The power of prayer

One of my clients at work has a daughter who could sure use your prayers today. Seven-year-old Addy decided to enter this world a little differently from others—she was born with some pretty severe brain injuries. Something happened early on (in the first trimester) to cause calcifications in her brain and cataracts in her eyes. She also had a severe hemorrhage throughout her brain as well as in her eyes during labor. Today she will have a stem cell procedure at Duke University, which will hopefully help improve her condition. If you could send good vibes her away around 2 pm, Central that would be wonderful. Here is her mother's email:

Hello friends and family!

As some of you know, Addy and I are heading down to Duke University in North Carolina tomorrow, Sunday April 5. We are going down there for an innovative medical procedure. A physician at Duke has developed a protocol for re-infusing cord blood stem cells into a child with a brain injury. We saved Addy's umbilical cord blood when she was born and it has been frozen and stored for the last 7 years. So, they are going to take the stem cells in her cord blood in reintroduce them into her body via IV (like a blood transfusion). It is a simple IV procedure, and the risks are very minimal, since it is basically her
own blood.

As many of you know, the stem cells have the opportunity to evolve into many different types of cells, including brain cells, to help heal an area in the body that has been injured, and thus hopefully improve function. The physician at Duke has found the most improvement in her patients within 6-12 months after the re-infusion. So we will be increasing her therapy and working with her as much as possible, to help make the most of these cells' potential. It is up to Addy to show us the amazing things she can do within these stem cells.

The people at Duke estimate that Addy will receive the re-infusion some time around 2 pm, central, on Tuesday, April 7. Please take a few minutes on Tuesday to send some positive thoughts towards Addy or say a prayer for Addy—and feel free to pass this email on to others—this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and Addy needs all the support she can get !!

Thank you in advance for your support, thoughts and prayers on Tuesday, and I will be adding blog entries on our family website at:http://web.me.com/jerynkonezny.

Happy spring!
Jeryn