Sydni's first seizure was at 9 months of age. She had 5 seizures by the age of 15 months. The most heartbreaking moment was the day Sydni quit breathing in the ER and they had to intubate her to help her breathe. My daughter could have died! At age 15 months Sydni was medicated for her seizure disorder. It was no longer febrile seizures. Sydni had "Epilepsy". Tough one to swallow as parents! After several medications Sydni's seizures were under control. She was weaned from medication after being 1 year seizure free. Sydni developed normally, and met all of the milestones for her age, in fact advanced in some areas. Such a blessing this little girl is to us. So Bright! Not just because she was ours. She was brilliant!

In the summer of 2006, right before kindergarten, the seizures started back up. Sydni was again medicated, and received her flu vaccination, to help prevent seizures from occurring. The seizures became more frequent, and prolonged. In 2007 Sydni had over 550 seizures. How could a child endure all of this pain? Why didn't any of the 15 different medications help? After several visits to the ER, multiple doctors, doctor visits, dozens of tests and many hospital stays, there was no improvement. We tried Chiropractic, Acupuncture, Homeopathic, and Chinese Medicine. Sydni has started Neuro Therapy recently, and it seems to help a bit. The results could take a year to notice.

Sydni is a delightful child who strives to please. There are many frustrations we see in her eyes. Not being able to play with her friends, get out what she wants to say, missing family/friends events, and most of all, not being able to enjoy her Birthday (s) and Christmas (s). In preschool Sydni was reading, writing, speaking and recognizing ABC's, counting to 100, and by Kindergarten recognizing all numbers. Sydni's significant decline started in April 2007 after beginning medication again. After many medications, Sydni’s cognitive function rapidly declined. She lost a lot of her language and social skills. To date Sydni has 4-8 seizures a week, usually in one night. This puts Sydni in an autistic state of mind, and pushes her to regress further.

We believe that Stem Cell therapy is what Sydni needs to recover. There are no side effects, and the procedure using Sydni's own Stem Cells is non-invasive. This could help Sydni drastically! After speaking with the doctor, and several parents of children that have had the procedure done, we are confident that this treatment will be the answer for Sydni to be seizure free. To be able to show us that big beautiful smile that has been lost for so long. To let out the brilliance that has been tucked away for years. Sydni has missed so much of her childhood and to be able to be a child, and do the things little girls do, would bring back that big smile. This is our Hope for Sydni.