" The conditions were great and the people there, the medical staff and everybody, were wonderful people. We were moved by the care that you gave us. We just want to say that we left our country with China in our thoughts and we came back to Romania with China in our hearts. "
Sitting and talking with patients in a stem cell clinic can be a bewildering experience. There are the challenges of living in a hospital for so long. There are always interesting cultural observations of hosts and fellow patients. Then there are the stories of healing.
His doctor's back home might call this another example of "spontaneous improvement in an ONH patient's condition" during their stem cell treatment. Lawrence describes it as dizzying increases in peripheral vision and the sensation of intense colors he hadn't seen before. In this video we speak with Lawrence and his mother, Georgina, about coming to China and his experience receiving transplants. He did not receive a miracle or a cure. But he got a little more of the site he was always designed to have.
His doctors must be baffled. Two years on and David is still not overgrown with cancerous tumors resulting from stem cell therapy. David Ozzello received treatment two years ago to stave off the advancement of Multiple Sclerosis. At home in the US he sat for an update with us about his current condition.
You can find David's Patient Experience here. Can't see the embedded video above? Click here.
Lachlan has been diagnosed with autism. He goes to a special school in Australia for children with behavioral disabilities. Last year Lachlan received adult stem cells to treat symptoms associated with autism. For a month Lachlan and his mother lived at the Chengyang People's Hospital where he received treatment.
The treatments are not meant to be a cure for autism. Medical science has yet to fully understand the causes of the disorder let alone discover drugs to correct it. Today, treatments seek to improve patients' quality of life as they endure their disability.
Read his full Patient Experience from Qingdao here. Can't see the video? Click here.
A CHARLESTOWN boy is showing marked signs of improvement in sight after his first round of stem cell treatment.
Connor Wink, 11, and his mother Tracey recently returned from China where he received a round of injections, which are not available in Australia.
The treatment appears to have had dramatic results.
Connor has gained light perception, a sign the treatment is working.
Born blind, he also suffers nystagmus, a condition which means Connor has poor muscle control causing his eyes to move frequently.
"That has slowed right down so it's certainly a big plus," Mrs Wink said.
Connor is the second Hunter child to undergo stem cell treatment in China.
Holly Arvidson, 12, of Denman, is having a second round of the procedure in a bid to restore her sight.
For the past 12 months, The Herald has been following the progress of Holly, who is in China with her family for the treatment which involves stem cell injections, acupuncture and bone marrow cultivation.
Blind Matthews resident says overseas stem cell therapy is helping him
see
Last month, Adam Kitchen dropped a paperclip on the floor at work and picked it up with ease.
A mundane occurrence for most, it’s a major victory for Kitchen, who has been legally blind since birth and until a few weeks ago wouldn’t have been able to see the paperclip on the floor.
Matthews-Mint Hill Weekly first told you about Kitchen in September 2009. Since then, his family raised the nearly $40,000 needed to send him to China for stem cell treatments and, it appears, they’re working.
A 32-year-old Matthews resident, Kitchen admits he doesn’t look blind. The husband and father of four wears glasses and doesn’t use a walking cane or Seeing Eye dog. But Kitchen can’t drive, watch sporting events or read to his children. He has optic nerve atrophy, caused by eye nerves that didn’t fully develop. The salesman with south Charlotte’s Excite Telecommunications traveled to China in February with his wife and high school sweetheart, Lori, for the treatments. Kitchen’s 8-year-old daughter, Cora, and 28-year-old brother, Jared, have the disorder, too.
VISION-IMPAIRED sisters Moana and Leilani Faasisila have returned from China where they had therapy to improve their sight - with promising results.
The Quakers Hill girls, aged seven and five, were born with Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis - while they were still in the womb their retinas were already deteriorating due to a missing protein.
Leilani has no depth perception and can only see colours that are vibrant.
Moana can only see bright light and shadow.
Their only hope of improving their sight was stem cell therapy in China - at a cost of $38,000.
Through the support of the Rouse Hill Renegades rugby union team and the Ettamogah Hotel, the community dug deep at a cocktail fundraiser in February and in March the family of six travelled to China so the girls could receive treatment.
The girls’ treatment consisted of three intravenous injections, three spinal injections of donated cord blood, acupuncture, acupressure and electrowave therapy.
Mum Honi Faasisila said: “While we were there we noticed very subtle differences in Leilani’s vision.
