Friday, Saturday and Sunday, February 9th, 10th and 11th - Day 28, 29 and 30 in Hangzhou, China

Hi there!!!

Well, it is Sunday afternoon now and we have just about finished our packing. We should be leaving the XiaoShan Hospital for the Shanghai airport within three hours and our flight leaves Shanghai for Paris at 11:30pm tonight. We've been able to consolidate down from eleven large and heavy bags to 8 bags since we've used much of Tori's supplies during the month. I'm still a little bit concerned about the Shanghai airport since Chinese televising has been showing the enormous crowds and mayhem throughout the week... I guess it is now just time to endure another 30+ hour trip and get home safely!!! :-)

It's been slow during the past few days as Tori went through her normal PT, acupuncture and EMT routines. James and took her final muscle and joint range measurements on Saturday and they will compile the results and send them to me when finished. One result that really stands out is on her right knee as she could only bend it 7 degrees upon arrival. The final measurement was a 70 degree bend!!! That is HUGE improvement. Her other measurements will produce positive results as well and when I get them I will share them. I have ALOT of film footage as well that will be examined when home and carried onward. We are still looking for that PT person and now are in need of an acupuncturist.

All of the nurses have been saying their goodbyes over the past few days and we seriously wish we could just bring a couple home with us!!! Along with James of course ;-) There actually have been patient caregivers here who have done just that so it's not entirely an impossibility. We bought many gifts that we will share with the staff prior to departing to thank them for their outstanding care and support. We honestly do not have ANY issues at all in regards to our very kind and accommodating staff. The English lessons I have provided also seem to have been very productive!! :-)

Maria and I were able to get a Chinese massage Friday evening and we certainly were a little sore the next day but it was worth it for sure!! You can't really beat $10 for a sixty minute massage and in hindsight we probably should have took much more advantage of this.

Some final observations on the Chinese culture and people who have been very kind and open to us during our visit. If you said "Hello" and smiled you would get the same response in return. Their culture is very competitive in nature though and at times it seems to be an 'every man, woman, and child for themselves' type of approach. Considering the very, very densely populated environments they live in it is probably necessary for basic survival. You see examples of this in the traffic, the elevators and even the stores you visit. We've never lived in a large city and I'm betting NYC, LA or Tokyo in probably just the same. Our first lesson when we arrived here was that when the elevator stops on your floor you don't hesitate in pushing yourself in even if there is an elevator full of people trying to get out... Otherwise you won't get on. If you are not aggressive in going for that taxi you are not going to get it either. It didn't take us too long to adjust to this of course :-)

There also seems to be divides between the young and the old and the rich and poor. The young are very 'up to date' with their fashions and technological savvy with their cell phones, ipods and the internet. They are also quick to give you a big smile and "Hello!!". The older people tend to be farmers or work in the countryside and are just Chinese 'old school' in their demeanor and appearance. We even witnessed a few who were on an elevator for the very first time. Others we spoke to here confirmed the divide and it's just how it is. Economics wise, there is a very large lower class ($2000 USD or less per year), a small to medium sized middle class and an upper class that is growing rapidly with all of the new business opportunities becoming available in China. We saw more BMW's and Mercedes here than we've seen in a while but there are also millions upon millions of bicycles, scooters, motorcycles and lessor cars.

Alright, getting close to leaving time!! When we return it is very important that we keep Tori healthy during the next six months so her new stem cells can continue to take hold and connect. We've heard there are some pretty bad viruses going around back home... We will probably have to be very careful with Tori's visitors so please keep that in mind upon our arrival home. There are many of you we want to see again but not if you are sick please ;-)

Thanks again for following Tori's journey and I'll update again when I can.

The Schmanski's