Hello everyone. Man what a flight, but we made it home. Our family was there to greet us and seeing them there had to be one of the greatest feelings I have ever experienced. I will get back to therapy in St. Louis on Thursday, but in the meantime I have been doing some of the exercises that I learned in Shenzhen. There has not been any more changes lately, however, I think it help once I can get back in the full swing of rehab and exercises. Well I have to keep it short because it is time to get the kids ready for school. Talk to everyone soon.

Last Day

Hello everyone. What a crazy week it has been trying to get some last minute errands done! The whole trip has been absolutely worth it and I know that it could not have happened without the support of every person out there hoping and praying for us. We had a final dinner tonight with all of the friends we have made from all over the world from such places as Chile, Brazil, Canada, U.S.A., Turkey, Spain, & Hungary. All of these people hold a special place with us because we have been through this process together. It is sad to go, but man I can't wait to get home.
To all of the doctor's, nurses, and staff here at Nanshan Hospital I thank you for the care and treatment that I received here. To all the staff with Beike, thank you for your effort, hospitality, and your commitment in helping us with whatever we needed.
To anyone who is considering having this done, all I ask of you is to keep an open mind, research it heavily, ask many questions, and finally make sure that it feels right to you. To me has been totally worth it. Now I am not saying that I wasn't a little timid coming over, but deep down I knew it was the right thing because of everything that I had just mentioned along with a lot of prayers. I am not trying to preach at anyone who may not have a faith they believe in, but for me it truly came together when I turned it over to God and prayed. Like I said, it is your business what your faith may or may not be. All I am trying to tell you is what helped me the greatest to feel that this is the right thing to do. To everyone out there who is coming I hope and pray the best for you. To everyone out there who feels it is not right for you, I hope and pray the best for you as well.
I will continue to update the blog with the improvements I receive after I return home. Good night everyone.
Kelly - I love you and I'm coming home.

Hello everyone. Rehab was especially fun today. The therapist was telling one of the ladies from the office that he is very pleased with my progress. I told her to tell him that I was very happy with the treatment that I received here and that I am thankful that he pushed me everyday to the limit (even beyond it somedays) so that I would do my best. I guess that was the wrong thing to say because he smiled and said try harder. I would have probably been in a fight if this was any other situation because there was pushing and shoving going on than ever before. After about 10 minutes of this sitting balance routine with me holding my arms out at shoulder level, I realized he wasn't going to quit until I did. He got his way, but not for about 5 more minutes because my arms felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each. He just smiled real big and said good job. Next time I'll just say thank you and leave it at that. Two of the head doctors are going to give me a final examination tomorrow to compare what I could feel and do when I arrived to what I can feel and do now. So lets pray those little toes are working good for them. I want to leave with a thank you to all of you who have been there to help out with Kelly, Blake, Bailey, & Allison. So many of you have sent letters, called, took them out to eat, brought food over, picked the kids up from school, spent time with them, gone out of your way for them and most importantly prayed for them. I don't think I can put into words all of the thoughts and emotions running through me knowing that you have been there for them. So as I hold back a few tears- from the very depths of my heart-Thank You. May God bless each and everyone of you.
Talk to everyone soon.

Hello everyone. We had a quiet weekend here. We just walked around the streets to get some exercise and took a couple of cab rides for an adrenaline rush. Not much else to report on so we are going for breakfast and rehab. Let the countdown begin. Just four more days. The trip has been absolutely worth it, but we are ready to get home. Talk to everyone soon.

Hello everyone. Just wanted to apologize for that three letter word in my last blog. I realize that some of you read this with your children and it was totally uncalled for. I did not realize that I had done it until I looked at it this morning, so I went back and erased it. Talk to you later.

Hello everyone. Today has had to be one of the tuffest days so far in rehab. It seemed the harder I tried the harder they pushed, but in the end it was worth it because I feel like I have more energy now than I did before my therapy session today. They have added a couple more acupuncture needles in each leg which feels good because I am starting to get a little more sensation in my legs. Only seven days left and man I can't wait to get home. Don't get me wrong now because the trip has been totally worth it, but I have some people back home that I can't wait to see. I was talking with my wife, Kelly, today at lunch which was about 9:30 p.m. her time and she is exhausted. Not only has she been taking care of our three children Blake-7yrs old, Bailey-5yrs old, and Allison-4yrs old who are all in school, play sports and been sick, but she is self-employed so she has had to keep up with all of her paperwork and clients as well as worrying about me over here. I talked about a couple of the other guys and their wives here in some of my earlier blogs and how their wives have been here supporting them, but you have no idea how much it means to me that Kelly stayed home to take care of things. I have been able to focus on my therapy much better knowing that she has been there to take care of our children and everything else. You see, she is one of the strongest women I have ever met when it comes to taking charge and getting things done. She has loved and supported me in everything that I have tried and done since my accident, even when my acting like a total idiot almost drove us apart and for that there is not enough room on this computer to put into words the love, thanks, and appreciation that I have for this woman. I ask that everyone keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
Kelly-I love you forever, for always, and no matter what.

Hello everyone. Well the final injection went just as smoothly as the others so we will finish up with a weeks worth of rehab before we come home. I believe that my body is beginning to regulate its temperature better because I am not feeling cold all the time now and I am not needing to wear two or three shirts to try and stay warm once the temperature dips below 70 degrees. I could not be happier with the blessings that I have received so far because I know they are truly gifts from God and that anything is possible through him. I also want to take a minute to tell you about a man who has been such a special part of my life even when I did not realize it - my dad Rick Melton. He truly wears his heart on his sleeve because he is always willing to help someone when he can and is amazing in a crisis situation. Just to let you know too, that our relationship may have not always been the closest over the years, but I can definitley say that was my fault. The good Lord knows that I tried his patience on more than one occasion (which is probably why the man don't have much hair left), but he has never stopped loving me. Although there were times when I thought he was being to strict with me I know that he was only looking out for me to keep me safe. I thank God everyday for him being here with me. To my friend, my father, my hero - I love you.
There are others I want to talk about as well, but the doctors are wanting to talk with me so I must go. I will talk with everybody soon.

Hello everyone. Another good day today. The therapist has once again changed the rehab regiment to help me to continue to push myself as hard as I can everday. He had me sitting on the edge of the mat with my feet on the floor holding a .5kg stick ( I know it isn't much ) with my arms straight out in front of me and lift it over my head, repeatedly. Had I tried this two weeks ago I would have fell over and not been able to stop myself, but today I held up strong. By the end of the workout, I can feel every abdominal muscle that I have burning which is awesome considering I have not been able to use the muscles this much since my accident. The sweating is still the same and the toe twitching is still happening. I concentrate on it several times a day and although it doesn't happen every time just yet, I can tell the difference between me doing it and the muscle having a spasm causing the toe to move.
I wanted to let everyone know that you need to go and get a Business Week magazine that is out now and check out the article on the stemcell refugees. Last injection is tomorrow so I will get an update back on as soon as I can. Well I need to get going because dad is performing wheelchair maintenence for someone and needs some assistance. Talk to everyone later.

Hello everyone. I apologize for not getting back on here sooner, but things have been busy here. Not to much has changed latley, but that's okay because we didn't come into this expecting a cure or even a huge change overnight. There is one more injection to go on Wed. here and then a nine day stretch till we come home on the 16th. Well I guess that's it for now. It's suppertime here so I got to run. I will talk with everyone soon.

Hello everyone. Just a quick update to let you know that we are doing good today. I feel good after last injection so Dad, Kirk, Jessi, and myself got out today and went to a two story Wal-Mart and a four story mall next to it. Did not buy much except some groceries, but had a good time none the less being away from the hospital for a couple of hours. We are fairly wore out so we are going to turn in after I got some exercising done. Talk to everyone later.
P.S. My thoughts and prayers go out to anyone living in or who has family in cental Florida that was affected by the storms.

4th injection

Hello everyone. I had my 4th injection yesterday and everything went good. My therapist has switched my treatment regiment again. So now instead of sitting in the center of a big mat and doing my different sitting balances, I now have to sit on the edge of the mat with my feet on the floor and that changes everything. I can now sit with my arms out in front of me fully extended and not fall over (most of the time anyhow), so I can definitely tell a huge diference in the strength of my trunk muscles. My body seems to be getting better at trying to regulate its temperature with the surroundings that I am in because I am having a lot fewer hot and cold flashes and the sweating seems to be getting better also. I hope and pray that everyone is doing well and I will talk to everyone soon.

Hello everyone. Had another good day today. Rehab session was a little more intense so I am wiped out. I have my fourth injection tomorrow so I will let everyone know how it goes. I will talk to everyone later.