Stem Cells for My Dad Wayne

My name is Scott Johndrow, and I am trying to save my Dad.

On Friday, October 19, 2012, my Dad, Wayne Johndrow, suffered a ischemic brain stem stroke that he has barely recovered from 3+ years later.  My mother, Brenda, is his constant caretaker (24/7) and does receive assistance from the VA thanks to him being a veteran.  She refuses to leave his side and tends to his every need.  

 My Dad's personality and thinking abilities appear to be mostly, if not completely intact.  He can communicate with his eyes - look up for "yes", look down for "no".  My mother goes through the alphabet from A-Z and he will look up for the letters of the words he wants to spell in order to communicate.  He cannot speak at all - he cannot move any limb.  He can slowly open his mouth, move his tongue, or slightly move his head.  Incredibly, he still has his sense of humor and will smile from time to time given the right joke or moment.  Everytime I see this...well, I do not have a large enough vocabulary to express the joy I feel.   It is always a fleeting moment that I have not been able to capture on camera. 

What we want to do is raise money for Stem Cell treatment.  My mother heard the story of Bart Starr's amazing recovery after stem cell treatment -  http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2015/07/22/bart-starr-improving-after-stem-cell-treatment/30540473/  - and we wish to try the same for my Dad.  Unfortunately, even if we sold everything we had, we still wouldn't have enough money to do this for him.  My parents have lost almost everything in the 3+ years since the stroke, including their home.  

The Stem Cell company we have been speaking with is http://www.novastem.mx/   Here is some basic cost info from an e-mail received from them:

"The total cost of the treatment is $32,000 US DLLS. Since it is still under experimental phases, it is not covered by insurance companies. In the cost of the treatment we include meals for the patient and its accompanies, transportation from and to San Diego, hospital and laboratory processing fees, and post treatment follow-ups. The therapy which consists in the administration of an intravenous infusion of Mesenchymal stem cells. The patient remains in observation until the physician determines that he is stable and ready to be discharged which is around 4 hours after the infusion. Two to three months later we administer the Neural stem cells in a lumbar puncture to the spinal fluid and keeping the patient in observation for 24 hrs."

In addition to the $32,000, we will need to raise money to transport my father and mother from Florida to San Diego, CA, find a place to stay for at least 2-3 months (possibly longer than that depending on complications), possibly buying additional medical equipment for him, and additional funds for food and other needs.  There are so many unknown factors, costs, possible emergencies that may pop up that I am trying to factor, but it seems impossible so I would like to raise more money.

We are trying to remain realistic.  The outcome of this process could range anywhere from a great deal of recovery to little or none at all.  We know it is risky, but we feel we have to try.

My father has always been very sweet, kind man.  Throughout his life, he has served in the army, worked as a natural resource specialist (forester) who loves nature and animals, and more recently was a LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) who loved his patients.  My mother loves and adores him and he has children and grandchildren who love him too.  We all want him back in our lives as much as possible.

Any donation you can make means the world to us.  Thank you so much for any kind of support whether it be monetary, prayers, love, information/suggestions, wisdom - anything at all.