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Monty & Kathy Tryon Wooldridge: From Our Hearts
We feel so blessed to have three incredibly beautiful children. Matthew (born in Orlando in 1993) a true “Gift from God” in every way as the meaning of his name would suggest. Amy (born 1995 in a Romanian Orphanage) is another amazing gift of love from God that completes our family – born not of our flesh, but of our heart. And our precious Kevin, (born in Orlando in 1994) our littlest angel, our blessing, and inspiration for this testimony of praise to God’s faithfulness. Throughout Kevin’s journey we have felt the hand of God leading us . . . guiding us . . . strengthening us . . . answering our prayers for wisdom and direction. Even when we were too weak and emotionally spent to pray God is ever reminding us that Kevin is His child and that He loves Kevin even more than we do. Now – looking back at the “Footprints” we know that God has carried us through it all to this perfect point in time – His Timing is Perfect! Please continue to read a brief account of Kevin’s Journal in the spirit in which it is written – a journey of hope – a cry for help from God’s people – and glory to The One who has brought us to this place.
The Journey Begins
Kathy’s pregnancy with Kevin was “High Risk” because of Kathy’s health issues – not Kevin’s. Despite the presence of an amazing High Risk Specialist, state-of-the-art technology, and an accomplished neonatal team, Kevin was delivered with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. The absence of the sound of a crying newborn was unbearable. Time seemed to crawl as the team of specialists worked on little Kevin for about 30 minutes beside Kathy’s bed in the delivery room. Still no cry and no news from the team and after what felt like an eternity of silence. Kevin was rushed to NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) and was hooked up to high-tech machines and monitors where he remained until he was strong enough to come home.
The Broken Road
Because of his traumatic birth, Kevin’s immune system was damaged. He has suffered with Autoimmune Dysfunction since birth. He developed Autistic Symptoms at 15 months after being given an MMR vaccine while on antibiotics for an ear infection. He has lived his life sick more than well - in and out of hospitals with “fever of unknown origin” and “failure to thrive” - tried healing diets; choked down daily regiments of supplements and medications; endured daily injections in his arms, legs and stomach; spent long days hooked up to IV’s at least once a week, but more typically two or three times a week; experienced extensive and exhaustive blood tests, spinal taps, biopsies and more! Local doctors and specialists were baffled at Kevin’s lack of response to treatments that typically help children with his diagnoses. So, Kevin and his family began the journey of traveling to specialists around the world in the field of Immunology and Autism - from Florida to Texas to California to Utah to Virginia/DC to New York to London and more – trying to find someone who could accurately diagnose Kevin. Along the way, Kevin received experimental tests, treatments and therapies. But with each specialist we would hear compassion, concern, frustration, and that he was one of the most complex cases ever seen. At this point, we were trying to maintain Kevin’s immune system and developmental progress with biological, homeopathic, and therapeutic treatments and therapies. After all he had been through with such courage and heart, our Kevin still remained sick more than well, nonverbal, totally dependent, and such a blessing to our family and to all who knew him. We learned a lot through this journey of hope – about our family – about God’s grace and peace – about autoimmune issues - classic autism vs biologically onset autism – controversial therapies and treatments – that there is no “typical” – that each case is different. We did learn an important fact - that Kevin is/was not “classically autistic”. His autism was and is a direct result of his autoimmune issues. We continued to pray as a family for God’s direction in Kevin’s life. We continued to pray for Kevin’s Miracle.
One Miraculous Night
Setting: One sleepless night about 2:00 AM - August of 2007 - In our family room in Plano, Texas – alone, too tired to read and even too tired to Google!!
I (Kathy) turned on the television and the medical channel was on. The show was about a unique research study being conducted by a group of Doctors and Scientists at the Institute for Cellular Medicine (ICM) in San Jose, Costa Rica. These scientists use non-embryonic live-birth umbilical-cord-blood stem-cells for treatment of immunological and neurological disorders. They explained that these umbilical cords are usually just treated as medical waste and are discarded. There was nothing controversial about this. It was no different than a bone marrow transplant except these transplants unfortunately were not covered by insurance.
This was an AHAH moment! I thought I had researched everything about Autoimmune Dysfunction (AID) and Autism, but I had never researched stem-cell therapy. The ICM site popped right up! There was a long application to complete about Kevin’s medical history including an exhaustive qualifying list of medical tests and biological treatments that had to be completed before being accepted into the program. I was told that a doctor would call to interview me after submitting the application. As I read through the qualifying lists, I was overwhelmed with tears of joy. We had already met every requirement! We had already completed every test and tried every treatment unsuccessfully, but now this was a good thing! I faxed the paperwork and had a call from a doctor within an hour! After talking with the qualifying doctor on the phone for about an hour. Kevin was accepted as a candidate for the program. He was at that time only the 2nd child to be accepted. We were going to Costa Rica! The doctor asked how quickly we could be ready to travel. I was speechless. This had all happened so fast because of a sleepless night. We had spent most of Kevin’s life seeking the most cutting edge treatments while praying for a miracle. We had been on our journey for this moment. There was no doubt that God had His hand in this! Now we had the opportunity, but how were we going to get there?
The Road to Costa Rica: November 2007 and April 2008
To date, Kevin has had two Stem Cell Transplants in Costa Rica. Our first trip was in November 2007 and our second trip was in April 2008. We can’t say enough positively about the whole experience: the medical team, the support staff, the drivers/interpreters, the hospital, the lab, and everyone we met while we were there. We were taken care of from the moment we landed until the moment we departed. We never felt nervous or uncomfortable. The lab is state-of-the-art and is very impressive.We were given a tour of the whole facility to help us understand, verify and validate the integrity of the process.
Each transplant consists of 4 individual treatments administered through IV or Intrathecal (spinal) Infusions over a period of 4 days. Kevin’s transplants in both November 2007 and April 2008 were administered through IV infusions. The IV infusions target the Immune System. After Kevin’s 1st transplant in 2007, we continued the “regiment” of immune support, but quickly realized that he no longer needed the supplements, medications, injections, and three-a-week IV therapies. We maintained one IV a week for maintenance and blood work while we waited to see how quickly the new cells would “do their job”. It wasn’t long (about a month) that we were able to stop the IV’s all together! Kevin gained 3 pounds between Transplants 1 and 2 and his appetite increased. He started trying new foods. Kevin was feeling better. We even saw improvement in potty training. What a blessing!
The transplants have a cumulative effect, so we were anxious to get back to Costa Rica. Kevin’s 2nd transplant in April 2008 went smoothly as well. Our doctor in Plano continued monitoring Kevin’s progress through biological testing and behavioral observation. Since Transplant 2, Kevin has gained 11 pounds, has a healthy appetite, and is totally potty trained! He was even able to attend public school this last year! We continue to see progress in Kevin literally every week. Kevin was/is considered low functioning – an extreme case both biologically and therapeutically – so we are thankful for every little miracle!
To summarize, Transplants 1 and 2 targeted Kevin’s Immune System. Because of the significant damage to Kevin’s Immunological and Neurological Systems, Transplants 3 and 4 (and possibly 5 and 6) will be a combination of both IV and Intrathecal Infusions. IV Infusions to continue treating his Immune System to ensure that the cells will continue to regenerate indefinitely. Intrathecal infusions will target Kevin’s Neurological System and travel directly to the brain.
Kevin was nonverbal before Transplants 1 & 2. His receptive language has now increased to the point that we believe he understands almost everything we say. We actually have to be careful what we say around him! He is now emerging with babbling sounds and is able to answer “yeah and no” questions. He says, “MAMA, DADA, ABY (for sister Amy), MATTA (for brother Matt), DOG, HI, BYE, OPEN” and more. We didn’t know if we would ever hear his beautiful voice. What an answer to our prayers. We are SO hopeful and encouraged that there is much more healing to come! There is no doubt that God brought us to ICM/COSTA RICA and that He is and will continue to receive the glory for Kevin’s Healing.
ICM has now been approved by NTAF – National Transplant Assistance Fund – a 501c3 nonprofit corporation providing both tax-deductible and fiscal accountability to contributors. As you can imagine, Kevin’s financial needs are significant and are not covered by insurance. In fact, in December of 2008, our family was deemed “uninsurable”.
We truly believe God brought us through the first 12 years of treatments and therapies to lead us to this point. He led us to Costa Rica for a reason (read our journal for all the details). We believe it is our ministry to share Kevin’s story. There are so many families being led to this procedure literally all over the world. We receive emails from Mexico to Panama to California to Florida to New York to Europe to Australia!!! With each family we are privileged to share with, we give God the glory. The blessings are all ours! ICM called last month to see if I would allow them to send a professional camera crew to our home to interview me on the air about Kevin’s Journey! We look forward to the opportunity!
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