Ava's Stem Cell Fundraiser

UPDATE:
Its official, we have booked our dates at the Stem Cell Institute for October 8th!! With that being said, I now have to push harder to make sure we have enough money to go and praying/asking for everyone's help. 
In the last 3 weeks, we have been to Seattle, Portland and home in Spokane getting lots of new testing/imaging/blood work done. We have found out that Ava's hips are moving due to her diagnosis of Dystonia(which we found out while in Seattle). After all of the testing and imagining, we decided it was time to book the stem cell treatment and need to start moving a little faster. 


Original:
Two years ago I was  blessed with the birth of my daughter, Ava Grace.

I knew my life would be changed, little did I know by how much.  Only a short 6 hours after being born, Ava began to have seizures.  It was later determined that she had suffered a lack of oxygen before or during birth.  The doctors told us that there was damage to her brain and her future was unknown.  Fast forward 6 months and the seizures increased to 30 or 40 per day.  Thank God the seizures are now under control with the help of medication! At this point she was diagnosed with epilepsy.

At one year old she was officially diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.  There are varying degrees of CP and Ava would probably be in the middle of the range.  Countless hours have been and will continue to be spent in therapies of all kinds. 

 At two years old, Ava Grace is the light of my life.  I could never imagine a life without her! Ava has brought so much love and joy to everyone who knows her.  My  world revolves around her.  There is no cure but there is a chance to improve her quality of life through Stem Cell Therapy.  Ava is an excellent candidate and has been accepted to the Stem Cell Therapy Institute in Panama.  They are the leader in stem cell therapy for Cerebral Palsy. Unfortunately this is not covered by insurance.  At age two Ava has yet to sit up, crawl, talk, or walk.  She does have a few words in her vocabulary, of which “Hi” is her favorite.  Eating on her own is a challenge because of the difficulty with hand and arm control.  Ava has come so far in her short two years and I am confident that with stem cell therapy, her gains will far exceed our expectations.  There are numerous first hand experiences of how successful the therapy can be with very little risk.


It is difficult to have a child with special needs, as some of you may know.  My heart aches for how hard Ava has to work for her milestones. I spend countless hours researching ways in which I can help her to improve her quality of life.  
 

Thank you in advance for your thoughts, prayers, and donations to Ava’s Journey.