Yukon Parents Credit Umbilical Cord Blood Infusion with Helping Daughter
The Oklahoman
Sonya Colberg
August 28, 2011
On a sunny spring day, Amy Hendrix was prepared to hear nothing but happy news from her doctor. She glanced at the ultrasound technician as her baby’s image appeared on the big screen nearby.
“Oh, look at her brain. She’s got to be brilliant,” she said, noting the enlarged brain in the cloudy image. Hendrix’ husband, Jeff, and stepson, Jordan, had joined her for a checkup to find out the sex of the baby. Hendrix joked that this visit would be her last with her obstetrician specializing in high-risk deliveries.
“I’m sorry, no. You’ll be seeing a lot more of me,” the doctor said. Their world caved in with the doctor’s somber explanation. “Your daughter has hydrocephalus,” he said.
Amy Hendrix sobbed. The baby’s head was large because fluid had filled her brain. The family from Yukon soon decided to take unusual measures for the baby that the doctor warned would resemble a “space alien,” with a small body and enlarged head—a child who would forever be an infant mentally. Since their godson has hydrocephalus, the couple knew that the condition can lead to profound disability and, if untreated, even death. The typical treatment involves surgically inserting a shunt or flexible tube to regulate and reroute excessive cerebrospinal fluid to where it can be readily absorbed. But Amy Hendrix began researching congenital hydrocephalus and found additional hope.
She found a North Carolina mom’s website that discussed promising results when Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg at Duke University in 2006 infused her child, who had hydrocephalus, with the child’s own blood saved from the umbilical cord. The blood contains stem cells, which can grow into different kinds of cells to be used to treat diseases.
Cord Blood Registry
Though only a handful of children with hydrocephalus had received the therapy at Duke, the Oklahoma family contacted Cord Blood Registry to receive a kit so a doctor could preserve the baby’s cord blood and send it to the storage facility in Tucson, Ariz.
“Ninety-five percent of the time, cord blood is thrown away as medical waste,” said Kathy Engle, spokeswoman for Cord Blood Registry, which has more than 375,000 samples frozen and stored. The cost is about $2,000 for the first year with a $125 yearly fee. Parents also sometimes choose free storage in public cord blood banks, though the donated blood can be used by whoever needs it.
