campaign started asking people to use its pink on red equals sign on their pages. that will do it for me. much more of the cnn newsroom continues at the top of the hour with don lemon. keep it here for sanjay gupta, md. hey there. thanks for watching. you will meet a former soldier who's got five daughters. he was having a hard time back from iraq until he found this unique program. he calls it a life coach. we'll explain. and fighting cancer -- the fun way. ♪ the woman with the helmet in the middle is unforgettable. we'll introduce you. and there is a lot more. let's get started. first up, when desperate parents see the high cost of medical care autism is a case in

point. studies show early intervention is important and children can improve dramatically but the gold standard treatment can run tens of thousands a year. a third of u.s. states do not require insurance companies to pay so, of course, they don't. georgia is one of those states a. group led by three mothers decided to fight for more help. they are fighting for a bill called ava's law. this is ava. this is her mom, anna. they are at the state capitol in atlanta. >> i met a mom whose daughter was diagnosed two months ago. >> reporter: it's late february, day 23 of the 40-day lawmaking session. >> if it could be voted on -- >> reporter: megan recently adopted a 10-year-old boy with severe autism. melissa's son was diagnosed with

autism a year ago. on his 4th birthday. >> i think we started noticing differences in him as early as 9 months old. >> say mama. >> reporter: by age 4 he wasn't even potty trained and he was barely able to speak. >> he wouldn't walk by himself. i had to carry him or put him in a stroller. he wouldn't eat by himself. i had to feed him. if i didn't, he wouldn't eat. his main method of communication was screaming and pointing. he never would play with me. i remember arturo would come home and try to play with him and he was like, i can't get him to play with me. i said, you have to try harder. >> reporter: the official diagnosis was terrifying. >> you have this baby and you have all of these hopes and dreams attached to him. you want him to have this fulfilling life. then in one moment, all of that

gets robbed from you. >> reporter: that was the nightmare. >> my camera got broke. >> reporter: a year later arturo speaks in full stepses and goes to a regular preschool. >> in my mind there is no way he would be in this position without the therapy we did for him. >> are you ready to sound it out? >> mm-hmm. >> look at my finger. >> reporter: the key, melissa says, is intense therapy. behavioral therapy. >> hat. >> you get two tokens for that. awesome. >> reporter: she does hours each day. she's also training a new therapist. there are two weekly visits from a more experienced behavior coach. and a monthly visit from the program director. >> she makes $150 an hour. >> plus mileage. >> plus mileage because she comes from charlotte. >> reporter: there are few specialists nearby. the experts had to drive 200 miles each way from charlotte.

it adds up. last year solares and her husband spent $115,000. all of it out of pocket. >> do you want the helicopter or ipad? >> reporter: she knows she and her husband were fortunate. >> i think it's very unfair to say, you know, that is medical issue, this is medical treatment and because you are not wealthy your kid can't have a chance at life. >> reporter: melissa, meg, and anna anna. they are pushing a law to require private insurers to pay for evidence-based treatmentses. >> she said our best chance is to find another bill that can be amended. >> reporter: self-funded plans would be exempt but some companies like home depot do choose to cover autism. the sticking point is cost. even a group setting like this special class can be prohibitive. >> our most expensive classroom

is $26,000 a year. most treatment, the intensity they receive here costs between $40,000 and $80,000 a year. >> reporter: those numbers are a big concern for the insurance industry which says other customers will end up paying the price. >> the cost of the mandated benefit has driven coverage to a point where a lot of employers can no longer afford to purchase it. >> reporter: but the group autism speaks, they helped draft ava's law and say in states with similar laws, autism treatment pushed up premiums less than $4 a year. >> state that is had this for a while like texas, south carolina, indiana, no one is losing their health insurance. the sky has not fallen. there is no indication of that at all. >> he will not need as much services this year as he did last year. he won't need as much the year after. we are already decreasing what he needs.

>> reporter: that's part of the point says john albers, who sponsored ava's law in the senate. pay now and save money later. >> first and foremost it's about children and families which should be number one. for those of us like myself who are conservative this is a huge cost savings. we know what it costs when a child needs to be taken care of with special needs throughout their lives. >> reporter: early march, day 28. the insurance side seems to be winning. >> the chairmen are not taking my calls. >> reporter: sud issenisenly. >> we have a small chance here. >> reporter: word came the senate insurance committee would hold a hearing. >> today we are going to hear senate bill 191 in a hearing only. >> thank you, mr. chairman, members of the committee. to put a face with the name of the law i would like to introduce ava to you. >> south carolina -- in the past five years we have worked hard.

>> economically this is the way to go. >> that part can be the narrative for every family dealing with autism in the state of georgia, if you allow it. >> the cost of treatment he needs is the salary i gave up. >> i think it went great. we accomplished what we wanted to. that was to put the information out there for them to see that there is nothing else to study. >> that was impressive. 32 states, north korea just coming on board. >> just wanted to give them space, let them take it all in. of course i will hit him probably tomorrow. >> reporter: the optimism didn't last. the bill was with sent to another committee. it was stuck. >> we're not going to give up hope, stop fighting until the very last day. >> reporter: the last day. day 40. back at the capitol. >> we are not giving up.

if nothing happens today we are going to keep going through the mandate commission. you know, we said we're holding out. >> reporter: on and on -- into the night. ava's law didn't even come up for a vote. >> he's been in a year. we have liquidated our entire emergency fund. basically all of our savings is gone. it's gone. we have gone into debt for it. we can't afford to live in georgia for much longer. >> good job! >> a number of private companies including home depot and capitalone bank have decided to, on their own, pay for autism treatment for families of employees. some government programs like tricare do as well. a lot of this is new. so people are still getting a handle on the true cost as well as trying to determine which treatments are going to be the most effective. coming up, an iraq veteran with five daughters. he was almost ruined by a brain

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well, this number is shocking. traumatic brain injury has affected nearly 20% of the afghanist afghanistan and iraq. the injuries can be mild but for many the damage is permanent. sergeant vaughan was injured in 2005. he suffered a severe brain injury and it's been a long road back. >> i had a feeling that i would be injured when i went to iraq that second time. >> reporter: army combat engineer vaughan was injured in an ied explosion in iraq in 2005. >> we were riding to a mission

to blow up ieds. my driver ran over an ied and i lost one of my eyes. and the left side of my skull was fractured. and they had to take out a piece of my brain because it got infected. >> this is the part they had to take out because of the injury and to take pressure off your brain? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: unlike the physical wounds of war, traumatic brain injury can be invisible to the eye. it is not uncommon for vets to suffer in silence. what was recovery like? you have these operations. you're seven months in the hospital. >> lots of pain, torture, it seemed like. light will cause me to have migraines. i was having seizures. >> reporter: that whole chapter is hard on you and your wife. >> it caused me and my first wife to get a divorce.

luckily, i have tremendous parents. >> reporter: now he's happily remarried. >> can you wash that pan out. >> reporter: communication was still a major challenge for him and his wife and his five girls. >> i could tell something would be bothering him sometimes. he wouldn't know how to express himself. >> i just didn't feel like i could offer anything to society. >> nice and strong through the core. >> reporter: just last year he found the share clinic, a comprehensive rehab program in atlanta. focusing on helping vets recovery from trauma dick brain injury. >> a lot of people have trouble with planning. you will see problems with emotion control. >> how do you describe the program? >> the one stop shop for everything. treating the different symptoms in a cohesive way. >> for vaughan, regaining independence was key. by living in the share provided

housing. >> that's independence. >> he surprised himself by discovering a new hobby. >> what does this do for you physically and mentally? >> it gives you patience. >> what are you looking for? >> we're paying attention to the left side in particular. >> reporter: vaughan completed the program. now he's home with his family. he still meets with his life coach weekly. >> put 3:00. >> it could be appointments, a daily routine, things they want to accomplish. volunteer time, how they are structuring their time. >> i'm going rock climbing in utah. >> do you have goals now for the future? >> to become a personal trainer. to be the best father i can be

to. >> how do you rate your quality of life? >> ten. >> that's fantastic. >> would you go back? >> if my docountry needed me. >> i heard the exact same words from jesus vadanya, the marine i operated on in iraq. he said, i would go back. i love h this next story. this woman i will introduce you to is the one in the helmet there. she has a wild sense of humor, zero sense of quitting. she'll make you ree ma'amen what it's like to fight for your life. hey! did you know that honey nut cheerios

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in today's human factor, a tough disease versus a tougher woman. you don't want to be on her bad side -- whether it's in court, she's a lawyer -- or on the court, she loves to play basketball. when gloria borgess took on the fight of her life she decide to have fun on the way. >> i received news that no healthy 28-year-old expects to hear. i didn't cry, panic or feel sorry for myself. >> reporter: gloria is a fierce opponent. calculated, competitive,

unrelenting. >> i joined the gym in the beginning of 2010. i lost about 30 pounds of fat, put on ten pounds of muscle. i thought my body was going through changes in general. so the g.i. issues were part of those changes. >> reporter: as the year progressed her symptoms got worse. she toughed it out until one day she got fouled in a basketball game. >> she put both hands on my gut area and didn't slap me hard. it was just trying to throw me off balance. the pain was excruciating. i remember hobbling over to the free throw line and realizing, there is something serious here. >> reporter: gloria checked herself into the hospital -- bloated and vomiting. there was a large tumor in her colon. >> my mom told me initially it is stage 4 and it is aggressive. i said, well, i'm an aggressive girl. what do we do? >> reporter: doctors told gloria

she had one or two painful years left at best. she was undaunted. here she is at chemotherapy round one, sporting a rocky t-shirt. then rount two. round three. at round 45. ♪ she had beaten the odds and decided to have fun. ♪ today she's checking into usc's cancer center for round 46. >> cancer is tough. i am tougher. >> like it? >> with her husband will and her parents by her side. together with the doctor they launched a foundation to find a cure for colon cancer within the next decade. >> i said, all right. if you had all the money in the world could you cure it? you and your team of doctors, do you know what to do? he said yes. >> reporter: their goal, $250 million. >> my answer to cancer was no. this is not going to happen. >> 100% of donations to the

wunderglo foundation go to research. to donate to the cause log on to thewunderproject.org. do you want to eat smarter, have more energy, lose weight? we'll get a crash course in food schooling with the fit nation triathlon team. we'll be right back.

>> announcer: food for life is brought to you by megared, omega-3 krill oil. so we are here with alana catz, registered sports dietitian. i want to go through a couple of

food diaries and specifically with ray and annette. talk about the value and importance offal smaller meals throughout the day. >> what we found with annette and ray is you guys are waiting a long time before you eat. what more meals more often does is prevent us from going between grazing and starving. it's the grazing, starving like cows eat which forces us to store fat. >> the prevailing wisdom is i will eat less and lose weight. >> that doesn't work eating less to lose weight. if the body is starving it holds on, even if you are eating good foods. eating less more often is much better. i call it elmo's law. eat less more often. e.l.m.o. >> i can relate to what you do. i didn't learn how to cook when i was younger. you eat out a lot. talk about the reasons why that's the case for you.

you saw will's food diary. what jumped out? >> foods coming from restaurants. a lot oh fast food. it tells me about lack of planning. >> from a sports dietitian's standpoint if you have time on the weekend to cook for the week what should he focus on. >> separate food into containers. make your own lean cuisine. i make a big pot of quinoa and eat it during the week by adding things to it like seeds and almonds. i freeze chili. lean turkey with lots of vegetables. throw a baked potato in the microwave and have it with greek yogurt on top. >> navigate the supermarket now to see where to spend our time and money. >> how many of you have tried kale before? for breakfast you can put it in smoothies. for lunch you can make a salad out of it. for dinner you can saute or bake it.

this is our seafood section. one thing to keep in mind is if you see something with bones and skin on it, if you go to the grocery store, they will take the skin off and take the bones out for you. don't be bin tim dated or afraid to ask about that. >> the leaner the meat is the less white stuff you will see. you can tell the higher fat meats are ribs and briskets. tenderloi tenderloins, loin and ground round is the leaner cuts. >> another thing i take away from that, these guys are now part of a team. chasing life isn't just about diet or exercise. it's proven people who stay socially active live longer and are healthier. having friends outside of work keeps your brainer sharp, lowers stress. there is no magic number. many people are fine with one friend. it isn't as easy as when we were kids but make the effort. say you are fascinated with wine or the stock market or