Day Eight

This is the front of Mario Tower, the building where Goodgene is located.  It is up on the 11th floor.

Today is Tuesday, so Mom got her protein drip (however, this one took two hours).  Then, she received her "gene vaccine" (gene drug specifically for lung cancer) and then an additional "CK" shot, which means "Cytokine" (gene complex which simulates anticancer immunity).  Those shots are, as mom says, butt shots and they hurt like the dickens.  She was finished today by noon.  Because a patient was already having his blood harvested, I needed to wait until 1:30pm to have mine done.   For lunch, mom and I went down to a Chinese restaurant in the lobby.  It was very unusual... Chinese food, Korean style.  They spoke no English so somehow, through drawing pictures in the air and my limited amount of Korean, we were able to get a fork for mom.

My blood harvesting took 2 hours and 15 minutes.  They said my blood was "slow" and the centrifuge kept clicking off.  After awhile of vein checks and trying to warm my very cold hand, they said that my blood was freezing and added "anti-freeze".  Yes, I freaked out a little when they said they added "anti-freeze" but alas, it was only an anti-coagulant.

Dr. Moon did stick his head into mom's room and mentioned that after the clinic visit tomorrow, she will need to see Dr. Cho at the Korean Cancer Center.  He wants to use a low toxicity chemo and is hoping the drug will come tomorrow.  I suppose we'll find out more once we speak to Dr. Cho.

Otherwise, mom has been eating well (peaches, apples, oranges, bananas, salad) and keeping strong.  The rib pain, however, is growing more pronounced and mom's medications are still in customs.  Mom had to get presciptions for them emailed to her this morning, then she forwarded them to FedEx along with her passport number and explanations for the medications.  This is a word to the wise... if you have to ship any meds from the US, include the prescriptions, passport # and explanations.  Another patient had his vitamins confiscated and told that sending them here was illegal.  So, we have our fingers crossed.

I do wish I could give more treatment information but we simply don't know any more information.  They hook her up, you try to ask questions and they try to explain but it's just a little and it's on the other side of a language barrier.  At this point it goes like this:  Monday, Wednesday and Friday is stem cells and protein.  Tuesdays and Thursdays is gene and/or CK shot(s) and protein.  Saturdays are unknown as Dr. Moon will call out whatever he deems necessary for the patient on that day.  And that's it, folks.

It's hard for someone like mom (and me) to not know exactly what's going on.  Mom needs to know the "who", "what", "why" and "where".  But, that's not what you get.  Heck, we just show up at the shuttle every morning, go to the clinic and hope for the best. 

The people that come here bring with them a lot of hope.  But those who come, come when they have been given very little hope at home.   Is this a cure, though?  Is there such thing as a cure for Parkinsons and cancer with Dr. Moon?  Before you come, do your homework.  Research.  Be wise, be smart and yes, have faith.  Don't just read blogs (including mine) and think you know all there is to know.  That's not smart.  You need to know that not everyone who has come here has survived, let alone been cured.  You will need to understand that you will be given a percentage of "cure" that Dr. Moon will give you when you meet him.

Mom is here because this is her only option right now.  She cannot keep going without any kind of cancer-fighting treatment.  If this works, I will shout it from every rooftop.  If this works, she will be his biggest advocate.  In the meantime, I will hold her hand and pray that this will, at the very least, help her.

Sure, I have faith.  I happen to have to have a lot of it.  I just prefer it not to be blind.  As for hope... there are rivers of it here.

This is a proverb that is quite appropriate:

As long as we have hope, we have direction, the energy to move, and the map to move by. We have a hundred alternatives, a thousand paths and an infinity of dreams. Hopeful, we are halfway to where we want to go; hopeless, we are lost forever.

Day Seven

Well, it snowed here yesterday afternoon... 













And today it was sunny so everything is a big slushy mess out there.

Mom began the morning at the clinic with about a 10 minute drip of her own super-charged stem cells.  Afterwards, a 45 minute drip of protein.  Mr. Won says the protein helps the body... kind of like how you feel when you first wake up in the morning.  I got my second WBC stimulator shot today.

Dr. Moon only stuck his head in the room, while mom was getting the drip, for just a second. I had to ask him to please come back.  We asked about the scans and he said "wait... be right back".  About 45 minutes later, I knocked on his door (this time mom is in the waiting area) and asked if we should still wait.  He came out to mom and said that he is still waiting for more information and literally said "calm down".  We think it's just the only English phrase he knows for "chill out".  He said that he believes the cancer may have invaded that painful area in the rib cage and intercostal nerves but that he still needs to find out more (which may be tomorrow or the next day).  He is suggesting a "new" kind of treatment (not like regular chemo) to go along with a focused radiation of the area.  He says he is trying to "cure" her.  So... we will calm down... and see what each day brings. 

...   Popcorn still there today...        

Day Six

Happy Sunday!  It was back to Home Plus again.  I think they're going to give me a job pretty soon.  You will notice the cheese slices, Campbells soup and Skippy peanut butter.  American food is expensive!  The soup was about 2,500 won per can and the pb almost 7,000 won.  I only buy items that have either a recognizable label or has some kind of writing in English.  Otherwise, it's a free-for-all of what could be ANYTHING.  By the way, there is no labeling for anything "diet".  If you buy diet coke, it says "light coke" on the label.

This morning I got my WBC stimulator shot from the wife of one of the other patients.  This is her second time here so very familiar with everything including the ole' needle.  Her name is Erica and is such an incredibly nice woman.  I will probably constantly write about the patients and their families.  I suppose that when you, or the one you are with, are going through such an illness... you naturally bond with those in a similar situation.  Everyone sort of looks out for each other.  But then, that's really the way it should be - isn't it?

No clinic visit today, just another amazingly cold day.  So, we're laying low until we go back to Goodgene in the morning.  Mom is in a lot of pain in the rib area.  The coughing only makes it worse.  She's had to cut back on the medication for nerve pain until the shipment for the next round gets here.  Hopefully, it will come tomorrow so she can start taking more again which should help.

I'm eyeing a piece of popcorn from two days ago, against the wall, under the little eating table in our room.  I'm on a mission to see when the maid will vacuum it up.  These are the little things in life that make a quiet day inside worth while.  Until tomorrow...  Anneyong Kayseo!

Day Five

It is COLD!  Temp right now is 18 degrees (with a "feels like" 6 degrees).  It is biting!  Today is Saturday so we went to the clinic where mom got protein via drip, a vaccine shot and a pain shot.  The pain shot was in the rump and hurt more than the pain she was feeling.  It was probably just a distraction shot.  I will get a shot tomorrow in the stomach, like mom did the first day, to stimulate my WBC so my blood can be harvested on Tuesday.  We're back in the hotel room now.  Mom needs to relax and not move too much.  Gonna have to be another movie day as it is much too cold out there.   BRRRRRRR....

It's raining in Seoul

It's Christmas Day and beyond this window pane

High above in this room through misty lights and rain

I watch the grey sky cower over buses, umbrellas and rooftops

onto traffic, pedestrians and barbershops.

It's raining in Seoul and it couldn't be more graceful

with the traffic below, sounds of it drifting through

the glass up here on the fourteenth floor, I watch a surge

of taxi cabs filled with passengers and travelers.

This city knows not what it means to sleep or even wait

to come up high and watch above the fray and see the rain.

With family on my mind and hope in my soul

I watch the rain from high above ... here, in Seoul.