St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and a father's stem cells provide new life for son with a rare disease.

Who said Catholics are against Stem Cell research? Well, the media would have you believe that were true. The fact is, the Catholic Church is against the use of embryonic (stem cells taken from aborted embryos) stem cells for any purpose. Use of adult stem cells is not an issue.

Catholic Online reports: Three-year-old Andrew Mueting of Dodge City is a bright, happy-go-lucky, energetic little boy. But when he was 4 months old, doctors gave him a bleak prognosis.

Born with malignant infantile osteopetrosis, an exceedingly rare blood disorder that affects approximately 20 U.S. babies a year, Andrew was expected to spend his few years of life fighting anemia and infections, struggling with weak bones and eventual blindness and deafness.

Now, thanks to a new procedure that utilized his father's adult stem cells, Andrew is expected to live a long, healthy life with few ill effects.

Because the disease is so rare, there are only a few facilities in the country that treat it. One is St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. It was there that Mueting learned of a machine created by a German scientist that would remove the T-cells from adult stem cells. T-cells can lead the body to reject the new, life-saving cells.

With the new treatment in mind – the only hope Andrew had for a cure – the Muetings moved temporarily to Memphis.

Andrew then spent more than 50 days in a medically induced coma and nearly another month in intensive care. The Muetings never left Memphis during those difficult days -- days made much easier by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's unique ability to help families.

"St. Jude provided us temporary housing," Mueting said. "They even have a 'parent room' with a couchlike bed right in the hospital. That's where one of us stayed every night while the other slept in Andrew's room."

St. Jude also removes the stress of worrying about how families are going to pay the bills; the Muetings were able to concentrate entirely on their child.

"St. Jude is kind of different," Mueting explained. "They bill the insurance company, but whatever insurance doesn't pay, they don't require from the patient family. They took care of our housing and helped with the meals. We were well taken care of."

It has been more than two years since the Muetings brought their son home from the hospital. During that time, the family has made close to 20 trips back to Memphis for follow-up care, and has devoted much time to helping Andrew fully recover through physical, occupational, speech and vision therapies.

Andrew Mueting's cure is one of many performed at St. Jude's Hospital. Check this website out if you want to learn more about Stem Cell research from a Catholic perspective.