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Andy’s Story – The Lifesaving Potential of Sibling Cord Blood
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
Most families see cord blood banking as a valuable opportunity – a chance to preserve stem cells that, if one of their children falls ill in the future, might provide a lifesaving treatment option. Andres and Paulina Treviño are a startling exception: when they banked their daughter Sofia’s cord blood with Viacord, they already planned to use her stem cells to treat and potentially help save her brother Andy from a life-threatening immune disorder.
Rewind five years to when, after Andy was born in Mexico City, a barrage of infections kept him hospitalized for most of his first 16 months. When Andy’s doctors couldn’t understand why, they advised Andres and Paulina to find specialized care. Coincidentally, one of the Treviños’ neighbors had a cousin who worked at Children’s Hospital Boston. They learned the hospital is a a world leader in helping families overcome even the most complicated immune disorders. So they packed their bags and carried Andy thousands of miles away.
Categories: Family Matters, Transplants and Infusions
A Look Back at 2011 with our ViaCord Families
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
For more than 15 years, ViaCord has been proud to provide families the option to privately store their newborn’s umbilical cord blood for potential use in a medical treatment. Over the years we’ve seen many families in need of a stem cell treatment turn to the cord blood stem cells they’ve banked with us. At the beginning of 2011, ViaCord released its 200th cord blood unit to help treat a child with cerebral palsy. This milestone gave us a chance to reflect on the advancements cord blood stem cells have made in medical applications over the past two decades – from being used to treat just one disease twenty years ago, to nearly 80 today; as well as being studied by scientists in the area of regenerative medicine. It also made us think of the faces, the hearts and the family stories behind the 200 number.
Let’s take a look back at some of the heartwarming ViaCord family stories from 2011…
Categories: Family Matters, Stories of Hope
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
Cord Blood in Action: The Pages Share Their Heartwarming Story
Monday, July 18th, 2011
Like many expecting parents, Ben and Jamie Page debated the pros and cons associated with cord blood banking. After much discussion, they ultimately decided to save Harlow’s cord blood with ViaCord “just in case”. According to Jamie, “we did it not thinking we would need it just a few months later.” When Harlow was just four months old doctors discovered a “grapefruit sized mass in her stomach” and “nobody could agree” on what kind of cancer it was. As treatment options were discussed the Pages wondered if the stem cells from her cord blood could be used to treat their daughter’s aggressive cancer.
In an interview with MommyCast’s Gretchen Vogelzang, the Pages discuss this “heartwarming story with a great ending,” that reminds us what a valuable resource cord blood stem cells can be. As Gretchen says, “the best form of
Categories: Current Treatments, Family Matters, Transplants and Infusions
Cord Blood in Action – Baby Harlow’s Story
Monday, May 23rd, 2011
Parental instinct is a powerful thing. Parents have an eye for ear infections and know the something-is-just-not-right signs of an impending cold or flu. For Jamie and her husband, Ben, they knew something was wrong when their daughter, Harlow, started crying more than usual just 2 weeks after she was born. Doctors said it was likely colic and suggested new formulas and different sleeping strategies, but Harlow wasn’t getting better. At 3 months old, her stomach swelled, and she stopped having wet diapers.
Putting a name to the problem
After a trip to the emergency room and several tests, Jamie and Ben got some startling news: a grapefruit-sized, cancerous tumor was blocking Harlow’s kidney. To make matters worse, pathologists couldn’t identify just what type of cancer it was. Finally, a team of pediatric oncologists operating out of Chicago concluded that Harlow’s cancer most resembled a rare type of brain cancer, and should be treated as such.
Unsure of a prognosis for Harlow, doctors did determine chemotherapy was the best protocol for treatment. Although Jaime and Ben feared watching their daughter suffer the painful…
Categories: Current Treatments, Family Matters, Transplants and Infusions
Reinforcement from a ViaCord Mom
Thursday, January 6th, 2011
When Julie and Jason heard about a research study re-infusing children with their own cord blood stem cells to help treat cerebral palsy, they were thankful they’d saved their daughter’s just years before. Rebecca was born with a neurological impairment that causes difficulty speaking and using her limbs. Despite having the physical ability to do so, Rebecca’s brain prevents her from executing familiar and learned movements. Although verbal communication may be a challenge for this bright five year old girl, her constant smile, big hugs and love of playing with other kids says it all – Rebecca is one of the happiest, healthiest, and friendliest little girls you could ever meet.
In July 2009 Rebecca received a re-infusion of her own cord blood stem cells in the hopes of improving her condition. Though Julie and Jason have not seen much progress in Rebecca since the re-infusion of her cord blood
Categories: Emerging Treatments, Family Matters, Stories of Hope