Cape man awaits results, begins recovery from surgery

Jim Trickey spent 80 minutes in surgery Wednesday morning in a Chinese hospital so doctors could implant up to 4 million cells into his frontal lobe.

The surgery is an experimental one by U.S. standards, but is done rather routinely in Beijing. Doctors there believe the implanted cells can spur the brain to regenerate itself and thus ward off some symptoms and complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

Trickey was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease in 2002 and has slowly been losing muscle strength and mobility. He still manages to walk, but knows that a day is coming when he will rely on a wheelchair.

Trickey wanted to try the surgery while he could still benefit from its full effects. So he and his wife, Brandy, arrived in China Sunday for the surgery. The procedure was scheduled earlier than expected because of an upcoming national holiday.

When the nurses brought Trickey back to his room, he was drained, Brandy wrote in an e-mail update to friends and family back in Cape Girardeau.

"They brought in a big oxygen tank along with a blood pressure cuff and a monitoring system," she said. After being hooked up, Trickey was told to lie still and rest for three hours. After that point, he would be able to get up and move around and get something to eat.

Trickey said he felt the doctors sewing his stitches, but Brandy thinks that is because the anesthetic drugs were wearing off.

"He has mentioned to me that he feels a little stronger in his left arm already," she wrote.

The doctor visited Trickey after the surgery and said he can return home in two weeks. Today, Trickey begins his recovery process, which includes acupuncture, massage and physical therapy.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126