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| Local Teen to Travel to China for Treatment |
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| Optic Nerve Hypoplasia | |||
| Luni, 07 Iulie 2008 22:13 | |||
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There are no translations available. Source: The Baxter Bulletin  This is a life-changing year for Josh Moore. As he's looking forward to becoming a high school senior and finding a broadcasting internship, he also is hoping a trip to China will restore his eyesight. "We've been waiting for this all our lives," said Moore's grandmother, Wilma Kellem of Mountain Home. "Doctors always said there was no hope, but we felt like there was hope." Moore, who just turned 17, was born blind. He has Septo-Optic Displaysia, an underdevelopment of the optic nerve. Moore is leaving Friday with his mother, Melissa Kasinger, and his grandmother for Qingdao, China to receive umbilical cord stem cell treatment. About $45,000 in community donations helped pay for Moore's four-week trip and medical treatment. They will return August 12. "I love to travel," Moore said, adding he hopes he won't be sick the entire time because of treatment. "I'm excited but want to get this over with." Once in China at Chengyang People's Hospital, Moore will receive two intravenous injections and four spinal injections of umbilical cord stem cells by Beike Biotech. The stem cells are obtained from the umbilical cords of healthy babies and are not embryonic stem cells from a human embryo. The treatment is not approved in the United States for Moore's condition. Kasinger said other people who have received the same treatment — including nine-year-old Kacie Sallee from Mountain Home — have noticed improvement the first week of injections. "We're nervous but so ready," Kasinger said, contemplating the trip. "Even if he gets light perception, that would be great. We don't expect him to come back and drive — anything at all." In preparation for the trip, which they have been planning since November, the three have received their passports and visas. They've experienced increased security because of the Olympics, they said. Moore may even get a chance to be where Olympic sailing sports take place in Qingdao a few days before they leave China, Kasinger said. They've also learned a few Chinese words and printed bilingual menus from the Internet. Moore said he likes to travel, although the furthest he's been is New York City, where he played tuba in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with the Mountain Home High School band in 2006. To keep himself occupied, Moore has downloaded books and music into a Book Port, a device especially designed for blind users. Mountain Home High School is letting him borrow the Book Port, Kasinger said. Moore and his family say they are grateful for community support and donations. "The community has been awesome," Kasinger said. "We couldn't have done it without them." Kasinger said she hopes umbilical cord stem cell treatment someday will be offered in the United States for her son's condition. Since the condition is rare, no one does research, she said. She's quick to add no one should feel bad for her son, and he readily agrees. "The worst that will happen is nothing," Kasinger said. "We have to try because you never know. If it's meant to happen, it will.
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