Hayleysvision   

About me...Hayley!

    Hi there, my name is Hayley Pelletier and I'am 8 years old from a town called ELMWOOD PARK, Illinois.  I was born with a form of blindness called Septo-Optic Dysplasia/Optic Nerve Hypoplasia.  My condition is the leading cause of blindness in children in the United States.  Doctors have no idea why kids like me are born with this but my blindess comes from having an underdeveloped optic nerve.  Therefore, if my optic nerves don't work right, my brain isn't recieving the information my eyes are seeing. 

     I attend a school in Elmhurst Illinois that has taught me to utilize a Brailler and a cane.  My dream is to read print books and to be able to watch TV instead of listening to it.  My left eye only sees light and dark and my right eye can see about 5% of what a sighted person can see.  My visual acuity  is 20/2200.  I have not given up and neither has my mom........and boy is she ever on a mission to prove the skeptics wrong!! 

Miss Hayley may be on 20/20 in late January or early Feb..we will keep you posted.

You can visit our daily blog in China at:

Stemcellschina.com

just click on "hayley-Onh" at the right side of the page!

We will keep you posted on her progress!

I'm going to China!  Wheels up, clear for takeoff!!   

    This month my mother and I will be going to Hangzhou China for Stemcell Therapy.  We found out in a round about way through Harvard University's Eye Research Institute called the Schepens' Eye Institute that families across the United States are flocking to China for help.  The only thing that could help me is Stem cell therapy.  Yes, I know there is alot of controversy, BUT they are using Stem cell from umbilical cord blood from healthy births in China.  Here we throw them away instead of HELPING people with them.  There is also an old stigma attached to the thought of Stem Cell research.  And yes it was successfully done here in the US at Harvard but they are not allowed to make the transition to humans because of our laws.  The United States can help people but it will be 10-15 years before the researchers are allowed to do so.  Since the procedure is not FDA approved here our insurance will not cover the expense.  Treatment alone is $23,300.00.  Not to mention all the other costs of staying in China for 30 days. 

      My mother has spoken with other parents who have gone to China for the same procedure and every experience was a success.  The company that is running the program is called Beike Biotech which is based in Plainfield,IL.  We went through a very extensive approval process that took two months.  Beike Biotech will not treat people who they think will not benefit from Stem Cell.  They do not claim this an exact cure but a treatment for those who were always once thought of as "untreatable."  Most people come back in a lot better condition than when they left.   This includes autism, cancer patients, heart patients, stroke patients and the list goes on.  My mother has alot of her own theories why this is slow to come to the United States but I won't get into that!  Lets just say Blue Cross has sent their own investigators to China to find out what exactly they are doing.  We won't be surprised if in ten to fifteen years when this does hit the states the price will triple.  Its just a shame that companies are mostly about policy and the ability to make money rather than just to simply help a person who doesn't live a day most people do. 

     We will be keeping a daily blog in the STEMCELLSCHINA  website on my journey in China.  Just look under HayleyP and you will find our personal blog.  We will report my progress even after treatment on our site.  They say Stemcells keep working in the body up to nine months after treatment.  If you would like to donate just click on the donation info icon on the top right of this page.  Thank you and we appreciate the support of Stemcells.  Cases like mine are going to provide the data to prove how Stemcells help.   Lets get it here!! 

Look for us in the Elm Leaves/Pioneer press newspaper in Late November!!!!

 This summer we hope Hayley will have enough sight to wear glasses to help her see even more of our world!!!