Family says stem cell therapy has helped blind boy with cerebral palsy

Sitting in front of his occupational therapist last week at a Novi rehab facility, 9-year-old Kaden Strek had a choice to make: the green plastic turtle or the blue one.

 

"Where's the green?" asked his therapist, Sara Wasser.
 

After a slight pause, Kaden reached out and plucked the green turtle out of Wasser's hand. A big smile spread across his face.
 

"Good job!" cheered Wasser.
 

A year ago, Kaden, of St. Clair Shores, couldn't see most colors. Born several months premature, he suffered a severe brain bleed as an infant and was later diagnosed with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy and blindness. As a result, he could only see some shapes, colors and patterns.
 

Now, a year after receiving eight cord blood stem cell infusions in China, Kaden can see not only primary colors but pastels. His language has improved dramatically, and he's saying new words every day and speaking in some sentences, said his mother, Eddie (short for Elizabeth) Strek. Even his walking and balance have improved.

And his family believes stem cells have made all the difference.
 

"This has given him a whole new kind of independence and control over himself that he's never had," Eddie Strek said. "It's so exciting to see."
 

So happy with his improvement over the last year, the Streks are raising money for Kaden to go back to China for another round of stem cell therapy, hopefully next summer. They'll need about $38,000 for treatment and travel costs.

Stem cell therapy is available only for certain conditions in the United States, and cerebral palsy is not among them. The therapy has become a big business overseas, available everywhere from Mexico to Thailand.
 

Treatment programs are offered for a host of conditions, but they're often very expensive, and critics question their efficacy.
 

Beike Biotechnology, the firm that conducted Kaden's stem cell therapy, treats more than 200 international patients a month with stem cell therapy.
 

Researchers such as Larry Goldstein, director of the University of California San Diego's stem cell program, are very wary of overseas programs. They question where the stem cells come from and wonder about possible risks.
 

In a case such as Kaden's, Goldstein said it's hard to tell whether stem cells made a difference or if he improved on his own.
 

"That is what clinical trials are for," he said in an email last week. "Every disease fluctuates in symptoms, and kids with developmental diseases tend to continue developing albeit at different rates. How does one know whether the transplant caused improvement versus intensive physical therapy versus fluctuation versus normal developmental improvements that would have happened anyway?"
 

Eddie Strek disagrees. She said Kaden has received fairly extensive therapy his entire life. He now receives occupational therapy and speech therapy four days a week.
 

"There's just no other explanation" for his progress since the cord blood stem cell infusions, she said.

Eddie said she noticed a change in Kaden's vision within 48 hours after his first infusion in China last summer. She was talking with her husband, Tom, on Skype with Kaden next to her when Kaden wanted to get closer to the screen and was looking intently at his dad.
 

"He can see me!" said Tom.
 

Wasser, an occupational therapist with Children's Hospital of Michigan's Novi rehabilitation facility, said Kaden also is using the left side of his body now, something he didn't really do before stem cells. Kaden is the first patient Wasser has ever worked with who's had a stem cell transplant.
 

"I've been an OT for over 10 years, and this is the first patient I've ever had who has regained vision," Wasser said. "… For him, it's really teaching him to use something that he never had before."
 

That means teaching Kaden basic items such as cat, ball and bike. His mom said he knew what a cat said before, but didn't know what one looked like.
 

Working with Wasser during a recent therapy session, Kaden stared at an augmentative communication device the size of a laptop computer. The screen showed a grid with 15 squares. A bell popped up in one square. Kaden had to track it across the screen and tap it with a small pointer. Eventually, the grid got bigger and the bell got smaller, but he still found the bell.
 

Eddie Strek said it's frustrating that stem cell treatment largely isn't available in the United States, because "so many people could be helped."
 

"These are tangible results," Eddie Strek said. "Anyone that knew him before and sees him now, you can see the results. He's a different kid."

PS from Don Margolis: We featured Kaden last year as the family was preparing to go to China.  You can find that article by putting STREK in the search box above.