Tag

research

Mar 06
0

On the Research

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

After that Deepmind post, lots of people reached out for an update on what *was* happening in the world of NKH Research in London, and I thought I’d share. It’s important to know that the money we’re raising is having a huge effect on the research done here in the UK.  While I can’t speak for the other researchers (Dr Van Hove or Dr Katsuri Halder specifically), I do feel it’s important to note THERE IS RESEARCH happening (despite what that recent article by the Clemson World Magazine would have you believe).

There is A LOT of research happening, and it’s my genuine belief that Prof. Nick is the closest to meaningful clinical trial, with a treatment that will effect the most kids.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Essentially, the team under Prof. Nick Greene is trying to do two things:
1 – understand more about how NKH works, and the effects it has
2 – discover potential treatments for NKH

 

Goal 1: Understand more about how NKH works, and the effects it has

There’s so much we don’t know – the carbon folate system (within which the glycine cleavage system lives) is really really complex. There are hundreds of amino acids – glycine included – which are split and joined and run through so many different processes. Super complex. Have you seen what that looks like? Here it is:

Source: Prof. Nick Greene, UCL

Truth: we don’t fully understand the how the whole system works, or all the roles glycine plays. This means it’s even harder to understand the knock on effects in a child with NKH. In the last year or so, Prof. Nick and his team have been using mass spectrometry (a really fancy science-y way to measure amino acids as they are processed) to follow glycine, and around 900 other different molecules in the brain and liver at different stages of NKH. They’ve been doing this in two different models – mice models, and in little cell samples grown from patients with NKH.

They’ve followed literally thousands of metabolic pathways. I had no idea that glycine went on to do so many things. It even joins up with other amino acids, like hexanoylglycine or propionylglycine or N-octagoylglycine (there are so, so many more). With excess levels of glycine, you can bet that all these other amino acids also have excess levels, which causes a knock on effect.

This small project alone – identifying all the metabolic pathways of glycine – costs £50-100k per year, but here’s the thing – they know more than they ever have before about NKH, giving insight into what’s happening with our kids. This is huge! It also speeds up the process, because it gives the research team clues about where in the process a treatment might work best. Knowing that means a faster route to clinical trials.

Which is everything – obviously we all want a safe and effective treatment for NKH. Which brings us to the treatment section.

 

Goal 2: Discover potential treatments for NKH

To get the treatment from research to people with NKH is a bit of a process.

First, they need to show ‘proof of concept’ in a mouse model. Nick has three mouse models.

Two are gene trap models, which means they can turn the GLDC gene on and off (with magic science). One model completely prevents GLDC gene expression, and the other allows approximately 10% of the GLDC gene expression, which allows the range of symptoms we see in NKH. The third is a missense model, which has the exact same mutation as a child living with NKH. This isn’t a gene they can turn on and off, these mice have NKH in the same way as our kids do.

Prof. Nick has two treatment projects at this ‘proof of concept’ stage. It’s very very exciting. They’re both in gene therapy – what this means is he’d like to place a working gene into a cell that is currently has a broken gene (thanks to an NKH mutation).  What that means is the cell will be able to produce a stable protein, which brings the whole glycine cleavage system up online. Hallelujah! Also, to clarify, this is an effective treatment for EVERY child with a mutation in that gene. Whether it’s a missense mutation or a deletion.

The tricky bit is getting the gene into the cell. They use fancy technology called vectors, which are actually viruses with the bad stuff taken out (it’s kind of like hijacking our immune system. Viruses attach to our cells, depositing the bad stuff that makes us sick. Our body fights them off, and writes a little reminder of how to avoid that particular virus in our genes). Instead of depositing bad stuff, the virus will deposit a working gene!

None of this is new, by the way. Nick’s team are working on it, and have been working on it for the last three years – which is so important for people to know. There’s a charity that’s fundraising millions to REPEAT this work that’s already been done. If you’re in the community you’ll know who, and I suspect the reason they’re doing it is so they can direct the clinical trial specifically to their kids, but for me, it feels like a waste of money, repeating existing research.

I don’t want to fundraise (which is really really hard work, btw) to have existing research replicated. I want to fundraise for the team that’s going to get to clinical trial the fastest, which bluntly, is Prof. Nick’s team. It’s why we support Joseph’s Goal, as the only charity that supports Prof. Nick.

Now, Prof. Nick’s team don’t have gene replacement therapy down yet. They’re exploring with two different vectors – AAV vectors to target the brain and lentiviral vectors to target the liver (AAV + Lentiveral are just different kinds of viruses. Like say the man flu + regular flu!). There are many questions – which is the best vector to use? Is one enough, just the brain or just the liver? Do they need to do both at the same time? Will it work? Will it be safe?

This is why they need to a do a proof of concept. They have the mouse model ready to go (a huge undertaking in itself) but it’s going to cost roughly ~£2.5 million to get through to clinical trials, and around 2-3 years, if they’re funded, and if the safety and ethical regulators who patrol this type of work are kind.

Speaking of, the second step in getting treatment to clinical trial is the safety step. The team needs to show that the treatment is able to be ‘produced’ at a scale appropriate for patients the world over (meaning, safe for humans. It’s what they call ‘clinical grade’). It requires plenty of safety studies to demonstrate this.

Prof. Nick’s team have another project to do small molecule work that is almost at this point. ‘Small molecule work’ sounds very high level science – but the idea is that there will be a pill (or powder?) of some sort that might be more effective, or might have less side effects (we hope!) than the existing treatments (aka, Sodium Benzoate). The study they’ve done in the mice has been very very positive, and everyone is cautiously optimistic.

Nick is currently talking to regulators about what kind safety studies they would need to do to get to this point. He’ll need a study to confirm it’s effective (costing ~£35K), and another study to check for long-term safety/possible side effects (costing another ~£30k) which might take 12-18 months. He’ll also need to find a clinical grade (read: safe!) version of the medication to test in the trials.

Then, the third step is to go to a clinical trial. May it happen sooner rather than later.

So, in summary Prof Nicks team are:

  • Using mass spectrometry (and other tests) to follow glycine around the body and understand what happens when there is too much glycine
  • Trialling two different vectors (one of the liver, one for the brain) in gene replacement therapy as a treatment option
  • Trialling small molecule work as a possible alternative to sodium benzoate.

It seems crazy to me that a proper, effective treatment (gene replacement therapy) is less than £3 million. That all that’s standing between us and a significantly improved quality of life is MONEY. It’s also not even that far out of reach, is it? If every person in  London donated a £1, we’d have the funds three times over.

So. We fundraise. You know we’re fundraising. We’re cutting our hair. We’re eating chicken nuggets. We’re doing an NKH Race Night. We might raise between £5k – £6k between those three fundraisers (which awkwardly all happen on the same two days).

That’s approximately 2% of whats needed, but I genuinely feel like at least I’m making the effort. I’m trying. With all the desperation of a special needs mama who wants a future with her son. I’m two feet all in, desperately trying to fundraise. This past week we managed to raise almost £8k with our fundraisers that happened across the weekend. A mere drop in the ocean. Hey ho, onwards we go.

Feb 13
0

On meeting Deepmind

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

Earlier this month I was invited to speak at Deepmind. It all came about in a roundabout way, because I was having coffee with a friend. She’s the best kind of friend. I don’t see her very often, but she’s that kind of person who can see the depth, acknowledge that things are hard and my heart hurts, but also move on and talk about lighter things, and things that are happening in her life. She doesn’t shy away from the hard and doesn’t let the hard weigh down everything else and I appreciate that.

She was talking about her work, and how for some, it’s hard to understand the real world effect of what they’re doing, which makes it hard to understand their purpose. Their why.

They’re all up in the code and the science, she said. When I asked what it was they were working on, she said ‘protein-folding’

I took a moment, just a beat, before I pointed at Mikaere. His entire disorder is because of protein folding.

Truth: it’s actually about protein misfolding.

———

Science sidenote: Your genes create little recipes, and your body, following these recipes creates protein chains of ingredients (amino acids). This protein chain folds in a particular way, and off it goes into your body to be used.

But, Mikaere has two little missense mutations. Which means that in his recipe, there are two wrong ingredients. These wrong ingredients go into the protein chain and cause the way it folds to be different – it misfolds – meaning it can’t be used.

Kind of like, if you have a recipe for cake, and instead of sugar you put in salt. The cake can’t do its job of being delicious.

Mikaere’s mutations mean in his little GLDC protein recipe, seriene is substituted with leucine and glutamine is substituted with lysine. So, when his body builds out this recipe chain of amino acids, the protein misfolds, and the protein can’t do it’s job in the glycine cleavage system.

Protein misfolding. It’s a thing.

——-

When I said it, I could see something had clicked with my friend. Suddenly her day to day of high level theoretical science had a very real world meaning. AlphaFold – an AI system used to predict protein structure and how they fold – meant so much more with what it might be able to do in the future.

Which is how I found myself earlier this week at Deepmind. I’d organised to have Prof. Nick Greene (from UCL, he heads up one of the very few NKH Research teams) be there too, because I was positive there would be some intense science related interest I wouldn’t be able to talk to. (I was right).

Deepmind, they are so lovely. I was in a room with some very very smart people, and while our story was more the reality of NKH and protein misfolding, when Prof. Nick spoke about the Science (capital s, lots of big words), you could see the cogs turning. There were a lot of interesting science questions (which were well over my head) but that so many people were thinking about the multiple aspects of glycine related metabolism, that was exciting for me.

Even more exciting was hearing about the interesting things Prof. Nick is working on. YOU GUYS, the research that we’re fundraising has such a huge effect, and while I’m not privy to share (Prof. Nick is writing the paper now, so hopefully it won’t be too long before it’s out) I was really really excited about the real world applications, and what that might mean for kids with NKH in the future. Things are HAPPENING, Prof. Nick is learning so much about NKH and glycine and just – I have so so much hope. So much hope!

I was grateful to share our story with Deepmind. I’d gone in with the intention to share our story (because we want Mikaere to be known) but I hope I touched a chord. I’m hopeful that one day AlphaFold will be used to aid scientific discovery in rare disorders like NKH.

Also, sometimes it’s just a privilege to be able to share with people who have influence over things like this. I think AlphaFold is going to be huge for the rare disease science community.

So yes. Thank you Deepmind for having us!

 

Aug 04
1

On the research happening in the UK

By | #teammikaere | 2 Comments

Woo! Research update!! One of the super cool things is the number of NKH mice models that are being used at UCL, that Prof. Nick Greene and his team work with.

They now have THREE mice models (more than any other research team) which is phenomenal. They’re all in the GLDC gene, but they are all different in severity. This means they can study different aspects of NKH and see how different treatments work with the different models.

Quick science aside: In every cell in our body, the cells read part of our dna (called genes) and use that as a recipe, make a protein. That protein goes on to do a specific job within the body. In NKH, if the child has a mutation in the GLDC gene, the GLDC protein is broken and the child is unable to process glycine. 

The mouse models are designed to mimic NKH – these mice are bred to have mutations in their GLDC genes so they are unable to process glycine, just like our kids.  Prof. Nick and his team have three working mouse models:

GldcGT1

These Mice have a ‘gene-trap’ – a magic genetic switch that allows the research team to have the GLDC gene either create the GLDC protein, or to turn it off so it doesn’t. 

When it’s off, these mice have NKH and present very similar symptoms like our kids do. They have higher levels of glycine in their blood, urine and body tissues, and about half the mice live for approximately 3 months. In the liver, they have perhaps 10% functionality of the GLDC protein (someone who doesn’t have NKH would have 100%).

The bonus of being able to turn the gene trap on and off is so they can understand how the glycine cleavage system works in different places in the body. It also means that if they turn it on (so the mice a producing the GLDC protein correctly), they can simulate what effect a working treatment might have.

(Side note: don’t be intimidated by the name. GLDC is the name of the gene. GT presumably stands for genetrap, and because they have 2 and this is the first, there is a 1 on the end)

GldcGT2

This is another gene trap mouse model (where they can turn the gene on and off), but this one completely prevents all GLDC gene expression (0% functionality of the GLDC protein). Very few mice survive after birth – this is a more severe model than the previous model.

By having a model that doesn’t produce any of the GLDC protein, they can see what the biochemical and metabolic effects are. This is huge for understanding what NKH does, and how it works. 

Gldc missense mutation

The team were able to create a model that has a missense mutation – a mutation that changes one ingredient in the NKH recipe (imagine replacing sugar with salt in a cake recipe, for example. The cake can no longer do its job of being delicious. Similarly, if the recipe for the GLDC protein is wrong, it can’t do its job processing glycine).

This is very similar to the kind of mutation a lot of NKH kids have. In fact, this is a known mutation, there are children with NKH who have this exact mutation! 

This model is used to test treatment options, and to better understand NKH progression. This is also huge, because if a treatment option works well with this model, there is a chance it would also work well with our kids. 

When I spoke to Nick last he said we know more about NKH now than we ever have before, and a lot of that is because of these models.

You guys, were so lucky to have Nick and his team on our side! He’s literally so far ahead of everyone else (side note: he’s already three years into gene replacement therapy research using these mouse models. I know the Drake Rayden Foundation are fundraising right now to kick off the exact same research that Nick’s already done.)

For everyone that supports #teamMikaere and Joseph’s Goal – this is where your money goes. This is where the life changing research is happening. This is where change is happening. So thank you, thank you thank you to everyone who has ever donated, bought a book or a tshirt or made a justgiving page! You guys are the best! 

PS – The Charity Fun run is happening on the 28th of September in London. Looking for both runners and volunteers! More at www.nkhcharityrun.com 🙂 

May 02
0

NKH Awareness Day – Help us cure NKH

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

It’s NKH Awareness Day today. I’ve been posting all week on facebook + instagram about NKH. Facts and trivia (as much as rare and terminal metabolic disorders can have trivia).

Here’s my ask: Instead of your usual flat white, please swap your coffee today for a donation. Please donate. Please donate. £3. £5. £15.

If donations aren’t your thing, please buy an Eva book (all royalties go to Joseph’s Goal). Please change your amazon smile charity of choice to Joseph’s Goal. Please change your profile picture on facebook to the NKH frame. Please share this post.

Today is the day, where once a year we as an NKH community make a big push. Our lives are hard – you know this. Not every family has the means or resources or support to fundraise, and so most families ask once a year, on this day.

Here’s what I can tell you. Your funds are making a difference. In the last year, there has:

  • Been the creation of zebra fish, mouse + worm NKH models. This is HUGE. Researchers can use these models to better understand how NKH works, at a much faster rate.
  • There has been progress in understanding how NKH works (in that it’s not *just* high glycine that causes issues, but also all the metabolic pathways that need molecules from the broken glycine system).
  • There has been progress in narrowing down which currently approved FDA drugs might work as a chaperone for NKH (this is also HUGE).
  • There has been signs that gene replacement therapy can be successful in mice (this is also SO HUGE, this is a CURE)
  • There has been research into replicating NKH into an algorithm for diagnostic use, which is HUGE and AMAZING and has the potential to help so many families.

There is more detail and more information that I can’t share, as it’s all unpublished and I’m being intentionally vague, but I want to share that progress is being made in NKH research. It’s progress that’s being funded by you.

For every £5 you’ve donated to Margot’s Marathon or Katy’s Run, or for every wine you’ve bought at a wine tasting, for every BV person who is doing Tough Mudder – you GUYS! You are paying for real research, real research that is underfunded, real research that has the potential to improve children’s lives dramatically.

So please donate today. Please go out and tell someone about NKH. Tell them about Mikaere. Organise a fundraiser in your office, a bake off, a poker match, a fun run. The stakes are small, and every single donation helps. Every single donation is funding research that will change lives.

Happy NKH Awareness Day. Thank you for being in our corner. We love you.

Apr 23
0

On QRI Laser Therapy for Reflex Integration

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

One of the things we fundraised for was for Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) When I first heard about QRI from a few NKH Mums – I raised my eyebrows and thought ‘hogwash’.  Three months later I was on a train to Birmingham without my guys to learn how to do it. It is a bit… alternative. Very woo-woo. The website is very 90s and the copy on the website is very… holistic and intuitive. For someone who prefers decisive facts and firm science, it was a big leap to get to the point where I was okay to try it on my child.

Now before I get to the point where I’ve joined all the dots – here’s the thing: if there is no harm and there is possible benefits, I’m keen to try it. If it will help Mikaere and it definitely won’t hurt Mikaere, then the risk for trying is low. So we try it. That’s where I started – the possible benefit for Mikaere and his health was 100% greater than the possible risk (because other than time and cost, there is no risk. It’s just light).

So I went on faith. And lots of anecdotal kool aid success stories from other special needs parents.

I got on a train, paid several hundred US dollars and went to learn about a protocol that suggested that with lasers, I might be able to help my son hold up his head.

Here’s how it works. There are a few premises, so let’s start with those.

  1. The first premise is that cells in our body can take up energy from light. It’s called photobiomodulation. Essentially, there’s a step in the process that makes ATP that has a copper middle. Copper can absorb light in certain wavelengths to give it an ‘energy boost’.The Science, as I understand it: Each cell in our body has a little power factory, called mitochondria. It creates ATP, which is what powers every function in every cell in our body. Cytochrome C Oxidase (CCO) is a step in the mitochondrial electron transport chain – the part that helps make ATP.  It transfers one electron (from each of the four cytochrome c molecules), to a single oxygen molecule, producing two molecules of water. At the same time, four protons are moved across the mitochondrial membrane, producing a proton gradient that the ATP synthase enzyme needs to synthesize ATP. CCO has two heme centres and two copper centres. Each of these metal centres can exist in an oxidized or a reduced state, and these have different absorption spectra, meaning CCO can absorb light well into the NIR region (up to 950 nm). Which is to say wavelengths in the red (600–700 nm) and near-infrared (NIR, 770–1200 nm) spectral regions, can be absorbed by the CCO centres, which causes an increase in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) above normal baseline levels (increasing the amount of ATP made) and leads to a brief and rather modest increase in generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) – which is a number of reactive molecules and free radicals derived from molecular oxygen. It’s used in a cell signalling and cell cycling.In a nutshell – given the right wavelengths of light, the mitochondria of a cell can absorb the photons from the laser, which stimulates the cell – increasing the ATP made and improving the signals between cells (amongst other things).
  2. The second premise is about reflexes.  We all have reflexes and they can be retained, preventing development. We all have a number of reflexes designed to help our bodies move through developmental phases. Reflex’s are held in what is called the Reflex Arc – it’s a neural pathway that controls a reflex. Most sensory neurones do not pass directly through the brain, but instead through the spinal cord. This allows for faster reflex actions to occur by activating spinal motor neurones without the delay of routing signals through the brain. When babies grow, the reflex triggers a certain number of movements automatically. These movements pave a set of neural pathways that, eventually, will allow the reflex to be integrated. Once a reflex is integrated, it’s no longer needed and the body will no longer use the reflex.Here’s the important bit: if there is an issue in the brain, or in the central nervous system (like, say because you have Nonketotic Hyperglycinemia) – these reflexes may not be integrated correctly or at all. They might be retained. If a reflex is retained, the child will not easily be able to progress. If they do progress, they’ll need to compensate for the retained reflex.
  3. The third premise is for reflexes that aren’t integrated can be integrated. Or rather, helped along. If reflexes are typically integrated with repeated movement, repeated, rhythmic movement (or, say, cell stimulation in particular points) may be able to help integrated reflexes by forming neuropathways. Even in brains with neural damage, on the idea that our brains have a certain amount of neuroplasticity, and if possible, they will find a way. This is where things get a bit more… flexible. But, I’m willing to give it a go. Especially because there are so many different success stories from other parents.

And so I went to a workshop held in Birmingham, and I had my first experience of laser therapy.

Woah. Buddy.

I sat through the entire half of the first morning and was so annoyed at myself. I was definitely wasting my time and I’d wasted so much money and I was very very very glad I had not spent thousands of pounds on a laser. The content was way to woo-woo. So far removed from science, and so far removed from what I knew and expected. I half listened, and tried to figure out if I could get a refund on my hotel and a train ticket back to London.

Then the ‘interactive’ part of the session happened. Where you test the reflexes of your partner, do the protocol, and then retest. I was positive I’d feel nothing (it’s just LED lights, I told myself) and that nothing would change.

Here’s the thing. I lay down, and almost instantly the lasers made my body relax even when my brain was still going a million miles an hour. What the heck. I’d never been in a situation where my body was calm and relaxed and my mind was not (it felt very very odd). You could feel your body responding to the lasers, so I kind of relaxed into it. Something was definitely happening, and there must be science behind it. I was sure. I was even more surprised when my reflexes had changed rather dramatically in the test afterwards – profoundly different from the before test.

It’s possible that it was psychoshamtic, but it’s also possible the laser was effective. Hard to know. So I stayed on, and that first night I went on an epic research deep dive. Here’s a small snippet of what I found.

  • LED study on that showed significant improvements in executive function and verbal memory of Chronic/Traumatic brain injury patients after LED/near infra-red light therapy. (Source)
  • LLLT decreased the muscle spasticity of children with spastic Cerebral Palsy (Source)
  • LLLT/photobiomodulation – cells exposed to low-levels of red and near-IR light from lasers or LEDs either stimulate or (less likely) inhibit cellular function, leading to reduction of cell and tissue death, improved wound healing, increasing repair of damage to soft tissue, nerves, bone, and cartilage, and relief for both acute and chronic pain and inflammation. (Source –  okay, so not a study, but I got half way through the references before I decided it was probably the most succinct version about LLLT)
  • Applying near-infrared light to the head of animals that have suffered traumatic brain injuries produces improvement in neurological functioning, reduces neuroinflammation, and stimulates the formation of new neurones (Source)
  • The rats subjected to 500 mW of laser irradiation had a significant decrease in glutamate, aspartate, and taurine in the cortex, and a significant decrease in hippocampal GABA (Source -this one’s helpful, because if there is a decrease in glutamate, the NMDA receptors which glycine binds to are less likely to fire)

They’re mostly the abstracts, because I don’t think I’m allowed to share openly the full studies, but there you go.

We got a laser and we’ve been working it into Mikaere’s routine. Sometimes we manage it, sometimes we don’t. We think we’ve seen some gains, but because we’re doing so much with Mikaere it’s hard to attribute it directly to the laser. We’ll see. I’ll keep you posted.

 

Oct 12
0

On the developmental quotient

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

One of the things newly diagnosed NKH parents worry about is severity. There is a range: Severe is at one end. Severe means that neither mutation is producing any protein that can be used by the body. Any protein that is made is probably unstable and falls apart to be recycled. Severe is what we’re primed for – disabled, seizures, developmental delay, early death. No walking, no talking, not eating. Perhaps smiling – a developmental milestone usually hit in the first few weeks – that’s the total brain development we’re told to expect of a severe child.

At the other end, there’s attenuated – that’s a whole different kettle of fish. Some children you wouldn’t even know have NKH. They’re walking and talking and going to school and are picture perfect (I met a boy who had very mild NKH in March. I literally couldn’t stop staring. I wanted to hug him, but as a stranger to this teenage boy, I refrained). It steps down in degree’s from there. Walking and running (or sometimes non-mobile) and/or talking up a storm (or non-verbal) and/or eating (or bolus only). There are a lot of other issues, too. ADHD, severe behavioural tantrums, autistic like behaviours, hyperactivity movement disorders (dystonia, chorea, ataxia).

As I understand it, it’s a huge range split across three categories: Attenuated Poor. Attenuated Intermediate. Attenuated Mild. You can’t tell which category is which until the child is much older (around 2), and they’re showing signs of development. The rate at which they develop – thats what defines which category you’re lumped in.

What this means first and foremost is that at the time of diagnosis (typically a few weeks after birth) it’s impossible to tell severe or attenuated, unless your child has two of the handful of mutations which have previously been expressed to show how much protein they produce. Regardless of this almost every parent is told their child is severe. If a doctor see’s your child as sleepy and lethargic (even if it’s just a bad day, or post seizure) they’ll lean towards severe. Severe is where we’re primed to be, and severe is what we fear in that newly diagnosed haze. Severe is the safe worst case scenario.

Thing is, it isn’t until our babes start developing that the severity of NKH comes to light.

There’s a slide in a talk done by one the NKH researchers that spits it out:

Attenuated Mild: Developmental Quotient 50-80
Attenuated Intermediate: Developmental Quotient 20-50
Attenuated Poor: Developmental Quotient <20

The Developmental Quotient is a score – it’s the developmental age divided by the chronological age. As the parent of a developmentally delayed child – that’s a scary score. In my ignorance, I know Mikaere’s delayed, but I don’t know *how* delayed. Very seems nice ambiguous score. I know he’s not even close to his peers, and he’s been passed by babies a year and a half younger than him, but there’s nothing concrete to latch on to.

And that was fine until in Boston I spoke to researcher, showed him a few videos of Mikaere and after a pause, he said Mikaere was unlikely to be severe, he was showing milestones that perhaps put him in the attenuated poor category. This same researcher had seen Mikaere a year before and had said without a doubt he was severe at his current presentation.

Attenuated Poor. That shocked me. What would attenuated poor mean for us? Would it mean more time with Mikaere? What would our future look like? Will I (dare I even hope) need to be looking at support and facilities and special needs schools? (Will we make that it that long?) – what kind of support will we need? Will we make it to the world of special needs vans and hoists and support with a teenage Mikaere (Can you even IMAGINE?!) Attenuated Poor threw me off my severe, live in the short term kind of mentality. What would attenuated poor mean for us as a family?

How do we make quality of life decisions for our family with such uncertainty in our future? You can see the kind of emotional mess my brain went to with the words ‘attenuated poor’.

But I’m also kind of a logical person, so my first port of call was can we confirm that Mikaere is, or isn’t right now, on the attenuated poor scale? Which is where that Developmental Quotient came in. It would tell me. There is a standardised test and a score and NUMBERS. I never wanted to know how delayed Mikaere was before and now it was all I could do to not do the test myself.

In the studies that discuss NKH Severity, there are three scales of development that could be used: the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Mullen Scales of Early Learning, or Wechsler Scale of Intelligence. The Bayley Scales is the typical standardised measurement in the UK, and our physio was trained in assessment. So off we went. She came and Mikaere was assessed.

It’s heartbreaking to look at the long list of milestones by age and know your baby can’t do the majority of them. What a knock. Still, I cheered for everything Mikaere could do. We marked off some milestones, which is positive (he’s on the scale, you know?) and just – we got through. I had to remind myself that MIkaere hadn’t changed. Mikaere was still his happy little self and he couldn’t do anymore or any less than he was yesterday. He’s still just fine on his own little path.

Deep breath in. Slow breath out.

We got through the assessment and I put it out of my mind until the assessment report came.

Cognitive: Age equivalent: 3 months.
Language Receptive: Age equivalent: 3 months 10 days.
Language Expressive: Age equivalent: 6 months.
Motor Fine: Age equivalent: 2 months
Motor Gross: Age equivalent: <16 days

Mikaere was 21 months when we did the assessment with an average development of about 3 months. Oh my heart.

DQ Final Score: 3/21= 0.14 or 14%

But there we go. The numbers are pretty clear. Mikaere’s solidly in the Attenuated Poor Category.

Oct 01
0

On the wine tasting

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

Gosh, the wine tasting! We tried changing things up this year, but to be honest – this year’s wine tasting was a bit of a shambles. We were stretched in the weeks leading up to the wine tasting (having been away) and there was a bunch of things we didn’t do well (we forgot to ask for volunteers till the day before, we did it in the middle of the summer when most people were away, we gave everyone late notice etc etc) but despite the shambles, oh my days, what a great day.

This year instead of one giant tasting like a show, we had three small ‘stations’ where everyone stopped by as they went, with bubbles to start. It was a blind tasting, so each station had two wines, there was a Rosé station, a white station and a red station. Considering the heat of the day (thanks crazy heatwave) we did a chilled red (!) which was pretty fantastic. I obvs. loved the Rosé but I enjoyed the fizz and the chilled red too.

It was lovely to catch up with everyone as they came through – there was plenty of wine and we played a lot of ‘water vs wine’ (such a fun easy game). It was small, we intentionally kept the ticket sales small (and manageable!) but we had about 25 people come, we sold lots of wine and oh my days, there was lots of love.

On the day we raised £450 which is a phenomenal effort. Thanks to everyone who came and bought a ticket and drank our wine. Every single pound has such a profound affect on the research that can be done. All of those funds have been sent to Joseph’s Goal, who will send it along to Prof. Nick Greene for NKH Research. Honestly – thank you for the support for everyone who came with the crazy amount of love – thanks to you we’re making change. These funds – they give credence to what we’re doing, they give meaning to Mikaere’s life – he’s making a mark on the world with every single pound we raise in his name. I often mull over why we fundraise, and right now, that’s it. We want our son’s life to having meaning, to have made a difference. We want him to contribute to the world, and oh, how he is.

We’re lucky that we have this outlet in which to do that, so thank you for the love and support. You guys are the best x

Jul 02
1

On all the amazing fundraising goodness

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

Hey you guys, we’ve been a bit absent lately. I’m not going to apologise for that, really. Life happened. The short of it is that I tried to do too much in one go and now I’m paying the price, but that’s okay because the outcome is that we hit the Van Hove Appeal goal! We raised $10,394 and absolutely SMASHED that $10k goal!

It was a pretty ambitious goal, to be honest. $10k is a huge, huge amount.  So thank you for everyone who donated in the name of #teamMikaere – we saw so many familiar names come through with donations, so many people we know and love – so thank you. You guys were a strong catalyst for pushing us forward. I’m not even kidding, 53 of the blue squares (each with a donation of $50 or more) were bought by #teamMikaere supporters. That’s a whopping 29% of all the squares, and while we were facilitating the campaign, this success honestly belongs to you and to the NKH community which rallied beautifully to the cause.

Now, I know that $10k doesn’t seem like much, but it makes all the difference. Unfortunately this amount won’t be matched by the University of Colorado like we had originally hoped. We tried working with them, but they’re a state funded school and can’t release the funds for Van Hove.

But we spent a lot of time working out a plan with Kristin from the NKH Crusaders and Emma from Josephs Goal, and we have a plan:

Van Hove needs $120k to keep his lab open from July 2018 – July 2019:

– NKH Crusaders has committed $25k upfront now, and a $15k grant early in 2019, with the second payment in partnership with the Nora Jane Almany Foundation.
– Joseph’s Goal has also committed $25k upfront, with a second payment of $15k in early 2019.
– The community has raised $10k with the Van Hove Appeal
– Les Petits Bourdons are sending $12k
– Hope for NKH is sending an additional $5k.
– Prof. Van Hove has gained the support of a fellow who will send $15k.

That’s $92k now with $30k to come. A whopping $122k all up. We’ve done it. We’ve raised enough money to keep Prof. Van Hove in NKH Research. That’s INCREDIBLY amazing. He’s the nicest of guys, literally one of the most knowledgable on NKH – and he is responsive to parents. That is HUGE. We’re grateful he’s still in research, we’re grateful he’s got funding for the next year.

In terms of more general fundraising, we’ve done really well, recently.

With Josie, Margot + Chris running their marathons (in Istanbul, London + Edinburgh respectively), Adam riding from London to Paris, with the corporate support from Infinis, the charity Art Exhibition… you guys, we’ve hit in £69,575.88 raised in the last year and a half. I’m blown away by the support and love people have shown towards Team Mikaere because you GUYS – that is a ridiculous number. Side note: the VH appeal is not even included in that number!)

Here is what I know about that number – that huge giant number was made predominantly of tiny tiny donations. Small little donations add up, and that number? We’re well on our way to our £100k goal. That’s a year worth of research right there.

With that in mind – we’re having another wine tasting! Are you in London and free on the afternoon of 22nd of July? We’re doing another wine tasting – this time with a twist! Less sitting down, and more interactive goodness, moving from table to table. Tasting wine, with pairings and wine facts and riddles and games. All proceeds go to Joseph’s Goal and NKH Research (obvs).  It’s in Putney (SW15 1SZ), tickets are £20 and available from here: https://bit.ly/wineforkai2

Please come drink wine with us. It’s going to be amazing.

Jun 11
1

On the Van Hove Appeal

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

I’m not sure how to write about this. Prof. Van Hove’s research lab is set to close at the end of June due to funding issues.

This man has spent more than 15 years in NKH research. It’s his research that laid the foundation for the other NKH teams. He discovered, defined and proved the difference between variant NKH + classic NKH, solving the mystery of why some kids present so so differently and don’t have mutation in the NKH genes. He proved that taking DXM + SB earlier in life has a positive effect on outcome in his sibling study. He’s set to prove that NKH causes growth issues in the brain (as opposed to formation issues) which is hugely exciting (and the opposite to what most metabolic consultants thing).

He’s the doctor our metabolic consultants ask for help. He’s the person the NKH Research teams want to pick the brain of. Notre Dame worked with him in the beginning of their research group, inviting him to speak to their students. Prof. Nick Greene from UCL has said openly, several times that there is no person with more NKH knowledge than Prof. Van Hove.

He has also, over the years, amassed a metabolic network that is second to none. When speaking to Nick, he said that every time he makes a new contact in the metabolic community about NKH, they already know and are fond of Prof. Van Hove.

He’s worked hard, a lifetimes worth of work, with his sole focus being NKH. Which is odd, considering neither the Notre Dame team or the UCL team are focused on NKH (Notre Dame’s main focus is Malaria. UCL is at least closer with Neural Tube Defects, which share mutations in the GLDC gene).

I can’t believe he’s closing, and when I heard, my initial reaction was ‘what can I do?’

It turns out, quite a lot. Not alone, of course. Both NKH Crusaders and Joseph’s Goal were already moving to help – they’ve both set aside a small grant for Van Hove. It’s not enough to cover his costs till the next grant comes in (due Feb 2019). But, if they can get it matched from University of Colorado, that would put Van Hove short only $20k. If we were also able to get matching, then we’d need to supply $10k.

$10,000. That feels like a lot of zeros.

But here’s the thing – if we can’t raise the full amount to keep Van Hove going till the next grant comes in, there is no point. We’ll end up in the same situation again a few months down the road. If Van Hove closes before the grant comes in, then any money we send is essentially wasted.

That’s the fear of NKH Crusaders and Joseph’s Goal. If we don’t get enough to cover the entire year, if the University of Colorado is not able to match what we raise, then those extra funds will go to researchers not on the brink of closing.

So – it’s all or nothing. If we, as a community, can raise $10k, we can save Van Hove’s lab from closing. That’s it. $10,000 (well, actually only $9550 now, because we donated the entirety of our allocated donation savings to get things going). If I rationalise it into more manageable chunks, 191 families would need to donate $50 each to make that much. Now, there are almost 500 members of the NKH Q&A Community, so I’d need approximately 40% of them to donate.

Seems doable, right? So, we’re asking that each NKH family donate $50. Not to share on facebook, not to ask their friends or family (who have no doubt been asked time and time again for money) but us. This is our community. This is our researcher.

Now, not everyone has $50 to spare – I know. It’s a big ask to pull $50 out of your pocket. But you know what? As a fundraising goal, it’s really low.  Keep any eye out for a few more posts on how to fundraise later in the week.

Here is what I want to say – I want to keep the most knowledgable NKH man in NKH research. I don’t want Van Hove to close his lab. So, will you help? Will you donate $50?

US folk: https://www.facebook.com/donate/312802479252342/

UK/EU folk: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/vanhoveappeal

Help me turn the grid blue. For more information: http://fundnkhcure.com/

May 23
2

On Reviewing the End of Life Care Plans

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

There’s an appointment I always dread and it happened last week. We met with our palliative care consultant at Hospice. She’s really lovely, has a keen sense of humour and is generally very sympathetic. She’s also incredibly practical and straightforward which I enjoy.

It wasn’t our palliative care consultant that made me dread this appointment, though. It’s that every six to nine months (acute events or slow declines not withstanding) we review Mikaere’s end of life care plan. Which is to say we go through, step by step and say, if the worst case scenario happened – at what point do we say enough is enough.

Blah. Just BLAH. My son is beautiful and right this minute chirpy and smiley and very happy kicking the crap out of some shredded paper. I hate having emotionally to go to that dark place. To remember the time he turned blue, that time he was in a seizure coma and then really think about his quality of life and the quality of death we’d wish for him. I hate that bit too. Thinking about his death. I mostly block out that it’s a very real and likely possibility. It just seems so unlikely because he’s so beautiful and alive and aware and happy. But mostly because I don’t want it to happen. It seems unlikely because I don’t want it to happen.

But then I think about to Halle Mae who gained her wings only a few months ago. I think about all the NKH babies who have passed and I know for certain it’s a possibility.  And if it’s a possibility, then having a plan when we’re not in the world of grief, having something to fall back on and not have to make those decisions when we’re emotionally struggling is a good idea.

But to have a plan we have to consider the worst case scenario and I hate the worst case scenario.  Even worse, this time it was just me. Sam had to work, so there I was. Our palliative care consultant, a palliative care nurse, our carer and a lady shadowing palliative care in hospice (because the more the merrier, apparently). A whole panel of people.

And we went down the list.

Our first scenario is an acute deterioration, which is to say “in the event of a sudden collapse with respiratory and/or cardiac arrest, where breathing and/or heart stops, we agree to”:

(it starts from the least invasive treatments)

  • Airway positioning. Yes. Do this. Reposition his airway, for sure.
  • Suctioning. Also yes. If we can get him breathing again with suction, it would be silly not to.
  • Oxygen. Yes. Yes to O2 through a nasal cannula.

These ones are all easy ones. They don’t hurt, they’re temporary and won’t cause any long term damage. The next one is:

  • Mouth to Mouth/Bag and Mask Ventilation for _____ minutes until parents are present or ambulance has arrived.

We said yes. For 5-10 minutes. And we debated every single one of those minutes, and the whys and whats and all the scenarios. It was hard not to say you do mouth to mouth for as long as you need to. It was hard to find the point to let go and that 5-10 minutes is our point. I even called Sam, interrupting his work day to help talk it out.

Because the next one?

We said no to External Cardiac Compressions.

We said no to CPR. I hate that we said no, but thinking about whats best for Mikaere rather than whats best for my emotional state… it’s a no.  With a child, cardiac arrest is typically caused by respiratory arrest (the opposite is true in adults). Which is to say, if Mikaere has stopped breathing for long enough, it’s likely to also stop his heart from breathing.

If his breathing had stilled for long enough that his heart stops beating despite our interventions that’s a big big problem, cardiac compressions are likely to break his ribs and he’s still unlikely to survive. Quality of death. That’s what I keep telling myself. Quality of death is just as important as quality of life.

The rest? They were easy to say no to.

  • No to Endotracheal intubation and technical ventilation.
  • No to advanced life support with drugs and intravenous access.

No thank you. We’ve been there before, with both those scenarios. And considering the quality of life following those scenarios… we genuinely feel it would be better for Mikaere to pass. Quality of death, quality of life.

This scenario was by far the worst one. The acute deterioration, where it happens swiftly and unexpectedly. The other scenario, a slow deterioration instead of an acute event we’d be able to see it coming. It would be increased seizures, reduced consciousness, and Mikaere would increasingly be struggling to maintain his airway.

In this scenario, we’d do everything we could, up until intravenous access (with still no to mechanical ventilation). But with a slow deterioration, we’ll have the time to consider what’s best. We’ll have time to think on whether each intervention is right. The main point here is that we’d be able to transfer to hospice on end of life care if need be. There isn’t a point where we’d say we want to go to hospice. If it was anything like last time, we’ll all know it’s time. We’ll have the support we need to decide what’s best for Mikaere.

To be fair, we can change our minds at anytime about anything on the plan. We’re not locked in, but I think if it happens it’s best to have a plan. I know how crazy it gets, how fast everything moves and how you can get into a knee-jerk reaction only mode. How you can be so overwhelmed with all your feelings that thinking logically isn’t possible. That we might be still processing our fear and our grief to clearly think about whats best for for Mikaere.

Still, I walked out of the room heavy. So so heavy. It was beautiful day and Mikaere was happy, but it was a really really tough day. I’m glad we have a plan to which we agree on, but I hate we even need a plan. I hate NKH, I hate that we’re planning for his death. It’s horrific.

So, a cure, hey? That’s what we need. I’m thinking on more fundraising opportunities – because that’s what gets me through, and that’s what gives me hope. Wine tasting later in the summer – what do you think? Anyone keen?