Other Children's Stories
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
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)
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
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
admitted to the hospital for a respiratory 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 officially 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 (HBOT) – 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)
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
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
Bailee's Story
Bailee Elizabeth Masters was born on September 12, 2006. She was 10
weeks early, weighing only 2 ½ 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!!!
Nick's Story
Catastrophic stroke — ataxic (unable to maintain balance) and
aphasic (slurred and impaired speech.)
Nick hovered in a coma for five weeks in San Diego Children's Hospital. When he eventually awoke, he was unable to talk or walk. Was Nick's life "over" in a normal sense? His parents refused to believe so and their research led them to hard-chamber hyperbarics. Nevertheless, the pediatric neurologists at the hospital were not experienced in the use of HBOT for strokes and were reluctant to write the needed prescription for 'Nick to commence treatments.
However, the Hospital's pediatric rehabilitation specialist was familiar with the benefits of HBOT on stroke patients and strongly encouraged the family to find a center to treat 'Nick. The specialist physician happily wrote the prescription. Next, the North Carolina Children's Charity "Gracie's Hope" also stepped in as angels and granted the family enough for 100 HBOT treatments.
After 25 HBOT treatments Nick was able to stand. His speech improved. By 45 HBOT treatments. Nick is now graduating from wheel-chair/walking frame and is now using forearm crutches. Nick will attend high school like any other student his age.