Speech made at the 2017 convention for the International Society for Gene & Cell Therapy [slide 1] Welcome and Introduction [slide 2] My son's name is Courtland Damien Brown. Courtland is very liberal and never missed a chance to vote in local, state, and national elections. As a member if the Chickasaw tribe, [slide 3] Courtland studied the Chickasaw language. He named his pet pug Chuk Masi - which translates to "pretty lady". He was also well-versed in

The recent passing of the actress Patti Duke from sepsis triggered sad and almost tragic memories of Damien's experience with sepsis. In August of 2012, we traveled to La Jolla, California for an intense week of physical therapy. A doctor in Florida had put us in contact with a physical therapist in California. We had also spoken with a former patient of his who had published a book about her treatment. She had made remarkable recovery from her head injury and was a physical

Damien's health insurance has rejected covering the medicine for his hepatitis C twice now. The third time the doctor applied, the insurance company agreed but with stipulations: Damien had to get the medicine filled for 2 times by 12 September 2016. When the pharmacy called about the coverage we were told that (because Damien is in the Medicare "donut hole") the cost of the medicine would be $3976.00 for a 28-day supply. When I told the doctor's office that I could get the m

I am angry! To use a saying of my mother's "I am so mad I could bite a 16-penny nail in half". Learning that Damien has Hepatitis C does make my jaws tight. The AMA personnel usually do a very good job, other times not so much. 1. Damien suffered a major hematoma on the left side of his brain while in ICU. They were replacing a brain pressure monitor and ruptured a vessel. They said that this sometimes happens but is an unusual event. The doctor that did the proce

While Damien was in the trauma unit, the ophthalmology staff said that we could determine if Damien's occipital lobe was functioning by placing electrodes over the back skull area to measure any electrochemical activity. They were very busy and that test was not performed in the trauma unit. During the HBOT in Ft Lauderdale, we asked who should we ask to perform such a test? Dr Neubauer suggested we see a neuro-ophthalmologist once we returned home. We brought Damien home in

Some Humor. I think you'll find this a bit more interesting. 1. When Damien was in the third grade, we were in Albertson's during October. Damien was excited to see the new Atari video games. As we passed by the candy aisle, I asked Damien, "What candy bar would you like?" Damien was in a hurry to go on and said, "Give me a what chma call it." and turned to go to the video section. I replied, "Damien I need to know what candy bar you would like." He turned to face

For the past 18 years, Damien has had 24-hour nursing care. We hired 2 caregivers when we first brought Damien home. We wanted Damien to be as independent as possible. Therefore, he lived in his own home with a day-caregiver and a night-caregiver. These caregivers had worked with Damien at a nursing home. We hired them when we brought Damien home from his first stay in Florida. The caregivers had a scheduled routine. We had a nursing supervisor visit to inspect Damien's healt

We were very naive during Damien's initial period of recovery. The hospital had used a Foley so we thought that we should too. The Foley (non-catheter) was unsightly, unhealthy, unsanitary and unnecessary. It leaked constantly, it caused skin irritation, it was odiferous (even when using a new Foley every day). Then one day the home nurse suggested we stop using the Foley and just change the brief often. We did and it was great! No oder, no mess, no irritation. We are most pl

We were lucky to find a home for Damien. Paula found a nice two-story home in Fair Oaks Ranch, TX. It was a foreclosure that was handled by Fanny Mae. The home was 20 years old. It is very open, with wide doorways. It is very well suited for wheelchair mobility. Paula had to be firm with the real-estate agent to get this house. The agent was pushing new garden homes that were small, narrow and cramped. Paula was not interested in his commission; she knew what was best for Dam

14 Dec 1998, 6:15 PM to 15 Dec 1998, 10:00 AM. I had just been told by EMS that Damien had been airlifted to the trauma center. Paula had run an errand and I had no way to contact her. My son Merrill, had been stopped by the high school principal, Sam Champion, and told of the accident. Mr. Champion had visited the crash site and was returning home. Merrill and his aunt, Melody McGowan, stopped by the driver ed school and told me they were on the way to the hospital. I remain

The incident is referred to as a "crash" rather than an "accident" per changes made by TXDOT (Texas Department of Transportation). An accident is an event that could not be avoided (a car damaged by a tree during a thunder storm). A crash (collision of two vehicles) can be avoided if the drivers are operating the vehicles in a proper manner. Monday, 14 December 1998 3:42:00 PM I met the driver's education car (a 1995 Ford Taurus) on my way to meet Officer Jones at the office