Source: Beloit Daily News

Family hopes girl can undergo stem cell treatment in China. 

Pamela Hottenstein is more motivated than ever to get her 17-year-old daughter Cassondra Boyda to China for what she hopes will be a life-changing stem cell treatment.

Although Hottenstein has made progress raising funds, Cassondra had a seizure recently making her mother question if her daughter’s health could be deteriorating.

Cassondra was born with the underdevelopment of optic nerves and a pituitary gland as well as midline abnormalities of the brain. Cassondra’s condition has rendered her blind with significant cognitive and speech delays.

Hottenstein hopes to take Cassondra to Beike Biotech, a company with hospitals in China and Thailand, which has been successful in treating children with umbilical cord stem calls.

Since September, Hottenstein has received some generous donations from the community, bringing her total funds raised to about $13,521. However, she will need to raise $45,000 to travel to China for the treatments.

Last weekend the Frontline Youth Initiative, led by Overflowing Cup Pastor Kathy Price, held a car wash, which raised $573 for Cassondra. Hottenstein said she was impressed with how well the youth group helped out. Many of the teenagers were interested in Cassondras’s story and offered a listening ear to the mother and daughter.

“The car wash was worth more than the money. It lifted us up. This is what this is all about,” Hottenstein said. “To see these kids get up early on a Saturday and work all day and doing everything they could to get people to come in to reach the goal was an awesome experience.”

Hottenstein said that she was also able to raise more than $700 at a Stop-N-Go on Inman Parkway.

Hottenstein said she will take her daughter to China as soon as the money is raised, whether that’s a few months from now or a few years from now.

Beike has treated more than 2,000 patients with stem cell injections for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, ataxia, autism, ALS, brain trauma, cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral palsy, Guillain-Barre, encephalatropy, spinal cord injuries and more, according to Beike’s Web site. The stem cells - taken from the umbilical cord of infants - are delivered through intravenous injections into the spinal cord fluid or surgical injections.

Stem cells can replenish dying cells and regenerate damaged tissues. Due to the use of stem cells, some blind children have been able to have a degree of restored vision, and others with speech problems have shown verbal improvements.

Hottenstein originally had plans to take Cassondra to a hospital in Thailand, but because of political troubles in the country, Cassondra will go to Tiantan hospital in China.

Hottenstein is reasonably sure there will be at least some benefit from the treatment. She has met the families of three children who went to China for stem cell treatments, which aren’t approved by the FDA in the U.S. All three families had stories of the children regaining their vision within about six months following treatment.

For example, Macie Morse, 16, of Colorado, was able to obtain her learner’s permit and got behind the wheel after being blind nearly a year before. Now after experimental stem cell treatment, Morse has 20/80 vision in one eye and 20/400-plus in the other.

Savannah Watring, 8, of New York, who was born with blind with optic nerve hypoplasia, also received treatments. She can now pick up on blue, green and red colors and can see herself in a mirror. Jordyn Saxton, 11, of Florida, also gradually gained her vision back.

“It’s likely Cassondra’s vision will return and her speech and hormone problems will improve,” Hottenstein said.

Cassondra is the daughter of Pamela and James Hottenstein, a roofing supervisor at Corporate Contractors Inc. The couple has two other children: Hannah, 9, and Gracie, 2.

Donations can be made at First American Credit Union, 746 Fourth St., Beloit, in care of Cassondra Boyda.