Pretty good for a 6 year old !

In my last blog you saw a picture of my son hugging one of the columns of the Pantheon in Rome, Italy. He is also the dad of Faye, the sweet little girl that drew this picture.

What is particularly touching about this picture is that my son and his wife have been divorced for almost two years now. I am proud and happy to say that it’s been an amicable arrangement and they all three remain very close, emotionally as well as in proximity.

Both my son and his ex-wife are Type 1 diabetics so we’d been hoping that this would not carry over to Faye. However, just to be safe, they saved 2 ampules of her cord blood stem cells when she was born and have had them stored.

This has proved to be a very good choice. Just a few months ago she was diagnosed as a Juvenile Diabetic and started on insulin. My daughter-in-law did a bunch of research on the internet and came across this article: “New York, NY, June 25, 2007 -- Researchers supported by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation have found that transfusion of stored umbilical cord blood into a small group of newly diagnosed children with type 1 diabetes appears to have delayed the progression of the disease, possibly re-setting the immune system and slowing the destruction of their insulin-producing cells.”

BINGO. This information was enough to start the ball rolling and now Faye is part of a research project being held in Florida. She is one of just 15 children chosen so it is very exciting. It is way too soon to see if this can halt the progression of the disease but there have been positive and hopeful signs.

As you can see by the picture that she drew Faye loves her daddy and cherishes all the times that they are together. To me it proves that love comes in all forms and even those who cannot live together can still work together and change the lives of those around them.