Sunday, August 28th

Today was sort of a sad day. Jeff and Sarah left yesterday and my new friends, The Elams, left today. Matt and Chani Elam were here from Hawaii. They became good friends in a short amount of time and Matt's story is truly inspirational. Though he's been legally blind his entire life, Matt managed to become a professional football player. He went on to play some Arena football as well. Now at 35, he's seeking stem cell treatment to repair his vision. It was great to have Matt here as someone going through the treatment and able to relay his experiences. I felt like he sort of gave a voice to Cooper in that respect. He was also able to provide perspective of someone seeking this alternative treatment themselves out of desperation. He was able to convey how much he wished for improvement - of course many of us wish that for Cooper, but again - hearing HIM say it made me feel like I could understand Cooper's desperation for recovery. Along the way here in China, I often spoke to Matt and Chani about the ins and outs of the treatment: how he was feeling after the treatment, when did he notice improvements, how it was affecting him emotionally, etc. When I was let down that Cooper would not be able to undergo treatments via lumbar puncture, Matt and Chani reminded me of all the positives: that he was still getting the cells, that many people have improvements from IV treatments, and that Matt himself was having improvements after only IV treatments. Matt did end up getting one lumbar and another treatment in his eye, but felt he had dramatic improvements during his time here. His vision increased including seeing colors and contrasts like never before. I also watched Matt become an inspiration to many other patients here including one teenage boy with his same condition. Peyton is also vision impaired, but still wants to play football. I overheard him and Matt having many discussions about how to make the game work within the disability they shared. The Elams and I shared some wonderful heart-to-hearts and I'll miss them during the rest of my stay here with Cooper tremendously!