The Secret Is Out: Cord Blood Stem Cells

By Joseph K. Davis

The optimism and excitement author Joseph K. Davis and his wife, Darlene, shared in the birth of their firstborn son, Joseph Davis II, quickly turned into fear and uncertainty in January of 2000. They received the news that he had been born with life-threatening sickle-cell anemia, a genetic blood disorder characterized by red blood cells that assume an abnormal, rigid, sickle shape. The Davis family was prepared to do anything they could to help their little boy.

In The Secret Is Out, Davis shares the familys experience dealing with their sons debilitating and potentially fatal illness and how little Joseph survived after undergoing a cord blood stem cell transplant. The story sheds light on this miracle of science that was once considered to be an experimental procedure, but has nowpartly with their familys helpbecome an effective, internationally recognized form of treatment for a host of ailments once thought incurable.

The Secret Is Out tells a true story of the courageous and bold perseverance of one family in the fight to save their son.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 27, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475916102

Joseph K. Davis

Joseph K. Davis earned a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Austin Peay State University. He is cofounder and vice-president of CBP World Awareness, an organization dedicated to educating individuals and families about important health related issues and breakthroughs. The Davis family lives in Cedar Hill, Texas.

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Copyright © 2010, 2012 by Joseph K. Davis

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-1609-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-1610-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012906815

iUniverse rev. date: 06/13/2012

To my wife, Darlene, for her sweet spirit,

caring support, and eternal friendship. I am very fortunate

to have such a wonderful and special companion.

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter One  Separations, Reunions, and My Childhood Sweetheart

Chapter Two  Marriage, Music, and Our First Tragedy

Chapter Three  Renewed Hope

Chapter Four  More Than the Usual Labor Pains

Chapter Five  A Most Miraculous Arrival

Chapter Six  Welcoming Little Joseph and Unwelcome News

Chapter Seven  Sickle-Cell Crisis Number One

Chapter Eight  The Pain and Agony Return

Chapter Nine  A Vicious Cycle and the Procedure That Could Break It

Chapter Ten  Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed

Chapter Eleven  The End of a Long Search

Chapter Twelve  Secret Weapon

Chapter Thirteen  Spreading the Good News

Afterword

Foreword

On every one of my birthdays, my mother always made it a point to tell me the story of how she almost lost me while giving birth. About six months into what had already been a precarious and delicate pregnancy, she had an incident of heavy bleeding and what appeared to be an early onset of labor, and my father rushed her to the hospital. The doctors attending to my mother’s case had already primed her to receive one of two grim announcements—either she would have a miscarriage, or she would be giving birth to a child whose chance of survival would be fifty-fifty at best.

My mother, delirious with pain and wrought with emotional anguish at the possibility of losing her baby, obstinately clung to the hope that she would emerge from this ordeal carrying a baby in her arms. When the pains eventually subsided and she began to regain her senses, she noticed that she was all alone and immediately called on my father—who hadn’t been by her side once that evening.

It turned out that my father had been in the hospital chapel the whole time, praying (and, in his words, blubbering like crazy) over and over again for his wife and child to survive the crisis.

That story, more than being an emotional account of how I came to be in this world, serves to highlight the undying love parents have for their child. And nowhere is that love and devotion more pronounced than in the Davis couple, Joseph and Darlene, whose faith, optimism, and determination allowed them to overcome the most difficult of obstacles—all for the love of their child.

When Joseph Davis finished this book (and subsequently asked me to write the foreword for it) the story was hardly news to me. For the longest time, I have known that both Joseph and his wife have spoken passionately to countless audiences about how their son, Joseph Davis II, survived a debilitating and potentially fatal illness through the miracle of science—specifically, a cord blood stem cell transplant. To say that the work they do has saved hundreds (even thousands) of lives is, by no exaggeration, an understatement.

In The Secret Is Out, writing about his and his family’s experience dealing with sickle-cell anemia, Joseph sheds light on what was once considered to be an experimental procedure, but has now—partly with their family’s help—become an effective, internationally recognized form of treatment for a host of ailments once thought incurable, sickle-cell anemia included.

After reading this book, I was suffused with a sense of gratitude and hope—gratitude for the presence of loving parents who refused to simply give up their child to circumstance and hope that millions out there will read this and come to the same realization I did, that with the secret of stem cell treatment out, no longer will people have to surrender their loved ones to a life of pain and, eventually, death.

I don’t know how you came upon this book. Maybe you were one of the audiences in attendance during one of the Davis family’s talks on the importance of banking cord blood and are looking to hear more of their story. Or perhaps you have an ailing loved one and are looking