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Other Children's Stories
Hailey & Luke
Kara
Nathaniel
Zachary
Patrick
Malcolm
Bailee
Nick
Hailey & Luke's Story
I want to take this opportunity to thank Gracie’s Hope for
their concern as well as their very generous financial
grant. About a month ago, I contacted Shannon Pridmore after
seeing she had extended the offer to help another family
through Gracie’s Hope on a list-serve I am a member of. I
explained to Shannon what tremendous effects HBOT has had
for my two children, especially my daughter who is a
casualty of vaccine damage. Until I spoke with Shannon, I
felt like all my options were exhausted for any type of
support for the children to continue to receive these
treatments. Our private insurance would not cover the
treatments as they are considered “off label” in spite of
obvious, measurable changes documented by their physicians
and therapists. Other private organizations geared to assist
disabled children were willing to help with the cost of
traditional types of therapy, but would not extend financial
backing for HBOT which they deemed experimental.
Just to give some brief background, I am a
single parent raising two children with disabilities. My son
has Down Syndrome. As soon as he was born, I began searching
for ways to help him reach his greatest potential. I feel
like we’ve tried every traditional and alternative therapy
under the sun with varying degrees of success. He is high
functioning and quite athletic. His major struggles are with
stuttering and cognitive delays.
 My
daughter was born a happy, healthy baby, an answer to
prayer, and her brother’s savior. To know that my son would
now have someone to love him and look after him when I was
gone was a tremendous relief. All that changed when my son
developed a terrible rash the pediatrician thought might be
the measles. The physician insisted my beautiful 6 month old
baby girl be vaccinated immediately or I could count myself
responsible for her contracting viral encephalitis or her
death. Backed into a corner I allowed him to immunize
her. Not only did she receive the MMR, but for some reason
he also decided to administer the DPT, HiB and polio
vaccines. Within 24 hours she started seizure activity. A
long story made short, she ended up with severe apraxia, a
global motor planning disorder, compromised immune system,
SID, pediatric fibromyalgia,( the list goes on and on). She
suffered with the debilitating effects of fibromyalgia for 5
years without a proper diagnosis or treatment. Migraines
associated with FM lasted all day, everyday, and much of the
time she was reduced to crawling from her bed to the
bathroom or couch. It was impossible for her to remain awake
longer than 45 minutes at a time. Her doctors had no answers
for us. Life was pretty despairing during those years.
HBOT has changed my daughter’s life. After
64 treatments you would never guess she was the same child.
She has made phenomenal gains in all areas and my son has
made progress as well in speech and cognition. The staff at
the HBOT center estimate my daughter will need well over 100
treatments to make a full recovery.
The HBOT center the children receive
treatments from is out of state. A lovely angel of a woman
has donated housing to us for several months each year while
the children have undergone therapy. The slot she had
reserved for us was fast approaching, but with a steep debt
incurred from many years of medical and therapy costs I
thought I would have to call her and sadly tell her to give
our housing to another needy family. Gracie’s Hope has
stepped in and offered to cover a very large portion of the
HBOT costs for the next 40 treatments for my
children. Without their care and generosity we would not be
able continue with this therapy which holds hope for my son
as well as the answer for my daughter’s recovery. They are
helping to give her back her life. I will never be able to
thank Gracie’s Hope enough for giving us this chance.
Thank you and God bless you in your
ministry,
Susan
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Kara's Story
Our daughter, Kara, has always been a very bright girl. She
works hard at school, makes straight A's, and gives 100%
effort at everything she does.
 In
May 2006, at age 11, Kara fell 30 feet from a magnolia tree
causing her to sustain nasty cuts, bruises and even worse,
bleeding on the brain. She began having severe headaches,
couldn't concentrate and was feeling dizzy all the time. We
thought her symptoms would subside with time, but
unfortunately they got worse. She began having trouble in
school and had a constant headache with severe dizziness.
Not knowing what to do for her was heartbreaking. We
researched a few alternative options and decided to try
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, a therapy that had helped others
that we knew.
In July 2006, with the help
of Gracie's Hope, Kara was able to receive 20 HBO treatments
or "dives". After her 10th dive Kara's headache subsided. By
the end of her 20 "dives" she was not complaining of
dizziness or lack of concentration. Thank you Gracie's Hope
and HBOT for giving Kara a new start. It's now January 2007
and Kara is still symptom FREE!!!!
Heather and Jason
(Kara's mom and dad)
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Nathaniel's Story
 Nathaniel was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder just two weeks before
his third birthday. We were given no hope for him by the developmental
pediatrician, but instead told to just do the best we could for him. After much
internet research, we stumbled upon the DAN protocol, and quickly researched
our options. After selecting a DAN physician, Nathaniel began biomedical
interventions. The three greatest interventions that have made a huge
difference in his life are Chelation, HBOT, and ABA therapy. In just two short
weeks of beginning Chelation, Nathaniel went from an affectionate but quiet and
solitary child to a very interactive child with language blossoming. We had
planned to begin ABA therapy on the day that Daddy lost his job last fall. Financial difficulties have abounded for us while the job search was underway as
we tried to pay the essential bills, and continue Nathaniel's road toward
recovery from autism. Thanks to Gracie's Hope, we were able to continue
Chelation and ABA therapy even during this difficult time. I pray that those
with plenty will generously contribute to Gracie's Hope, so that many children
with autism and other special needs can receive whatever intervention needed to
aid their recovery and quality of life no matter what their family's financial
status is. Thank you Gracie's Hope, and God bless you.
Sincerely,
Robin & Meleah Corner
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Zachary's Story
Zachary Bennett Anderson was born on November 30, 2005. He
is the son of Jeremy and Corrie Anderson, grandson to
Dominick (Jr) and Patricia Coniguliaro and great grandson to
Mary Coniguliaro. Zachary came into the world healthy and
strong, his first two months of life where precious for the
whole family. His five year old twin sisters, Merry and
Shelby where thrilled with the new addition. At two months
of age he was omitted to the hospital for a respitory virus
called RSV. This virus is fairly common and most babies end
up home and fine after a few days. While testing for RSV,
the doctors also found a staph infection in Zachary’s
blood. With two strikes against him, his
body became weak, the third and final blow came when
Zachary’s body shut down in his mother’s arms and he began
to slip away. He was without oxygen for 17-23 minutes; the
medical team did revive him enough to roll him down the hall
to the intensive care unit, where he remanded for ten days.
In those ten days his parents were told that he may never
breathe on his own, many of his body functions and organs
may not work properly and that one day he might go home, but
he would go home with a major brain injury affecting every
aspect of his life. The journey from then to now is more
than words can describe with its highs, lows, peaks and deep
dark valleys. Zachary is far from the whole person we
believe he will be, but we are thrilled to say he is not
hooked up to breathing machines or feeding tubes; he is not
living at a hospital or treatment center, but at home with
his family. To date Zachary is 18 months old; he does not
sit up, crawl or walk. His favorite position is being held
over the shoulder being talked to and kissed on the check or
lying on his belly. He bottle feeds and is slowly working
on spoon feeding. He sees many therapist for speech (mouth
skills) and motor skill, like holding and object or working
on his neck control. We are not sure of his vision at this
point and many things are an unknown. He has not yet been
official diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, but his doctors are
making us aware that by the age of two or three this may be
the diagnosis. Cerebral Palsy is not a death sentence;
there are many degrees; mild, moderate, severe. We are
currently helping Zach succeed by using an alternative
treatment called Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBO) – as an
alternative treatment it is not covered by Zach’s
insurance. If you take any time at all to research this
treatment the success stories are amazing and have given the
Anderson family hope to pursue treatments that could improve
Zachary’s life. Thanks to Gracie’s Hope we were able to
begin our first set of treatments June 2007. We are also
excited to see Gracie’s Hope open a clinic of their own to
bring these treatments closer to the Charlotte Metro area in
the Fall. Although, we do not have all the answers, we know
THE ONE who does and stand firm on Gods Word that says:
“Jesus
looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but
with God all things are possible." (Matt 19:26)
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Patrick's Story
 Patrick
Nguyen was a healthy baby boy born on September 3rd,
1990 to his proudly parents, Phi and Lanee Nguyen. Our
paradise heaven on earth and dreaming of him will be a great
engineer following his parents’ footstep. And becomes one of
a member of Ivy League.
All these dreams were shattered when Patrick Nguyen was
diagnosed with the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) just two
weeks before his second birthday. Our older son had Autism.
As soon as we realized his conditions and needs we began
searching for ways to help him to reach his greatest
potential. We tried many therapies including speech,
occupational, behavioral therapy. We have tried alternative
therapies for Patrick such as DMSA/DMPS Chelations, Gluten
free and Casein free (GFCF) with some success.
Patrick is low functioning and quite athletic - Patrick
Nguyen enjoys swimming, skiing in winter, jet and water
skiing in summer. His major struggles are non-verbal and
cognitive delays.
Several months ago, we heard about the Hyperbaric Oxygen
Therapy (HBOT). It has been used in many cases of ASD and
shown benefits. We search for more information and the
availability in our area. The largest obstacle for us was
the fund to pay for this therapy. With our bills piling up
from Patrick’s past and existing expenses, we were running
out of mean to pay for the HBOT. Our minds were taunted with
the picture of Patrick missing the great opportunity to try
this therapy which could provide recovery or improve his
quality of life.
We prayed everyday to find a solution. We contacted the
Gracie’s Hope in the mid of July 2007. Our prayer was
answered by the Gracie’s Hope. The Gracie’s Hope has helped
Patrick Nguyen for 20 HBOT treatments. We saw some
improvement in the first 15 treatments. He’s aware more of
his surrounding such as pointing and reminding us the
traffic light and its colors. Patrick showed more
self-simulation and hyperactive in the following 10 plus
treatments. We discussed with Patrick’s DAN doctor and he
decided to stop the HBOT treatment to evaluate the yeast
issue which he suspected the culprit of the increasing of
the hyperactivity. We hope to resume the treatment again.
We have learned so much on the journey to find helps for
Patrick. We have found much generosity from many friends to
provide us with encouragements and funds. We believe God’s
works are being done through these helpers along our
difficult journey.
The Parents of Patrick Nguyen and younger brother, Paul
are truly appreciated for your extremely kindness to give
Patrick a chance at life, a good life. We know that your
organization the Gracie’s Hope wants to make certain these
kids like Patrick get every chance to live a quality of
life.
Once again, Thank you very much for your help and support
of my son’s HBOT treatment. The Nguyen family is truly
appreciated your generosity.
Very respectfully Yours,
Phi, Lanee, Patrick, and Paul Nguyen
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Malcolm's Story
 Dear
Shannon Pridmore and Gracie's Hope Board Members,
I want to first thank you
for your support in HBOT. Malcolm did 15 sessions here in
Illinois @ the Arlington Heights Longevity Center. Malcolm
who is now 14 has been doing HBOT since September 2005. He
has been diagnosis as cognitive delay and epilepsy disorder.
He also gross motor( low muscle tone) and lack of
coordination, Sensory dysfunction, fine motor and speech
articulation. He has shown gains in these areas and more
since beginning this therapy. He has now done 79 total
including the 15 sessions he did in Arlington Heights.
Malcolm's whole person has been affected positively by this
therapy he is calmer and less impulsive. Again I want to
thank you all for being here organizations like yours give
families and the children (of course) hope of a good quality
future.
Thanks
Cordella Jones
Malcolm Johnson's Mom
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 Bailee's
StoryBailee Elizabeth Masters was born on
September 12, 2006. She was 10 weeks early, weighing only 2
˝ pounds, and was in the NICU for over 5 weeks. Bailee
suffered a grade IV bleed and has bilateral PVL. She was
diagnosed with cerebral palsy near her first birthday.
Bailee has significant motor delays as well as some
cognitive delays. At 18 months old she is not sitting up
independently, rolling or crawling.
After hearing about hyperbaric oxygen therapy, we decided
we wanted to try HBOT for Bailee. With the generous help of
Gracie’s Hope we were able to bring Bailee to Charlotte
Metro Hyperbarics for her 40 sessions. Bailee loved going in
the chamber and
watching Elmo and playing peek-a-boo with everyone outside
of the tank. Bailee has shown great improvements with her
HBOT. Although she isn’t 100% independently sitting, her
head, neck and back muscles are so much stronger. She is
prop sitting very well and she has rolled over countless
times since HBOT. She is using her left hand and arm (which
was very limited before) and seems to interact and connect
better with her surrounding. We are very excited for her
progress and cannot wait to come back to Charlotte for more
treatments. Thank you Gracie’s Hope!!!
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Catastrophic
stroke -- ataxic (unable to maintain balance) and aphasic
(slurred and impaired speech.)