In search of Ruth's Cris

The driver, Lionel, was early for the pickup today and I was able to warm up on the stationary bike for 15 minutes before Ivan went to work on me. Jimmy came over and did his cool down for the last five minutes of his workout and we talked.  He said the reason he had such a hard time with his last IV injection was because they couldn't find his vien. He has large arms and he said that he had lifted weights regularly prior to coming down with MS, but when you look at his arms now there is no discernable veins that show through his skin. They shouldn't have that problem with me, I have veins visible everywhere and they said they would be sticking the needle in the back of my hand. I'm dreading the IV tomorrow, at least I can't see the shot they give me in the back but the one in my arm is in plain sight. Dr. Pichel promised she was going to use the baby needle.


Ivan worked on upper body strength and balance and began easing into some ab exercises to try to get my stomach loosened up. My stomach muscles feel good after they get stretched out and start working, but getting them to that point is painful and then if I sit down for five minutes they seem to tighten up again. We did one circuit on the leg press and leg extension machines before cool down. Today Ivan had me cool down on the eliptical trainer. Of all the machines the eliptical trainer seems to burn up the most energy the fastest and I feel it is the best machine for my weak leg and foot drop.


On the way back to the hotel I asked Lionel about going to the Multiplaza Pacific Mall. He told me how to negotiate with cab drivers and what to ask before getting in their vehicle. He said we shouldn't pay more than five dollars to get to the Mall and that for Panamanians it would only be three dollars. The cabs here do not have meters. 

I was energized after the workout and I talked John into getting out of the apartment and maybe catching a movie at he Multiplaza, so we readied and headed out travelling light, no purse or backpack or camera. John said that Multiplaza sounded like something out of the futuristic movie The Fifth Element.


We walked outside and hailed a cab or rather a cab hailed us. I've never seen a city with more cab drivers. We went to the closest intersection and cabs were coming at us in two directions. They probably would have been coming in all four directions except the corner where we stood was the intersection of two one way streets. I had told John what to say to the cabbie and he opened the door and asked, "Quanto cobra Multiplaza?" The cabbie said, "Three dollars," and John replied, "Bien," and we slipped in the back seat. John said, "Vamanous," and we were off.  John's accent must have been so good that the cabbie mistook us for locals.


The mall was new and spacious and had many upscale stores. John said it was close to the kind of malls that he saw when he was visiting Dubai. It was certainly as nice if not nicer than any mall in Hawaii. It reminded me of the Fashon Show Mall In Las Vegas. The Multiplaza is located in a newer part of town and right next to the Punta Pacifica Hospital where the Stem Cell Institute has their office. We wandered around the mall looking for the theaters and the Ruth's Cris steak house. John wanted to see if he could find another $40 dollar steak. No one seemed to know anything about Ruth's Cris, but we eventually found the theaters. Four of the ten or twelve theaters were designated VIP which meant they had full reclining leather chairs and the ability to order food and drinks while you watch the show. We didn't find a movie that interested us so we continued our search for Ruth's Cris. After covering most of the mall we finally found someone who told us that Ruth's Cris was coming soon and still under construction.


I was wearing down from all the walking and we decided to go to the food court and get something to eat. On the way we stopped at a location that had massage chairs and for a dollar we received a three minute massage. In the food court we found all the fast food restarants you might expect to find in the US and then some. We selected a place that cooked steaks to order and that had a nice salad bar. We ordered a single filet, twelve dollars, and two salad bars and we had to ask for a to-go container for most of my salad and most of the steak. The girdle prevents me from eating very much at one setting. We worked our way back to the entrance from which we arrived. John stopped and picked up a Cinnabon, not on my diet, and two bottles of water.


The cab ride back to the hotel was again three dollars. I was worn out, but it was nice to get out of the apartment for awhile. Tomorrow is going to be a big day. I will get my fourth intrathecal injection of allogeneic stem cells and my first intravenous injection of the autologus stem cells. The intrathecal stem cells they have been injecting into me have been extracted from donated umbilical chords of newborn babies and the autologus stem cells are the cells that have been extracted from the extricated fat tissue of my mid section. I'm apprehensive about the multiple injections tomorrow but I so desire that the microscopic cells being injected perform their miracles.