Source: Adirondack Daily Enterprise

SARANAC LAKE - It may seem small, but to her mother and grandmother, it was a huge step in the right direction.

Ten days after she started getting experimental stem-cell treatments, London Ruby Call's pupils started to dilate in reaction to light.

London was born with septo-optic dysplasia, a rare condition that caused her to be born without a septum pellucidum, which separates the ventricles of her brain. Her optic nerves are not large enough to send a message to the occipital lobe of her brain, causing her blindness.

When they found out about her condition, parents Jessie and Brandon Call were told there was nothing to be done. Only later did they hear about experimental stem-cell treatments being done with umbilical cord stem cells (not embryonic ones) at a hospital in Qingdao, China.

The 35-day stem-cell treatment is supposed to grow and regenerate the missing parts of her brain and eyes. It has shown at least some success in many of the patients it has been tried on and tends to be more successful with younger subjects.
After a mammoth, year-long local fundraising effort, the Calls raised $50,000 for the treatments and scheduled the trip to China. London and Jessie Call and Jessie's mother Ruby Britton arrived there Dec. 8.

London is halfway done, completing four of the eight stem-cell treatments she will receive, half through an IV and half lumbar injections into her lower back. She is also undergoing physical therapy, acupuncture and electric wave therapy when she is not receiving stem cells.

Britton said in a recent e-mail that London hasn't been sleeping well since she's been there. The blog the grandmother is keeping while in China details the trials of keeping a 2-year-old happy when she's being constantly poked and prodded by doctors and physical therapists.


"It's by no means a vacation at all," Britton wrote in an e-mail. "We are exhausted to say the least."

To learn more about London's treatments and the family's experience in China, read the blog Britton is keeping at stemcellschina.com/blog/londonruby.

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