As a result of the funds raised at reCOOPERate 2012, Cooper was able to receive stem cell treatment for the 2nd time last fall. He completed a series of 3 treatments over the course of 3 weeks, each treatment was 5 vials of stem cells.
This is considered a large amount and we are hopeful Cooper will have some good results. They typically begin to see results of stem cell treatments 3 months after, which would be February for Coop. Results can continue to be seen up to a year after treatment as well.
So far this time around we haven't seen any big changes yet, but there have been a couple small things happening. One thing is Cooper has been turning his head to the right more, farther and purposefully. This might sound like not a big deal, but it's quite difficult for Cooper. Since his injury he has had a powerful reflex called ATNR that continually forces his head/ neck to the left. He sometimes strains to turn his head to the left so hard that he begins to cut off his airway and gasp for air. This has made his neck muscles on one side very strong and on the other side very weak. This keeps him from being able to hold his head up in the center. (you can see in the picture that his head is propped with a pillow on one side due to this) This has also affected his vision as his eye muscles have also been trained through this reflex to look to the left.
In the past, Cooper has struggled to turn his head to the right or even use his eyes, but after last year's stem cell treatment, Cooper's vision improved drastically and he began consistently tracking to the right. We saw him looking to the right with his eyes only, but recently he's been turning his head with it. He turns to a sound or to look at something on his right side. He does this quickly and purposefully in a way we haven't seen before. He seems proud of himself when he does this and often smiles :o)
This along with other small changes can be the building blocks to new function and can add up to make bigger changes. We are hopeful we will continue to see him progressing since in the past this wasn't the case... we'll be sure to keep you posted on Super Cooper! Thank you for your continued support and prayers in helping Cooper achieve a better life!
