Day 82

We don't have appointments today but I had to clarify something I read on msn.com. The headline was "Court Halts Stem Cell Funding". I immediately thought Oh No! There are many different kinds of stem cell research. The article was specifically about embryonic stem cell research. We all have our own opinions there so I won't touch that topic. My outrage is the fact that by lumping this all together we hurt research in other stem cell areas. Kristen's SCT - Stem Cell Transplant was from cord blood. Cord blood that is habitually tossed away as waste product AFTER a child is born. Where would we be without that research? Her SCT last year was from the blood of a young man. A man still up and walking around unharmed by his donation. As you read and hear Stem Cell research bounced around in the media be sure and clarify. Not all stem cell research is embryonic! Be sure to correct others that assume all stem cell research is negative. I used to hesitate to even say that Kristen was having a stem cell transplant because of all the negative associations. Please before being for or against any research, do your homework. What specifically are they talking about? What does the research involve? What are the benefits from this research? Is the research harmful to any person? Etc. What is that saying? When you assume you know something it just makes an ass out of U and me.

For a good source of information on stem cell research visit http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics1.asp