Turning sixty is the day which makes most people realize that they are inching closer towards retirement. This is why sixtieth birthdays are all about celebrating the beginning of the end of life’s hectic years.
No one knows that better than Reginald Todd Hewitt, Founder and Executive Director of a not for profit organization established for one of his daughters whom he lost suddenly in 2009 of a rare viral disease called Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML).
At a time when he should have been making plans for a long awaited for retirement, he was thrust suddenly into the role of Legal Guardian of four beautiful children.
Flash forward to 2014, those four small children now 13, 14, 16 and 17 are the love of his life and the inspiration to carry on his daughter Courtney Leigh Hewitt’s Legacy through his hard work and dedication with, The Courtney Project 501 c3.
PML can also occur in organ transplant patients, people undergoing chronic corticosteroid or immunosuppressive therapy, and people that have certain cancers, such as Hodgkin’s disease, lymphoma, and sarcoidosis. PML disease most commonly occurs in anyone who has ever had the Chickenpox or has a weakened or compromised Immune System and affects the central nervous system and brain. The symptoms can be similar to other diseases out there, which is why it is so hard to detect.
The virus will cause lesions on the brain and begin to affect the nervous system and affects everyone differently. It depends on which section of the brain it decides to affect that will cause certain symptoms. For instance, when it attacks the part of the brain that controls a person’s motor skills that person will lose the ability to walk or talk. Early symptoms may include a weakness on one side, blurred vision, fatigue, impairment of learned skills, confusion, disorientation, loss of balance, and a possibility of seizures. Symptoms can often be misdiagnosed as a stroke or other similar HIV related conditions that affect the brain.
The only effective way of properly diagnosing PML Disease is through an MRI and CT Scan or a brain biopsy. The treatment of PML can be just as bad as retrieving the diagnosis. The treatment of medications was given through a shunt in the brain. Now it has been discovered that an aggressive anti-HIV therapy can possibly result in the remission of PML. If a person is misdiagnosed and does not receive the proper treatment, then their life expectancy will be one to three months.
Because this disease is so rare and little is known about it more people have passed away than should have.Single mothers raising their children, such as Courtney Leigh Hewitt of Orlando, Florida have been misdiagnosed and did not receive the proper treatment. There are doctors, including HIV doctors, out there that do not know about PML, such as was the case with her own Infectious Disease Specialist!
PML is so rare and because of this many people are losing their lives when they could be living longer with the early diagnosis and aggressive treatments!
“The mission of The Courtney Project is to help prevent PML by early detection of the JC Virus. If detected and treated early enough, HIV patients diagnosed with PML can continue to live a productive normal life! With your contribution we can make this happen all around the world. I invite you to contact me to find out how you can personally get involved by lending your voice and helping us save lives! “
The best Birthday anyone could give me would be the news that The Courtney Project’s Mission to reach global awareness and the disease of PML has been eradicated!
Todd Reginald Hewitt – MAN of ACTION™
The Courtney Project 501 (c)3
Media Outreach
117 N. Kirkman Road
Orlando, Florida 32811
407-291-8658
407-538-2401
www.the-courtney-project.org
Celebrating Sixty with a Mission, Todd Hewitt
October 16, 2014 by Team Celebration
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