Source :Alberta Local News

Baby Beau Gallipeau is a step closer to going to China for stem cell treatments after community members gathered in Sylvan Lake for a Mission for Vision fundraiser this weekend.

The Red Deer-based parents of the 21-month-old who is going blind and experiencing growth problems from a rare disorder want to take him overseas for umbilical cord stem cell treatments that are unavailable in Canada.

While the $50,000 treatments have produced “amazing” results, reversing symptoms for some people with Beau’s condition, Beau’s parents, Becky Bossert and Jessie Gallipeau, realize there are no guarantees. “We’d rather say we tried everything than we did nothing at all,” said Bossert.

The mother had her first indication that something was wrong with Beau shortly after delivery. While Bossert had to be induced into labour because she was over-due, doctors were perplexed when Beau appeared under-developed. “I was at 42 weeks (along) and he was at 37 weeks . . . Everything was behind, his overall gestation,” said Bossert.

The second indication came when Beau was three months old. “You could almost touch his eye without him blinking,” recalled Bossert, who was referred to a specialist.

When Beau got an appointment in Edmonton, he was six months old and his eyes weren’t tracking movement. Bossert said she was devastated when the MRI results showed that Beau was practically blind with septo-optic dysplasia, also known as DeMorsier’s syndrome.

A child with SOD has under-developed nerves from the eye to the brain (optic nerve hypoplasia). and may also have abnormalities of the brain and a poorly functioning pituitary and thyroid glands. Bossert said her son’s brain appears normal, but he does have decreased hormones secretions from his thyroid, which is causing growth problems.

This condition, which affects one in 10,000 children, will require Beau to get a hormone shot daily once doctors figure out the correct dosage. But Bossert is leery about this because physicians have told her the synthetic hormones will shorten her son’s life.

Beau currently needs to take a daily pill for his thyroid, as well as twice-a-day medication to control his unbalanced sodium levels, and three doses of steroids for his cortisol levels.

Bossert and Beau’s dad, a heavy equipment operator, hope stem cell treatments in China will fix problems with Beau’s vision and pituitary gland.

While stem cells have the ability to change into any cells in the body, potentially giving Beau a normal optic nerve and pituitary gland, Bossert realizes no one can predict where the cells will go once they are introduced — which is one of the reasons the treatment is not done in Canada. “We don’t know if they will fix one or the other, or both . . . but we figure it’s a shot,” added Bossert, who noted many others have had success.

And she noted Beau’s extreme youth is a good factor, since babies seem to get better results from stem cell treatments.

Beau’s parents, who also have a three-month-old daughter, are hoping to take their son to China by next March for six to eight treatments, which will take a month to administer.

They have already done several bottle drives to raise money towards the $50,000 cost, and collected donations at various farmers’ markets in the area. Saturday’s silent and live auctions at Sylvan Lake’s Fox Run School were attended by about 200 people and raised $10,000, putting the family within $2,000 of their goal.

Gallipeau said he is very pleased and grateful for the support.

While a few members of the public have expressed opposition to stem cell research because some of the stem cells come from aborted fetuses, most people have been very empathetic about Beau’s condition, said Bossert.

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