Cynthia Hextell's Blog

BIG NEWS! First FDA approved clinical trial for children with Cerebral Palsy using cord blood

MamaHextell — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:22:55 +0000

I am so excited! The Medical College of Georgia has begun accepting patients for the first FDA-approved clinical trial to evaluate the use of a child’s own cord blood stem cells as a medical intervention for cerebral palsy.

According to Dr. James Carroll, chief of pediatric neurology at Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine and principal investigator of the research, “This study is breaking new ground in advancing therapies for brain injury — a condition for which there is currently no cure.”

The study will enroll 40 children ages 2-12 who meet the inclusion criteria for the study.

If you have a child who has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and are interested in learning more about the Medical College of Georgia study please contact them.

I spoke with Dr. James Carroll almost 4 years ago when I was searching for help for Dallas! Now they are starting a clinical trial! This is so exciting! Such great hope for so many children!

Dallas is a big brother!

MamaHextell — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:07:19 +0000

It’s been awhile since my last post. Dallas became a big brother to Kai Jameson born on March 19th…2 weeks early! Labor was a breeze and so was the delivery. Absolutely no complications which was such a blessing after everything we went through with Dallas. We banked our cord blood and the newest thing is we actually banked our umbilical cord which is also rich in stem cells. We love the sense of security this gives us, knowing we have it “just in case”! Dallas is doing great as a big brother and loves to help with the baby! Dallas is starting swim lessons and soccer league this summer and he is very excited! So proud of him!!!!

9 weeks to go!

MamaHextell — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:40:34 +0000

So I just got my cordblood kit in the mail…here we go again! The first time I wasn’t sure about banking our cord blood but this time there is NO question in my mind because we actually had to use it! I can’t believe I only have 9 weeks to go before I have this baby. I try not to think about something being wrong with this baby but after having a baby with special needs you just can’t help it! Going today for another ultrasound because at our 20 week ultrasound they found a small cyst on the baby’s brain! 1 in 100 chance…why us??? Trying to stay positive that everything will be ok. I do feel reassured knowing that we are banking his cord blood just in case! Just received a phone call from Russia from a news station that wants to do a story on Dallas! So proud of our 4 year old making such an impact on the world!

Our new website is live!

MamaHextell — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:36:56 +0000

We are so excited to announce that after months of development our new website has launched! We are so excited thinking about how many families we will be able to help with our new site-based fundraising tools. We are also so proud of Dallas and the many many children he has already helped! The Doctor’s Show did a story on him last week during the episode ‘Amazing Medical Surgeries and Procedures’. We are blessed to have him as our son!

Dallas Hextell

MamaHextell — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:29:58 +0000

Hi I am the mother of Dallas Hextell, who was born with Cerebral Palsy. Dallas was born on January 8, 2006. From the beginning there were signs. Dallas wouldn’t suckle and had to be fed with a tube taped to his parents’ finger. He also had a sensitivity to light and didn’t seem very alert. Around 6 months he was diagnosed with Torticollis (shortened muscles of the neck) that would require physical therapy and Plagiocephaly (flattening of the head) which would require him to wear a helmet 24 hours a day, and Nystagmus (involuntary movement of the eyes) other than that the pediatrician seemed to think he was “just a little behind”.

Something kept tugging at my heart that this was more than “a little behind”. By his eighth month, he still couldn’t sit up without assistance. I was persistent in insisting that he be seen by a neurologist, he was referred to a Pediatric Neurologist who diagnosed Dallas with Cerebral Palsy. The world stopped for a brief moment while we tried to grasp the news that had just been given to us. After the initial shock and heartbreak and even the loss of dreams we had for Dallas, we realized there were new dreams. Immediately we had him enrolled in every therapy possible. If Dallas could get better we would give him every chance possible. After marginal improvement with conventional therapy, Dallas still could not walk, crawl, talk and was missing most milestones. One day it just hit me that we had banked his umbilical cord blood. Although I hadn’t heard of any treatment, I began to research ways to use his cord blood to improve his condition.

The research led to Dr. Kurtzberg at Duke University in North Carolina. Dr. Kurtzberg was performing re-infusions of stem cells on children with Cerebral Palsy using their own cord blood. Dallas’ parents just knew this is why they had banked his cord blood. It was meant to be!

After extensive testing and interviewing with Dr. Kurtzberg, Duke University Medical Center accepted Dallas as a candidate for the stem cell re-infusion. The cord blood from Dallas’ own umbilical cord wouldl be re-infused into him intravenously and the hope was that the new cells would replace the damaged cells in his brain. Dallas became one of the first children in the United States to receive this treatment for Cerebral Palsy. Unfortunately because it is so new, most insurance will not cover this procedure. The procedure is very expensive and this is why we have started the Dallas Hextell Foundation in an effort to help other families with these expenses and also just to be a support to them. Dallas is doing great now and is attending pre-school and is going to be a big brother in March!

Hello world!

MamaHextell — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:49:35 +0000

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