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

It has been 8 weeks post Damien's Umbilical Stem Cell Therapy. We (and medical professionals: Doctors and Physical Therapists) have noted improvements in Damien's Cognition, Communication, Sensitivity, and Vision. COGNITION In early March, Damien attended physical Therapy and hyperbaric therapy in Ft Lauderdale, FL. Therapists in both locations mentioned (without our input) how "aware" Damien was. He would smile when recognizing the staff and cooperate when asked instruction

On the 8th of May 2018, Damien was at Physical Therapy in Ft Lauderdale. It was the last day in Florida before our scheduled flight home on the 9th. Damien was stretching on a machine to improve shoulder flexibility. At the apex of the stretch, we heard a loud snap (it was more than a green-stick fracture but that was what it sounded like) and Damien's left arm immediately went slack. We removed him from the machine, placed him in the car, and drove directly to the hospital.

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

Taste/Smell The first week of ICU, Damien was in a coma. Twice during Damien's ICU stay the doctors placed him in a medical coma. I did some research and found a few articles on how to revive a comatose person. The articles suggested using taste, smell, sound, and touch stimuli as means to revive the person. One of the suggestions was HORRIBLE. They suggested placing drops of Tabasco Sauce on the comatose person's tongue! Can you imagine a comatose person, aware of the envir

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