AVA MILAM'S STORY
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Ava Grace Milam weighed less than four pounds when she was born because of a fetal stroke. Tami Milam named her daughter Ava Grace because it sounds like "Amazing Grace." Ava suffered a stroke while she was still in her mother's womb. "They didn't know at the time how bad, but they knew it was bad," Milam said. Doctors found blood in Ava's brain and her body had stopped growing after the stroke. Ava's parents gave their daughter a chance at life and she has beaten the odds. "She shows emotion. |
They said she wouldn't be able to do that--that she would just exist, is what they told us," she continued. Ava laughs, cries and eats like normal babies, even though doctors had predicted she'd need a feeding tube. But the stroke did affect Ava's speech and movement, and at ten months old, she still can't crawl or push herself up. She was also showing signs of cerebral palsy. Milam says for Grace, she's willing to do whatever it takes. "Because life is so much more than this, and I want her to experience all of this," Milam assured. Within a month of receiving neuron brain stem cells and nerve cell growth factors introduced into her central nervous system via the spinal canal by Dr. Feinerman and his team, Ava is scooting on her abdomen, reaching out for objects, lifting her body with her arms from the abdomen, making sounds, and has neck control for the first time since birth. Recently Ava has begun to walk with assistance and is scheduled to attend pre-school. Articles: |
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