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Keeping Halloween Spooky and Safe
Saturday, October 29th, 2011
Holidays are a great time for us to connect with our ViaCord families, especially on spooktacular days like Halloween! Trick-or-treating will be starting soon, and that means ghouls and goblins will be lining the streets to fill their bags with candy. Kids love costumes and dressing up—but it’s important to remember safety when they head out. Consider these tips for to ensure you have the most spook-tastic and safe Halloween ever!
Monsters and princesses should always travel in packs.
Kids should never go trick-or-treating alone. Get a group of kids together to go out hunting for candy together. They can even coordinate their costumes. And make sure your little ones have flashlights, glowsticks or reflector tape as part of their costumes. You can even get creative with the tape and make scary faces.
- Test the spooks before the big day.
Costumes are designed for all different shapes and sizes. It’s important that the costume fits correctly to avoid any real scares on this candy holiday. And that includes makeup. Try the makeup on a small area of skin to make sure there aren’t any reactions.
Put…
Categories: Did You Hear?
Seven Tips for Delivery Day!
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
Everything you and your doctor need for a successful collection is provided in your Viacord kit. We’ve got a few tips to share to ensure the process goes smoothly.
1. LET THE STAFF KNOW UPON ARRIVAL
Letting the medical staff know you’ve chosen to collect your baby’s cord blood or cord tissue, or both is an important first step in the cord blood collection process. Even if it’s noted in your files, telling the staff at the hospital of exactly what you’ve ordered will ensure everyone’s in the know. And if medical staff shift rotation takes place during your time in labor, inform the replacement staff as well. Keeping everyone in the know is the way to go!
2. COLLECT EVEN WITH A C-SECTION
When moms go in for a c-section, whether it’s planned or unplanned, sometimes the collection kit gets left behind. Make sure it’s known that you want to collect your cord blood or cord tissue or both – whichever you ordered, so the medical staff will make sure the kit is in the c-section room. ViaCord’s sterile collection bag is FDA…
Categories: Did You Hear?, Trends in Healthcare
Saving a Sibling’s Cord Blood – Grateful for the Option
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
Tasha Jock was just 20 years old when her 6-month-old daughter Madilynn, or Maddie, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) on September 19, 2010. Maddie quickly began aggressive chemotherapy at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. One month after Maddie’s diagnosis, Tasha learned she was pregnant with her second child. With her first pregnancy, Tasha had heard and read about cord blood banking , but did not pursue preservation of Maddie’s cord blood because the cost seemed too high for “such an elective” service. When Tasha’s OB/GYN learned about Maddie’s condition during an appointment related to her second pregnancy, he recommended that Tasha enroll in ViaCord’s Sibling Connection Program.
At that critical and vulnerable point in Maddie’s treatment, Tasha felt a rush of hope and was grateful to have the option to save her son’s cord blood stem cells – a medical resource that could potentially be used in the future to help treat Maddie. Tasha welcomed Liam into the world on June 27, 2011. By that time, Maddie had responded well to eight months of chemotherapy. Given Maddie’s positive response to…
Categories: Family Matters, Stories of Hope
October 5th is Stem Cell Awareness Day!
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
For the millions of people around the world who suffer from incurable diseases and injury, Stem Cell Awareness Day is a day to celebrate the scientific advances made to-date and be hopeful of what is yet to come, according to the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) . And we’d have to say, we agree.
Stem cells from umbilical cord blood have been used in nearly 20,000 transplants worldwide during the last 20 years to help treat nearly 80 diseases. And clinical trials, in the area of regenerative medicine, are now being conducted to determine whether a child’s own cord blood stem cells may be used to treat cerebral palsy and Type 1 Diabetes. Read more about the trials in a previous blog post.
Despite all the great news about cord blood stem cells and the hope that they provide for the future, there still exists a critical education gap. According to a study published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine nearly 75% of expectant mothers in the study considered themselves “minimally informed” when it comes to cord blood banking.
Categories: Did You Hear?