Friends and Family,
A very belated THANK YOU to all who came out and otherwise supported Pound the Pavement for Peter!! It was wildly overwhelmingly successful, with over 500 people in attendance, and we raised over $50,000 to go directly to research for Peroxisomal Disorders through Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins.  This will make a significant impact on their ability to work specifically on this disease.

Matt, Peter and I went a couple of weeks ago to Dekalb, IL to a doctor's conference where we met many of the docs doing research on Peroxisomal Disorders (PBD's). We saw the docs that we had already known, but we also met new docs who are doing exciting research that may be helpful for Peter and other children like him.

There is a group of docs in Amsterdam who have "cured" PBD's in yeast - although humans are quite a ways from yeast, it is quite hopeful. Additionally, there is a lab in California doing stem cell research (skin stem cells, not embryonic) that may prove hopeful for PBD children. 

The research that is going on at Kennedy Krieger (in tandem with McGill University) is looking for specific compounds that can "bond with" the peroxisomes in these kids' bodies to help lesssen the effects of the faulty peroxisomes. Once the compounds are identified, they hope to develop drugs/pharma agents for these kids to take. This is the project that the $ from the race will be funding - and they were very hopeful that the $50K will make quite an impact on getting to these compounds.

At the conference, there were also about 20-30 families who came that we were able to meet. there were probably 20 or so affected children at the conference, ranging from 6 weeks old to 27 years old. It was amazing to be with all of these incredible families and learn from one another. Quite a blessing.

Anyhow, the conference was a success, and we are thrilled that we had the opportunity to be there.

At the risk of making this update too long, Peter is doing well generally, but he is sleeping quite a bit these days. We are waiting on some blood tests that hopefully will tell us something about why, and we should hear this week. Along with this, we are headed to our neurologist next week to discuss possible alternatives for his sleeping as well. . . we are hoping just to find an answer and get him past this "phase".

We are thrilled that summer is almost here, as Peter LOVES LOVES LOVES the pool. . .

Thank you all for your continued love and support, and we feel blessed to have so many loving people in our lives. The Lord is so good to us.

With much love,
Anne Park and Matt