Full disclosure: Six weeks ago, I had a stem cell transplant on my left shoulder to address several small tears in my rotator cuff. The tears were the results of several mishaps that involved horses, falls on the ice and finally, a trip over a dog in a dark hallway that left me in tears of pain and frustration.
I got several treatments from my wonderful chiropractor, and after a month of no real improvement, she broke the news: She thought I had a rotator cuff tear and I should see an orthopedic surgeon.
Being on the cutting edge herself, she recommended one who does stem cell transplants.
I did my research and emerged with two firm decisions:
I would NOT under any circumstance have surgery. I learned that 30% of rotator cuff tears heal on heir own or with physical therapy. Since my first injury was nearly a year old, that wasn’t happening for me. Also, the surgery is painful and results in months of immobility. And about 45% need to be repeated within five years. Why would I want to do that??
I would definitely consider a stem cell transplant. This type, called an autologous transplant, involves taking bone marrow stem cells from the pelvic bone and injecting them in specific spots. Yes, it’s experimental, which means insurance doesn’t pay, and, of course, there are no guarantees.
I made an appointment and found the doctor very straightforward and I was impressed with her knowledge. She ordered an MRI to confirm what we both suspected and the results were clear—there were at least three small tears, possibly five. Since the tears were not large, we scheduled the transplant at her office. She told me stem cells probably won’t repair a large tear or arthritic changes that leave a joint bone on bone.
My doctor recommends transplants with the patient’s own stem cells, since there is no chance of rejection and complications are rare. Other doctors use amniotic fluid and even donated umbilical cord blood when repairing joints.
There’s also a whole new field of stem cell research and transplants for cancer, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, a variety of autoimmune diseases and more. It’s very cutting edge and still very experimental but I am certain it is the wave of the future.
So back, to my own transplant. I arrived at the doctor’s office and was give a Valium and a pain pill. You all know I’m not a fan of these things. Boy, am I glad I took them! It still hurt like crazy!
The whole process took about an hour and a half and I was on my way home, mellow from the Valium–the first in my life. I freaked my husband out when I made a free lance trip to the bathroom in Aldi after he had admonished me to stay in the car while he shopped, but there were no problems.
The ice packs helped, but the next 24 hours were a bit dicey. The injection in the ligament felt like an electric wire running down my arm. Thankfully, the pain suddenly switched off exactly 24 hours after the procedure.
After that, it was a matter of allowing the stem cells to generate new tissue and heal the injuries. Dr. Lehman told me it would take about two months before I noticed significant results and that the process would go on for as long as a year.
It’s been six weeks and I’m back in the garden. I can lift buckets weighing up to about 30 pounds, something that was impossible six weeks ago. I actually slung around a 50-pound bag of feed the other day without thinking and suffered no pain. I can raise both arms over my head, almost evenly. I can drive the tractor to mow the grass–a lot of driving and turning, without pain I experienced for those first few mowings in the spring.
I’m finding it miraculous and look forward to even more improvement as the weeks and months to come.
Wow! This was so good to hear! First, I’m delighted that it helped you out of a bad situation. YOu do so much to help and guide other people, it’s only good Karma that you find something that really works when you need it. And second, once again, you spread hope where hope is badly needed. I have been following the exponential spread of the uses for stem cells with interest, but you’re the first person I have known who has actually made use of them. It’s just plain wonderful that there are so many conditions that can be helped with these treatments and that the process is no longer in the realm of growing human ears on the backs of mice.
Full disclosure: Six weeks ago, I had a stem cell transplant on my left shoulder to address several small tears in my rotator cuff. The tears were the results of several mishaps that involved horses, falls on the ice and finally, a trip over a dog in a dark hallway that left me in tears of pain and frustration.
Wow! This was so good to hear! First, I’m delighted that it helped you out of a bad situation. YOu do so much to help and guide other people, it’s only good Karma that you find something that really works when you need it. And second, once again, you spread hope where hope is badly needed. I have been following the exponential spread of the uses for stem cells with interest, but you’re the first person I have known who has actually made use of them. It’s just plain wonderful that there are so many conditions that can be helped with these treatments and that the process is no longer in the realm of growing human ears on the backs of mice.