|
Umbilical Stem cell treatments help Lafayette twins-The Daily
Advertiser
August 13. 2005 1:20PM
Umbilical Stem cell treatments help Lafayette twins
By JUDY BASTIEN
The Daily Advertiser
Thibodaux, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana | August 13, 2005
Just a little more than a year ago, 9-year-old Tyler Frye could say
only two or three words at a time.Because of spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy, he would wake up almost every night with severe leg cramps. He couldn't control his hands well enough to point.His twin, Trent, whose cerebral palsy is not as severe, couldn't sit
on the floor unassisted and couldn't catch a ball.Today, thanks to one injection each of umbilical cord blood stem cells in July 2004, the boys' lives have changed dramatically. "Tyler's biggest thing is that he's talking, now," said his mother, Christy Frye. "Before, he could get out maybe two or three words at a time. ... There was a lot of crying because he couldn't communicate. "Now, he's speaking in complete sentences. The first time it happened, I had to do a double-take."Within about six weeks of taking the injections, the spasticity had lessened for both boys, Frye said. Although they are both still wheelchair-bound, Tyler's leg cramps disappeared and Trent can now sit up unassisted for short periods of time and can catch a ball. "These kids were on nine different medications," Frye said. "They were getting Botox injections," to ease the spasticity of their muscles, she said."We don't have to do that anymore."The effects of the umbilical cord blood stem cells are permanent, said Anthony Payne, a researcher at the Steenblock Research Institute, a nonprofit facility in San Clemente, Calif., that arranged for the twins to get the injections.
"The only people who regress are people with progressive diseases,
like multiple sclerosis or Lou Gherig's disease," he said.Although the twins have benefited dramatically from the treatments,
more are needed to bring them closer to being well.The only obstacle for Frye and her husband, Ron, is the cost. The first injections would have cost $14,000 each, but they were donated
to the boys by a North Carolina doctor who had purchased seven
injections for his wife, whose multiple sclerosis was too advanced
to respond to the treatments.
"He said he would give two of the injections he had purchased for
his wife to the boys," Frye said. "I just about dropped the phone."
Frye is determined to find a way to get second injections for her
sons. The treatments worked better than anything else they had tried
to date, she said, including hyperbaric oxygen treatments in which
the patient is exposed to highly concentrated oxygen in a
pressurized chamber.
"They've each had 125 treatments of hyperbarics at (Our Lady of
Lourdes Regional Medical Center) and we did some in New Orleans."
While the family's insurance policy will cover hyperbaric
treatments, it will not cover treatments that are still considered
experimental, such as stem cell injections, Frye said.People seeking the injections for certain conditions have to leave the United States to get them because, although they are FDA-approved for some conditions, neurological disorders are not yet on
the approved list.The couple are now trying to raise the money for two injections, which are now about $6,000 each. They recently held a fund-raiser, but it yielded only $1,400, Frye said. She plans to hold another event soon, either here or in her hometown of Lumberton, Texas.Trying to obtain state-of-the-art treatment for her children is the only option Frye will consider.
"Some people think, 'I can't afford this. We won't even search.'
But, I feel that God always provides for these boys."
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
