Viva Italia!

A couple of people have now mentioned to me that in English the name Aiuti means to help. That is exactly what my wife and I have decided to ask Dr. Aiuti to do, to help our son. I had previously mentioned that I thought our meeting went very well yesterday and that we felt very positive after speaking with Dr. Aiuti. After spending the night discussing our possible treatment options we came to the agreement that Italy was the right solution to our son's problem.

We have now given the hospital the okay to start Parker on PEG-ADA so that he has a sufficient amount of BM CD34+ cells when it is time to extract them. We are going through the process of filling out our Trillium Drug Plan application so that it will not cost us $125,000 US/year for the medication.

I have done some research and I cannot confirm this yet, but Parker may be the first Canadian to have genetic therapy done. We always knew that the little guy was going to be a famous Canadian but we did not know he was going to make medical history.

The time we will spend in Italy will be anywhere from four to six months, starting in October of 2006. Now, to be honest I was never that enthusiastic about doing any fundraising but there is a time to put your pride aside and do what is best for your family. That said, my wife has been working with a woman in regards to fundraising. She was the woman that gave my wife the idea of putting me on CFRB 1010 last week and has now suggested going on Breakfast Television. So if all goes well, you may see me on CityTV one morning, talking about Parker, ADA and Gene Therapy.

Since so many people have asked us about fundraising, my wife has set up a charitable account that can be accessed at all TD Canada Trust branches across Canada under Parker's name with the account number 0590 6267228.

Parker, my wife and I truly appreciate the support and generosity everyone has given us. We could not have gotten this far without your help. It is definately a long battle ahead of us. But the three of us are ready for anything that comes our way.

Viva Italia!