The Don Margolis Blog

THE EYES OF THE BLIND SHALL SEE ‚ PART I

‚“RYLEA‚

(2 months after treatment)

...the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

Isaiah 29:18

STEM-CELL TRANSPLANTS PROVIDE HOPE FOR FAMILY OF BLIND GIRL

Published September 02, 2007 07:59 pm - WEBB CITY, Mo.

By Wally Kennedy - wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

WEBB CITY, Mo. ‚ Rylea Barlett was born blind six years ago today. Her optic nerves did not develop. She was diagnosed when she was a few months old. Doctor after doctor gave her no hope of ever seeing.

On July 4, the girl received the first of five stem-cell transplants. The stem cells were from umbilical cords. (Stem cells from umbilical cords are ‚“Adult‚ stem cell ‚ DM) The transplants were done in a remote hospital in China.

Her mother, Dawn Barlett, was told not to expect anything for months. One week after the first transplant, her daughter was responding to the glow of a penlight. ‚“Three weeks ago on Sunday (Aug. 12), she asked me to get the penlight,‚ Barlett said. ‚“She wanted to show me where the light was. She kept grabbing at it. She could see the high contrast.‚

Then it occurred to Barlett that Rylea might be able to distinguish the features of a person's face. ‚“I told her I wanted to show her something,‚ Barlett said. ‚“I held my breath and put my face in front of her face. I pulled away and asked her what she saw.

‚“She said: ‚I saw my Mommy. Mommy, you are beautiful.

‚Uncharted territory

For Barlett, the years of continually searching for ways to bring sight to her daughter's hazel eyes, the raising of thousands of dollars through donations, the trip to the other side of the globe and the unknowns associated with an experimental treatment ‚ at that moment ‚ had all been worth it.

‚“I started bawling,‚ Barlett said. ‚“She could identify everyone. She had never seen her brother, her sister or me. She had never been able to see ‚ other than to feel ‚ a person's face. She could now put a face with a person.

‚“What we are seeing now, they did not expect for us to have.

We're building nerves.‚

Rylea could be the first patient anywhere with optic-nerve hypoplasia to benefit from stem-cell transplants from umbilical cords. Larry Brothers, her optometrist in Joplin, said: ‚“Her optic nerves did not work. They would not send light back to the brain. People with optic-nerve hypoplasia never develop vision. This is the first case ever ‚ since the Bible ‚ where someone's sight has been restored.

The complete article can be found here:

http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/local_story_245195943.html

THE EYES OF THE BLIND SHALL SEE ‚ PART II

‚“RYLEA‚

(6 months after treatment)

...the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

Isaiah 29:18

CHRISTMAS A LITTLE BRIGHTER FOR CHILD

Published December 23, 2007 12:11 am - WEBB CITY, Mo.

By Wally Kennedy

wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

Rylea Barlett has had Christmas trees in her home before. But this year is different. Rylea, a totally blind child whose vision was restored by a stem-cell transplant, can do more than feel her tree now. She can see it.

To read the complete article:

http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/local_story_357001135.html

THE EYES OF THE BLIND SHALL SEE ‚ PART IIa

‚“RYLEA IS NOT ALONE‚

...the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

Isaiah 29:18

HOPING FOR SIGHT

Treatment in China may enable 6-year-old Rylee Lovett to see

By DOUGLAS JORDAN - Special to The Record

Posted: Monday, December 3, 2007

Rylee Lovett, 6, a kindergartner at FSDB sits with her family in their Davis Shores home. By DARON DEAN, daron.dean@staugustine.com

A Davis Shores family is hoping an innovative new treatment not available in the U.S. will give their daughter sight. The girl and her mother plan to travel all the way to China in January for stem cell treatment that has offered hope to patients previously considered incurable‚¦the 6-year-old also suffers from a rare congenital condition known as Optic Nerve Hypoplasia (ONH)‚¦ONH is one of the three most common causes of visual impairment in children and results from underdevelopment of the optic nerve during pregnancy. Because nerves cannot repair themselves, the condition is largely considered incurable.

Searching the Internet for information on ONH, she (Rylee's mother) came across the story of a Missouri child, Rylea Barlett, who also had the condition and had successfully obtained sight from the treatment‚¦does not use embryonic stem cells, which are the subject of most of the controversy. Instead, doctors use stem cells taken from the blood of umbilical cords from live births, which had historically been discarded after birth as medical waste.

(Cameron's story ‚ DM)

Carol Petersen, a Port Charlotte woman whose grandson, Cameron, was successfully treated by Beike at China's Hangzhou Hospital in September, has nothing but good things to say about the treatment. "It's incredible, simply incredible," Petersen said by telephone. "Cameron could not see at all before the treatment, and now he can. After the second treatment, he began to recognize things we held up about two feet from his face and to crawl toward toys we put on the floor. These are things he'd never done before."‚¦"I've done a lot of research on this, and have been following them pretty closely," Lovett said. "Four children have now received the treatment, and they've all been successful."

(A doctor's opinion ‚ DM)

Dr. David Klein is a Port Charlotte ophthalmologist who has also studied the procedure. He deals with many children with ONH and has talked with some of the families who have gone to Beike for treatment. He believes it is a legitimate procedure that should be taken seriously as an option. He has recommended the treatment to parents of children with ONH‚¦Klein said there is a misconception that, because the procedure isn't legal here, it must be suspect. And, he said, people might think Chinese medicine is inferior to that in the U.S.

Not so, Klein said.

"The level of ophthalmology in China is surprisingly high," Klein said. "In fact, the level of medicine as a whole in China is high."

(Rylee views the situation more simply ‚ DM)

"I want to go to China," she said, smiling. "I want to see."

Rylee's Web site can be found at http://www.blessherwithsight.com/

THE EYES OF THE BLIND SHALL SEE ‚ PART III

‚“RYLEA IS NOT ALONE‚

(2 months after treatment)

...the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

Isaiah 29:18

Kacie Diane Sallee is eight years old and like Rylea, she has Septo-Optic Dysplasia. Her family is trying to raise funds for Adult stem cell treatment of her condition. (DM)

PRAYING FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

STEM-CELL TREATMENT MAY GIVE A YOUNG GIRL VISION

Erma Harris Managing Editor - 12/26/07

A child with Septo-Optic Dysplasia (SOD) has under developed nerves from the eye to the brain. People with SOD may also have abnormalities of the brain and a poorly functioning pituitary gland. This condition is also known as Optic Nerve Hypoplasia and DeMorsier's Syndrome. According to several medical sources there is no cure for this type of blindness‚¦

Although Kacie is learning to live with her blindness, her family continues to look for ways to improve Kacie's life. This past summer a news report by Joy Robinson with Springfield, Mo., television KOLR 10, told the story of 6-year- old Missouri girl, Rylea, who was born with the same condition Kacie has. In July, Rylea was one of the first patients to participate in a new treatment using stem-cells taken from umbilical cords‚¦

To read the complete article:

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=883&NewsID=864194&CategoryID=10537&on=1

THE EYES OF THE BLIND SHALL SEE ‚ PART IV

‚“RYLEA‚

(Dec. 28 2007)

...the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

Isaiah 29:18

Rylea's story has been picked up and is being followed on this great blog:

http://adultstemcellawareness.wordpress.com/2007/12/28/a-christmas-stem-cell-miracle/

I couldn't agree more with the blog author ‚“chelseaz‚ when they wrote:

‚“Find out more about this sweet little girl on her website, No More Darkness. Shamefully her story has progressed no further than the local media in Joplin MO.‚

Rylea's own website detailing her journey can be found here:

http://www.nomoredarkness.com/