A brief introduction

For those who don't know me, my name is Richard Chin. I'm born and raised in the USA. Both my parents were immigrants from Canton, China (just a few hours north of Hong Kong and Shenzhen). I'm age 48 and for the past 10 to 15 years, I've shown signs of the ataxia I inherited from my dad who passed away about 19 years ago. Due to this disease, Spino Cerebellar Ataxia 3 (SCA3), I stopped working about 4 years ago . I was an engineer by trade. I am married with one daughter. My wife, Lily, is born and raised in Hong Kong. Our daughter, Andrea, is a college student in Los Angeles. We live in the San Francisco bay area near "Silicon Valley".

What is SCA3? Also known as Machado Joseph's Disease, it is one of the inherited forms (i.e. genetic) of a movement disorder. The word ataxia means without order. Ataxic symptoms may include slurred speech, uncoordinated physical movements, imbalance, nystagmus (rapid involuntary eye movement), etc. There are over a dozen subclasses of spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA). Medically, it is a neurological disease affecting the cerebellar part of the brain. How prevalent is the disease? Within the USA, SCA is listed in the National Organization of Rare Diseases (NORD). At present, there is no cure to the disease. However, there are not only palliative drugs but also research being conducted to finding the cure.

I am slated for stem cell "therapy" at Nanshan Hospital in Shenzhen, China. My wife and I will travel to Shenzhen for our 30 day stay beginning Monday, March 19. Following the footsteps of several MJD'ers who underwent treatment at Nanshan, I am planning on five stem cell injections, 4 via lumbar puncture and one by IV.

I've wondered about the nature of this blog since it is likely to be read by a wide spectrum of people from close family and friends to total strangers who happen to see it on the Beike Stem Cells website. I've decided to make it a log of the day-to-day events leading up to our trip and our experiences while in China, rather than an intimate diary or a technical research paper.