Margo’s stem cell journey

UPDATE* 18/9/24 -£19,668 raised so far (Go fund me takes a percentage)

Just an update for you all -

Thank you all so so much for the donations for Margo, we have reached the target of £18,000 and have provisionally booked in for stem cell treatment on 29th November (weight dependent as she has to be a certain weight).

The go fund me page is still open because this is not just a ‘fix’ for Margo, she will have a lifetime of difficulties, and research has shown that multiple stem cell treatments offer greater benefits. Therefore if people still want to donate for her future needs & treatment then this enables you to do so. The target has been adjusted to allow for two treatments but ofcourse we are beyond grateful for just being able to afford one, so thank you.

If you want to, and are able to give towards Margo’s continuing needs then it really is appreciated.

Know that we are forever grateful - thank you does not seem enough & I doubt ever will - but thank you, from us all

If you would like to follow Margo on instagram to see how we are doing/ what we are doing then you can do so on instagram - margos_marvellous_mind

I will try to make this as based on her rehabilitation and progress as possible, but there may be the odd cute clip - because I’m a mum, and she is adorable.

Written by my daughter (Margo’s mum) and my son in law (Margo’s dad) but go fund me doesn’t cover Guernsey so I’ve set the page up for her.

Hey!!

This is our Margo, she was born on 9.9.23 and is one of triplets.

The whole pregnancy went really well considering the girls were sharing one placenta so it was a very high risk pregnancy. I was due for a c section at the end of September when I would have been 34 weeks.

Unfortunately, on 8th September 2023, I could not feel the girls move - I went into hospital and had a scan and was sent home as they were okay. The next evening I still couldn’t feel them move (I never felt them move in the day) and the CCG read that two of the girls were in distress and within 3 hours they performed an emergency c section. Two of the girls were born with shallow heartbeats, and no respiratory efforts. We weren’t allowed to see them for 6 hours, and when we did, Margo was heavily sedated due to her condition.

The girls were quite poorly in NICU, with Margo being the poorliest and having multiple seizures, these were uncontrolled to start with and discussions were had about turning off her ventilation.

Fortunately Margo showed her strengths and pulled through, although unfortunately at some point during her birth/ before birth her brain was starved of oxygen and she obtained a severe brain injury. Margo has about 10 percent of her brain left. She has high tone to all limbs, has uncontrolled seizures and due to her seizure medication sleeps a lot of the time which hinders her rehabilitation.

We attend weekly physio where we are working on head control and sitting strength, and she is under speech and language and a neurology team.

Margo is unable to roll, sit unaided, reach for objects, babble, laugh, and many other things that her sisters are now doing. But she is incredible, she is more than just 10 percent. She is aware, she loves cuddles and sunshine, she is Margo.

Margo’s future is uncertain but we want to give her the best opportunity possible, and for that we need your help.

CBC health in Netherlands offer stem cell treatment for brain injury children, this is done via a one hour blood transfusion of donor stem cells. And due to Margo’s age and neuro plasticity, we are hopeful that the treatment will make life considerably better for her.

The total cost of the treatment is 18,000 euros and then there is cost of travel (from Guernsey-UK-Netherlands) and a hotel for the 2/3 night stay, so the goal is 18,000 pounds.

‘Stem cell transplantation is a regenerative therapy that has the potential to replace the damaged and non-functional cells in the brains of brain injury patients, as well as to provide support to the remaining neurons and oligodendrocytes’.

We’ve never done one of these pages before, but Margo deserves the world, and we need your help. Please.

We have set up an instagram page so you can get to know Margo more, and follow her journey with us.

Thank you :) :)

Instagram - @margos_marvellous_mind