The last treatment

For my last day of physical therapy Ivan went through all the stretches that I should do every day and then did an evaluation to see where I was physically to compare to how I was the first day. Later that day Anna told me they will be doing the initial evaluation prior to lipo surgery on future patients which I had suggested early on. I received an evaluation packet and Ivan gave me his e-mail and phone number and told me not to hesitate to call if I had any problems or questions. He said that he was my friend for life. I gave him the card I purchased yesterday and some money for all his hard work with me.


I came back to the apartment and ate lunch. John went down to the hotel gym and I joined him for a little while, then he went swimming and I went back to the room and readied myself for the last injection. The driver was there to pick us up promptly at 2:00 and we headed to the Royal Center for the last time. I had also purchased flowers yesterday and I gave those to Dr. Pichel. She and Dr. Hernandez were sitting in the reception room when we walked in.

The injection went as smooth as getting a six inch needle in the back could go. They had reduced the volume this time since I had such a bad reaction to the last injection. Almost from the moment the fluid went into my central nervous system I began to have strange sensation in my legs and that would continue for most of the evening. We said our goodbyes to Dr. Pichel and the staff there then Dr. Hernandez hopped in the van with us for the ride over to the Stem Cell Institute.  That's Dr. Hernandez, me, Dr. Pichel and John after my last interthecal injection in the photo below.

At the Stem Cell Institute offices I received another packet of info and Dr. Paz examined me one last time. We talked about what to expect and he was positive that I could expect good things to come. Dr. Hernandez talked to John for about ten minutes explaining how to get into and out of the city while I was in the office talking to Anna and Ivonne.


I put my two cents in with Anna and Ivonne giving them suggestions that would help with MS patients. Anna had my blog up on her computer and we talked about people like me with CRS and had a good laugh. I commended them on the communications with me while I was here. They were always a quick phone call away and they promtly took care of whatever issue I was calling about. We covered a lot of topics and John was still getting directions. Our new friend Chris said it best when after two days in Panama he realized that via automobile it was not possible to return from someplace you had just traveled to by the same route.


After we left we asked the driver to stop by another Riba Smith grocery store so we could look for a sauce our friends in Boquete had requested. The driver seemed a hurry and while we were in the store he showed up and said he had to leave and another driver would come by and pick us up in fifteen minutes. We looked in vain and finally purchased a possible substitute then went out and waited for our ride. The new driver showed up and it took about ten minutes to get out of the parking lot. The driver was trying to exit onto a street ninty degrees from the one we entered the parking lot and to get there we had to go through a huge maze that covered three levels.


Back at the hotel I rested for a bit and we decided to go to a Greek restaurant that Dr. Paz had recommended. The driver had pointed out a restaurant by the same name close to the hotel so we decided to walk there and see if it was a sister to the one we desired to go to. The restaurant was on a back road behind Rey's supermarket and we trekked over there only to find that it wasn't Greek, so we walked back to Rey's and hailed a cab. For three dollars he drove us across town to the Greek place. I've discovered that being on the MS Diet and the BioFit program, that it doesn't really matter where I eat. My dinners consist of vegetables or salad and a lean protien. The dressing for my salad is always olive oil and basalmic vinnegar. I can get that at almost any restaurant. The dinner was okay, but I could have had the same thing right across the street from the hotel. It is nice to know that you can catch a cab anywhere and at any time and that they will take you to where you want to go for the agreed-to price.


When we returned to the hotel we stopped by the Dollar rental car and picked up the vehicle that we had reserved the previous evening. Well, almost. They substituted a Nissan for the Toyota we had wanted and as it would turn out it was a rather fateful substitution. Back in the room we packed for our upcomming trip and went to bed.