Lincoln was born 3 months early and only weighed 2lbs 1oz. at birth. Due to being so severely premature, he suffered extensive bleeding and swelling in his brain. To help with the swelling, Lincoln had 7 brain surgeries to have two shunts placed in his brain.
Lincoln spent his first 4 months in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit. And finally, after 120 days, our little superhero got to come home!
All of the brain bleeding and swelling at birth resulted in severe developmental delay and Cerebral Palsy. Lincoln is now 7 years old. Cerebral Palsy effects Lincoln's ability to stand, walk, talk, eat, and use his left hand. He is mostly non-verbal and primarily uses a wheelchair for his mobility but is able to use his adaptive trike whenever he can.
Duke University ran a clinical trial of Stem Cell treatments for children with Cerebral Palsy. The results of that trial were extremely positive and found "improve(d) brain connectivity and motor function.....and progressed beyond their expected increases when they were tested a year after infusion."
3 years ago, I found a doctor in Pasadena, CA making progress with Stem Cell Therapy for children with Cerebral Palsy. The cost of the treatments are not covered by insurance and are very expensive. But we knew it was worth a try, so we took Lincoln across country for this cutting-edge treatment and are SO HAPPY we did (we even made superhero shirts for our adventure)!
Within weeks, we saw improvement in almost all areas of Lincoln's life:
- increase concentration
- his left had no longer fisted when he clapped
- increased fine motor skills
- his ability to walk up stairs improved
Before Video (click link): Lincoln has limited weight bearing capability, his feet would scissor and tended to do "fast feet" instead of pushing up at each step
After Video (click link): Dramatic improvement in his ability to bear his own weight, almost no scissoring and pushed up on his own at each step without "fast feeting" like he used to
Every single person on Lincoln's team has noticed a difference! We received a note from his therapist saying "we have noticed a large increase in understanding and following basic directions when told just once 'touch this, hit the ball, grab the ball, wipe your hands'. It's awesome!"
And an email from his teacher:
Lincoln's Developmental Optometrist Specialist was absolutely SHOCKED when she saw a 25% improvement in his optic nerve pigmentation. Lincoln has optic nerve atrophy, which means his nerves were permanently gray instead of the bright pink they should be. After receiving 2 rounds of stem cells, she found his nerves to now be a dull pink and said "without a shadow of a doubt, the result is from the Stem Cell Treatments improving the pigmentation" as it's otherwise impossible).
Lincoln had this toy for years but previously didn't have the ability or understanding how to play with it. He was so excited to finally learn how to play with it!
It has been truly amazing progress!
The best part is, these gains are all permanent! Stem cells do not regress, so these are permanent improvements Lincoln will now have forever!
It's been over 2 years since Lincoln's last treatment and we need help for more treatments. We'd like to do 3 more treatments by the time he's 10yrs old. All funds raised go directly to Lincoln's ever increasing treatment costs. The cost of the treatment increases based on his size, so the older he gets, the more expensive the treatment is.
More information about stem cell therapy or the source of stem cells can be found here .