Source: Floridatoday

Sierra Journey Factor will return home today after a month of stem cell treatments in Qingdao, China.

The 8-year-old's fearless attitude helped her survive not only the medical procedures, but also the unfamiliar cuisine.

"No pain, no gain," she repeated to herself as she endured hours of physical therapy, acupressure and electric wave therapy every day.

"If it looks good, eat it," was her motto for trying new food. She used the line to persuade her stepfather, Clinton Akery, to try a jellyfish salad, but Sierra didn't feel it applied when she discovered squid in her chicken noodle soup.

Sierra has Type II spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disease that affects the part of her nervous system that controls voluntary muscle movement.

She is not able to straighten her legs or arms. But since her stem cell treatment, which was not available in the United States, doctors have noticed Sierra's muscles
strengthening and improvement in her range of motion, mainly in her neck, arms and fingers.

"Our expectations were not to come over here and for Sierra to stand up or walk from having these stem cells as some people may think," Sierra's mom, Shaylene Akery, said in an email from China. "An overall better quality to her life is all we hoped for. If Sierra's immune system recovers then going to school for fourth grade may be a possibility. Any little improvements are huge improvements in our eyes."

The effects of the stem cells on her immune system are not yet known.

Sierra's family spent $36,000 for the stem cell injections and $6,000 for airfare. The stem cell injections Sierra received were from umbilical cord blood, which typically is discarded as medical waste. The cells reportedly migrate directly to the problem and program themselves to address whatever the body is missing.
While in China, Sierra had many new experiences.

She lifted her left foot for the first time. She stunned herself and others when she swung a plastic bat and sent a whiffle ball flying.

"She didn't know what to do next because she had never hit a ball in baseball before, so she just started doing donuts in her wheelchair, spinning in circles" Akery said.

Sierra met a boy, Braden from Nebraska, who was in the hospital receiving stem cells for his Cerebral Palsy and he quickly became her first boyfriend. Their families organized a "wedding," complete with aluminum foil wedding rings.

Sierra said in an email that she would miss "meeting all the new people from around the world and making friends, seeing all the cool sights and getting stem cells."

The family will consider continuing acupressure and electric wave therapies back in Brevard. The stem cells she received will continue to regenerate and further improvements may become noticeable in the next nine months.Akery said in two years they may return to China for more injections.

"We can't wait to be home and see everyone we miss and eat some real food," Akery said. "Thank everyone for following us on our journey, I can't believe it's already over."