November 2005 Archives

Instead of growth they measure activity to identify bacteria faster.

The University of Waterloo claims to know how to speed up the process to identify and determine the most efective antibiotics to use for a bacterial infection.

Instead of waiting 24 to 48 hours for something to grow they measure cellular activity. They record their respiration!

Cool!

Press release here.

RapidLabs is the company who is selling this. And on their website they mention the following,

The RapidLabs antibiotic susceptibility and identification testing application can provide results in less than 30 minutes from a clinical isolate, which is much less than current technology, which generate results somewhere between 4 and 72 hours. Independent studies have shown that the administration of the correct drug to a patient five hours sooner, based on the optimization of existing AST techniques, has the potential to save a 500-bed US hospital over $4 million annually.

30 min! Cool!

RapidLabs website here.

The New York Times on Tuesday examined the debate over PGD.

"According to a 2004 survey by the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University, about two-thirds of the respondents approved of the use of P.G.D. to prevent a fatal childhood disease and for tissue matching to save a sibling, said Kathy Hudson, the center's director."

Here's their PGD description:

P.G.D. is performed when an embryo has only six to eight cells, called blastomeres. The zona pellicuda, the outer shell of the embryo, is opened with a micro needle, and a single blastomere is removed by gentle suction and sent to a P.G.D. lab for analysis.This does not kill the embryo because at this stage, each blastomere is capable of developing into a complete organism, or totipotent. It is not until the embryo passes the 16-cell stage that it begins to differentiate and give rise to stem cells. Yuri Verlinsky, director of Reproductive Genetics Institute, a leading P.G.D. lab based in Chicago, projects that in the next couple of years, P.G.D. "is going to be done for every I.V.F. case, because it definitely improves results."

Here are some PGD numbers from RGI:

"Dr. Verlinsky reported that of the 4,000 P.G.D. tests his lab has performed, there were 900 pregnancies and 700 live births.
Of 250 babies, 5 were misdiagnosed; 2 were missed because of technical errors and 3 were because of human error - transferring the wrong embryos."

The last time I talked to RGI they had 12 PGD cases for sibling matches.

And more "ethical questions":

"Andrew R. LaBarbera, scientific director of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, said there are other ethical questions about creating one child to save another. The most pressing, Dr. LaBarbera said, is what happens when the cord blood transplant does not work and the parents decide to put the child through a bone marrow transplant? "

Dr. LaBarbera needs more information... Hopefully he will read my book once its published.

Read the article via NYT here.

Seems that the Danish Monarchy believes in umbilical cord stem cell banking.

Monarchy website, A Prince is born

Royal Danish prince's stem cells saved
November 27, 2005

STEM cells from the umbilical cord of Australian-born Princess Mary's baby son have been preserved in a Denmark hospital, possibly as insurance for the child's future health.

The medical team at Copenhagen University Hospital are understood to have collected and stored cord blood from the boy immediately after his birth, The Sunday Telegraph reported today.

Crown Prince Frederik's chamberlain Per Thornit revealed the hospital had been entrusted with the baby's blood sample in a letter to a company that had offered to provide the service, the newspaper said.

Stem cells collected from umbilical cord blood has been used to treat people with life-threatening illnesses such as leukaemia.

The Palace has declined to comment.

Princess Mary's son, as yet unnamed, is second in line to the Danish throne.

More via The Australian here

There's a picture hanging on the wall on one of the hallways, just infront of the nurse's station of 7 West, Children's Hospital Boston thay says:

Too often we are scared
Scared of what we might not be able to do.
Scared of what people might think if we tried.
We let our fears stand in the way of our hopes.
We say no when we want to say yes.
We sit quietly when we want to scream.
And we shout with the others, when we should keep our mouths shut.
Why?
After all,
we do only go around once.
There's really no time to be afraid.
So stop.
Try something you've never tried.
Risk it.
Enter a triathlon.
Write a letter to the editor.
Demand a raise.
Call winners at the toughest court.
Throw away your television.
Bicycle across the World.
Try Bobsledding.
Try anything.
Call her.
You have nothing to loose
and everything
everything
everything to gain.

JUST DO IT!

Thanksgiving day in the United States is a day where families gather, offer thanks, eat turkey and watch a football game.

Also known as:
Turkey Day
T-Day
Spanish - Día de Acción de Gracias

Its nice to spend Thanksgiving outside of the hospital. Today we visited Roberta & Mark Whalen house and we had a great time, it was very nice to meet their family.

Looking back at 2005 we have a lot to be thankful for, a lot of good things happened in the last twelve months. I can only imagine how interesting and exciting the next twelve months are most likely going to be.

Happy Thanksgiving Day to my 2 readers!

We're in 7 West..

Andy woke up with a headache Sunday morning, he had a fever of 40 C.. I brought him to see a doctor around 11:00 AM after talking to fellow on call.

He had fever again in the afternoon of 39 C.

We received a call at 11:30 PM that the blood culture was positive.. No fever since yesterday night.

Doctors are trying to figure out the source of the fever..

AT

Mal Aguero?? Maybe he didnt like to be on TV..

I took this picture when the producer and the cameraman from NBC came for the interview.

Sofia wanted to play with Christina Mattingly...

Dr. Gupta talked about PGD today,

He's a CNN senior medical correspondent,

"People are using it solely for the purpose of sex selection...People are using it for reasons that are considered more cosmetic... You mentioned the word creepy...It is a little creepy its an ethically hazy area."

Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Watch CNN video Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the debate over gender selection

Read CNN related article Gender selection a reality, but is it ethical?

Little lifesaver
Air Date: 11/18/2005

Now, a story about the great lengths local parents went to save their son. Their little boy started getting sick just hours after birth, and it only got worse. So they decided to save one child by having another.

Andy Trevino gets both hugs and hits from his little sister Sofia. But this brother and sister have fought a much tougher battle together, a battle to save Andy's life.

Andres Trevino/Andy's Dad
"Andy's 6 years old and he's been in the hospital for more than 650 days."

Andy was born with Primary Immune Deficiency; essentially his immune system doesn't work.

Andres Trevino
"It's pretty scary because he kept having life threatening infections."

The only option for a cure, a bone marrow transplant. But, his parents say they couldn't find a donor who was a perfect match.That's where sister Sofia comes into the picture.

Andres Trevino
"At first it sounded like science fiction, but we decided to have another baby."

Stem cells from the new baby's umbilical cord and bone marrow would be used to make a new immune system for Andy. But to be a perfect match, fertility doctors had to make a girl and test the embryo for genetic diseases.

That's where the controversy comes in.

Dr. Ian Hardy/Fertility Center of New England
"When we are literally preserving the life of this beautiful little boy, at the same time the mother giving life to this beautiful little girl, the ethics for us was simple."

But some groups feel making one life to save another is playing god.

Marie Sturgis/Mass Citizens for Life
" This goes against nature because it's man orchestrating the flow of human life."

One-year later, Andy shares more than playtime with his sister, he now has the same immune system as Sofia.

To this family, their beloved daughter is their little lifesaver.

Andres Trevino
"She's our miracle. She's our savior."

Instead of spending so much time here at Children's Hospital, doctors say Andy can now fight off infections on his own, which means he's finally getting a chance to be a kid instead of a patient.

Andy's family has been keeping a diary, of sorts, a web site with thoughts, fears and medical facts they learned along the way to a cure.

I guess that after tonight I will be able to use this logo ..

Channel 7 News NBC Boston:

Littlest lifesaver
Tonight a story about the great lengths local parents went to save their son. Their little boy started getting sick just hours after birth, and it only got worse. So they decided to save one child by having another.

"Littlest lifesaver," tonight at 11 p.m. on 7News.

Hello,

We have received your request to record "7 News at 11PM" on Channel 7
for Fri 11/18 at 11:00 PM.

Priority: Cancel other programs if necessary
Quality: High

TiVo

Aging baby boomers, costs, success rates cited
By Carey Goldberg, Globe Staff | November 14, 2005
The ''test-tube baby" industry seems to have grown up.

''Throughout the country there definitely is a little stagnation and many people are complaining that there is a slight decrease," said Dr. Vito Cardone, medical director of the Fertility Centers of New England. His own centers are still doing fine, he said, but he has even heard from a doctor in Paris that Europe is seeing the same kind of decrease.

Dr. Vito Cardone is Paulina's doctor at the Fertility Centers of New England. He helped us find Sofia..

Read the complete article via Boston Globe here.

Welcome Olivia Ann, Sophie Catherine, and Jackson Bennett CYR!!

Three!

I welcome Matt & Sara to the extreme parenthood club.

They were born last Wednesday November 9th. at 10:52, 10:53 and 10:55 AM after Sara's 52 day hospitalization at B&W Hospital Boston.

Matt is the editor of Children's Hospital Boston Dream Magazine. I had the distinct honor to have my name printed next to his on the summer edition of the magazine.

The Cyr's may have welcomed an astronomer, a baseball player and a world leader..
On Nov. 9, 1934, Carl Sagan, the astronomer whose books and television show informed millions of Americans, was born.
On Nov. 9, 1976, The United Nations General Assembly approved 10 resolutions condemning apartheid in South Africa, including one characterizing the white-ruled government as ''illegitimate.''
On Nov. 9, 2004, Houston Astros pitcher Roger Clemens won his record seventh Cy Young award.

Congratulations Matt & Sara!

Here's Matt picture with Sofia.

We will say a prayer today remembering Hanah.

Today marks the one year anniversary of Hannah's passing.

Rich & Tracy McLeish have an inspiring spiritual strength and their example helped us during difficult times at Six West.

More here.

Ronald E. Elberger from Indianapolis, Indiana will provide editing, publicity, promotional, marketing, business consultation, business management and literary agency services for my book.

I feel very fortunate to be able to work with Mr. Elberger. He is the best of the best, I will be standing on the shoulders of a giant.

Here's a picture of Ron with Sofia,

Kelli Cole sent Andy a first year anniversary T-Shirt that says:

"# 1 WINDY MAN"

Thank you Kelli!

I had to have virtual nemo fish aquariums on this blog..