Today Leah had her appointment with her physiatrist. It went really well! I really like the Dr we see, she is always so positive!
She thinks Leah looks great and loves seeing her improvements! She does feel like her leg is getting a bit tighter and thinks that is because she is growing. She feels like Leah could benefit from some botox in her leg, within the next couple of months. She also said that she recommends if we are going to go ahead with the botox in the leg, that we do a bit in her arm as well. She wants the arm botox to be followed by Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (Casting), she believes we will see the best results by doing it that way.
I did get a chance to discuss my questions about Cord Blood. We didn't bank Leah's cord blood, but thought we'd look into banking this babies. I wanted to discuss banking this babies cord blood and possibly using it for Stem Cell Therapy for Leah. She said that she has not seen results from doing the Stem Cell Therapy on someone as high-functioning as Leah. She encourages us to research and make the best decision, but she went on to say that we really need to weigh the amount of time, the travel, the expense etc. She said that she has seen many parents go into the SCT thinking that their child will be "cured" and in turn the results are very minimal. She believes that Leah will be able to do everything a typical person can and at this point in time does not believe that stem cell therapy is the way to go...although she highly encourages banking the cord blood. Anyone have any thoughts? Or experiences with any of this? I'd LOVE to hear it!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Physiatrist Appointment
Posted by Amanda at 4:30 PM
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My opinion is similar to the physician's. For links to several blogs of parents who have experience with SCT, see this post: http://www.therextras.com/therextras/2009/09/cord-blood-treatment-for-cp.html
Great news she is doing so well. Congrats on the next child.
Barbara
Hello,
I am pregnant and was recently approached by the representative of a Core Blood Bank about the possibility of saving the cord blood as future insurance for my child. I liked the idea but the cost of perseverance is quite high. I have also come to know that menstrual blood also has stem cells that can be used for transplant. Do you have any idea about that?
We're in the same boat and have heard the same things. Because Avery is so high functioning like Leah, I'm leaning toward not banking the cord blood this time. The one day I was really conflicted and not sure what to do, our paper had a story on the front page about the success researchers are now having with turning skin cells into stem cells/brain cells (from rats). So I feel like the technology and research is already there with animals; it may not be too far behind for humans and there would be no need for the cord blood anyway. I don't know... It's a tough decision! But I'm glad Leah and the baby are doing so well!
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