Easter Weekend

We had a wonderful Easter! We got to hang out with Grammy and Aunt Lucille at the beach and got to visit John's family Saturday evening. We had a wonderful time! Aiden dresses to impress in his cool Easter outfit! So cute!

Today we are SUPER excited because our prayers are being answered and everything is really falling into place! We have been researching stem cell treatments in China and talking to a few families across the U.S. who have already been there and back! (Some have already gone TWICE!) It was SO encouraging to hear their stories and gain some insight as to what it would be like for us to try it out.

Basically, there is a "corporation" called Beike Biotech (http://www.beikebiotech.com/) that has been performing these treatments for quite a few years now with marvelous results. Actually, you can youtube "optic nerve hypoplasia" and find TONS of videos of children before and after they left for China! The results are astounding!

Anyway, they are NOT performing experiments, they ARE offering a proven treatment. This does not mean that it is 100% effective and it is not a CURE, but it seems to work for a majority of patients. Also, many people hear the word "stem cell" and are instantly freaked out by the idea of ethical and moral restrictions governing the practice. For this reason, please allow me to clarify. Where we are headed, the doctors/nurses will not be using "embryonic" stem cells - they will SOLELY use stem cells from banked umbilical cord blood (donated by healthy babies when they are first born) or adult stem cells. YAY!!!

Because Aiden is so young, they will likely only administer the treatments via I.V. - although, many older children and adults recieve the treatments by lumbar puncture.

WHY WAS TODAY SO GREAT!?

*We filled out our Beike application and sent it in! We are waiting to hear back which should only take up to 3 days or so, AND we will probably have to retrieve some more "official" documentation from his cast of many specialists (Thank you DUKE!) before they can make a more educated decision about accepting Aiden for treatment.

*ALSO!!! We contacted a really nice lady from an organization called NTAF (National Transplant Assistance Fund) and came to the conclusion that we will be working with them to raise donations!! This may not seem like a huge deal, but actually, legally raising money and accepting donations for us to go to China has been the hardest part! Thankfully, that is JUST what they're there for. They are going to help up through everything - from printing flyers to wiring money to Hong Kong. I am SO thankful to have found them because I was really starting to get discouraged by the lack of resources available for individuals trying to fund-raise. SO, once we are accepted for treatment, we will begin fund-raising immediately!!

MANY THANK YOUS to my WONDERFUL friend Dionne who is helping me build a website for Aiden's Vision. She is going to be sure to link his page with this blog as well as NTAF's site for Aiden so that people can donate, get tax write-offs AND be sure that their money is going where it belongs! Thank you thank you thank youuuu for all your help and hard work! Clearly I am not a technologically advanced person as I am just now learning what it even means to blog! :)

This treatment will cost us anywhere from $35,000 to $50,000! Thankfully, we are surrounded by AMAZING friends and family members who have been NOTHING but completely understanding and supportive! We are praying that through hard work, dedication, the amazing power of technology, and simply word of mouth, Aiden will make it to China in no time! As always, your prayers and support are SO appreciated. We are hoping that once the new site gets launched and the donation page is up and running, we can start sending it out to everyone we know and hopefully the forwarding will be unstoppable!

Aiden is such an AMAZING baby and deserves the best the world has to offer! Thank you fromt he bottom of our hearts for being a part of helping to change his world and his LIFE.

"I thank God for you—the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. "

- 2 Timothy 1:3