a load of metal and plastic... but yet, on my own two feet.

The whole event only lasted a few minutes, but it is a start. I will now be doing Physio twice a day. Once at 9:30 for stretching and bending and again at 1:30 for standing and shimmying.

It is going to take my body quite some time to get used to being sooo upright. My hips, knees, and ankles aren't speaking with me right now, seeing as they had sort of a strenuous day. They'll get over it soon enough, I hope.

I think that I am probably one of Dr. Shroff's more challenging paraplegic cases, with the triple threat of having so much time lapsed since my accident, my tendon and muscle stiffness, and my robot hardware in both legs. It is going to be a long road to healing on many levels.

The other thing that I think that may delay my progress with these remarkable cells is the fact that they have no pre-designed destination once they are injected into my body. As Dr. Shroff and Dr. Ashish have explained to me, they know to go to an area in need. Well folks, my body has numerous areas in need. So far these little baby stem cells have made several pit stops to my skin, my scars, and I think even my hair and nails. The coloration in my legs and feet look noticeably better, the skin grafts on my shins have decreased in size and stiffness, I have absolutely no swelling in my legs or feet (even in the Delhi heat), and I have nice long fingernails--if anyone cares. I don't get it, but there are definitely changes occurring.

I guess for now I have to wait for these cells to find their way home to my spine to really FEEL that benefit that I flew across continents for. In the meantime, I will happily wait here with a sweet lime soda and some curried tofu...