This is Celina's story through her eyes:
“My entrance into this world was not as one might expect, In my mommy’s womb, I
was floating among too many fluids while next to me my twin sister had none.  We
had twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome whereby I received the most substantial
part of the blood supply directed at us through a vein in mommy’s placenta.  At
nineteen weeks I got to go to Florida, not to see Mickey Mouse, but to have a
surgery to disconnect my blood supply from that of my twin sister’s so that we
could each receive equal amounts of nourishment.  The surgery went really well
and my twin sister began to float just like me.  Yet, three weeks after the surgery
something went wrong and she died.  My twin sister had to stay with me until I was
delivered.  This was one of the great risks of this problem.  I guess a couple
weeks later, all that good fluid that I was floating in started to come out of
mommy.  She had to go to the hospital and that night all of the fluid came out of
her I felt kind of stuck, just like my twin sister.”
“Mommy was able to keep me in her tummy for three more weeks.  On the
evening of May 28, 1999 I had to get out and wiggle.  I had to be delivered by c-
section because I was so little and mommy and I both had a huge infection.  The
doctor took me out of my mommy’s tummy as well as my little sister.  We definitely
didn’t go to the same place.  I was rushed to the Newborn ICU because I only
weighed 1lb. 9oz.  The nurses said I was breathing okay by myself at first, but
then I guess I crashed and needed help to breathe.  I had to be placed on a
ventilator to keep me breathing and was feed by a tube through my nose.  I wasn’
t able to see my mommy for two whole days because she was so sick.”
“The NBICU is a place I don’t recommend.  It is bright, loud, and noisy.  All day
long I would hear buzzers and beepers going off.  I had so many needles poked
into me that I have tiny scares all over my hands and feet.  When I was in the
NBICU, I was really sick and has difficulty breathing.  Mommy could only hold my
hand for a little while at a time.  Eventually things got better and she could hold
me and I even started drinking from a bottle.”
“Finally after being in the NBICU for three months I was able to go home.  I had to
have a tube in my nose to help me breathe for one year and I was really sensitive
to the world around me.  I hated loud noises, bright lights, and eating was hard.  I
cried a lot that first year I was home.  Everything around me seemed disorganized
and scary.  My body didn’t move well, and at nine months old I was diagnosed
with cerebral palsy.  So, there I was a young baby who was extremely sensitive,
couldn’t move well, and had been in the hospital way too much for my young
age.  Was I ever anxious!”



This was the experience of my daughter, Celina Wollsieffer, as a premature
infant.  She is now a bright, beautiful, and very talkative eight-year-old.  She
needs constant support to make her body move.  In the Fall, she will be starting
third grade in a regular classroom with an aid.  Celina has had physical therapy,
occupational therapy, and speech therapy since she was diagnosed with cerebral
palsy at nine months old.  She also participates in Hippotherapy, Hydrotherapy,
and an amazing art class that allows her to express herself in any way that she
can.  I heard about Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy when Celina was around two
years old.  I decided to give it a try.  Celina had a SPECT Scan done at the
University of Utah before she started the therapy.  The scan showed the
damaged area of her brain.  Celina then did about 60 dives in the oxygen tank.  
She then had another SPECT Scan after and the damaged area was no longer
there.  The only thing the doctor reading the scan could see wrong, was that her
thalamus was smaller than it should be, which is an area that sends directions to
the body of what to do.  About a year later, Celina did another set of dives.  She
has done some where between 80-100 dives.  Celina still requires a lot of
support throughout the day.  However, when we began the hyperbaric treatments
she was not speaking, during that time she began to make sounds, which turned
into words, and before long she had much to say.  I also saw a change in her fine
motor skills and her ability to keep her hands open and use them to accomplish
tasks.  Celina can read and turn the pages in a book all by herself!  The dives in
the tank definitely helped her.  Who knows what a little more oxygen and a whole
lot of determination will do!!!!
Celina
You can send donations to:
ReGenesis Foundation
825 North 300 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84103
**put in the memo for
Joey's Breath of Life**
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