(Almost) Two Year Stem Cell Treatment Anniversary: Updated Improvement List
As I sat down to write a new post for this blog, where I finally outline all the information everyone asks me for all in one place, I was inspired to update my improvement list. I fell upon the one I wrote in March 2008 and realized much has changed since then. The first thing people always want to know when they contact me is how I'm doing now...after all this time...today.... So, it seems it's time for a new list.
I knew when I got the stem cell therapy, embryonic stem cells take time to mature into their full capacity of repairing and rebuilding the body. Seeing how my improvement list has kept growing over the years is truly amazing and still shocks me in some ways - to me, proof that this is not an overnight miracle cure, but rather science that needs time to reach its full potential.
I'm just shy of my two year anniversary of my first treatment and was going to wait til then for a new list. But who says celebrations can't come early, so here it is.
I'm pasting my old list here and adding updates in bolded italics.
- Normal walking balance (no more tripping, falling off curbs or bumping into objects)
- Stable standing with eyes closed (Romberg test)
- Body aches near absent (update: no more body aches!)
- Muscle soreness gone
- Joint pain only occurring occasionally but eases with rest (now I only have joint pain when I run too hard while exercising)
- Tremors in hands improved (tremors gone completely)
- Muscle strength improved
- Vision much sharper (20/20 vision as of last eye doctor's appointment. Prior to my treatment, my vision was slightly impaired in my left eye and I wore glasses to read which are no longer needed).
- No black floaters disturbing vision
- Jaw pain gone
- Headaches gone
- Stabbing pain in muscles gone
- Bone pain gone
- Muscles more relaxed (upper body used to be tense all the time)
- Skin hypersensitivity better (I don't have this anymore at all)
- No muscle twitches
- Pain and stiffness in neck better (gone!)
- Less fatigue (no fatigue anymore except when I overdo it but that's normal)
- Dairy allergies greatly improved (yay for ice cream!) (all allergy lab tests were negative at my last blood draw)
- Menstrual cycles improved (despite history of endometriosis, cysts, etc.)
- Brain lesions improved (last SPECT in July of 2008 showed two lesions completely gone and the last remaining one of an insignificant size. It's supspected the last one is completely gone now but a repeat scan is not recommended simply due to no reason to be subjected to the dye since I am symptom free)
- Thyroid levels have returned to normal
- No pain medication
- No sleeping medication
- No heart palpitation medication
As in the first post, I'm sure there are things I've missed, but this is the gist of it. Anything I can't remember even being wrong anymore, is just another blessing on the list.
If you'd like to read the original post in full, you can do so here.
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Hi Amy -
Your improvement list is really awe inspiring! When I meet people and tell them I have Lyme they usually ask what my prognosis is, and I always end up telling them about you and the great hope of stem cells.
Did you ever have brain fog/head wonky-ness/dissociation type symptoms? Do you know if ESC helps these? These are my main symptoms and I have been increasingly considering applying to Dr. Schroff for treatment.
Thanks for all you have done and for sharing it all with the world!
Greg
I am so happy for you.... I know it was a long and painful journey....
Yay!! I'm so glad you are continuing to improve!!
Everyday it's a new and better you - how sweet it is.
xooxox
m
Article just out today:
Man's cancer may be linked to stem cell therapy trip
NICK MILLER
November 23, 2009
EXPERTS fear a man with leukaemia may be the first Australian ''infected'' with cancer from medical tourism, after treatment at a private overseas stem cell therapy centre.
Stem-cell specialists and patient support groups are calling for more public education about the dangers of such services, saying they get hundreds of calls a year from people considering using them - and the numbers are rising.
The companies advertise on the internet and via local ''information sessions'', offering injections of foetal stem cells and stem cells extracted from the patient's spinal cord. They claim to treat conditions such as Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, autism and spinal injury.
Private, largely unregulated clinics in Asia and Europe charge tens of thousands of dollars plus travel costs. But few have published clinical proof of their efficacy, relying instead on slick websites and individual testimonies.
Advocacy groups for people targeted as possible clients will meet in Canberra today to discuss how to protect people from being emotionally and financially exploited.
The stem-cell treatments ranged in quality and safety but very few, if any, offered genuine hope, said Kirsten Herbert, a hematologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and clinical adviser to the Australian Stem Cell Centre.
''One man in Queensland paid $40,000 for a treatment [at a private German clinic] and was told he needed two or three more [visits] - for a treatment that I cannot imagine, even with the most blue-sky open mind, could have helped him,'' she said.
''But they will take his money and not do anything to look after him when he leaves. If we practised a treatment like that we would be disbarred.''
Dr Herbert plans next month to investigate the case of a Victorian man being treated for leukaemia, which was diagnosed after his recent return from overseas stem-cell therapy.
She said it was difficult to prove a link, but there was an international precedent: in February the journal PLoS Medicine reported the case of a teenage Israeli boy who developed brain tumours from experimental stem-cell injections at a Russian clinic.
Dr Herbert said cancer was a rare but possible side-effect of experimental stem cell therapy.
''Most stem cells grow in a culture that is exposed to proteins and hormones that encourage growth, and cancer is out-of-control growth, so these cells have a greater potential to cause cancer.''
Other risks included contamination from animal products used in laboratory processing of the stem cells, which could introduce Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Some clinics instruct patients to go on medication to suppress their immune system - which can have dangerous side-effects.
But the financial and emotional risks to patients are just as great, Dr Herbert said.
''Most likely, the treatment you are going to receive is not going to work.''
She said it was important not to demonise people who sought these cures, but instead to help them find the right advice.
Mike Wilson, the head of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which is pioneering genuine stem-cell research, said many people approached his organisation asking for advice about experimental treatments, here and overseas.
''Our advice is always the same: before committing to any clinical trial make sure you have spoken to an expert or your GP to understand if it's the right one for you,'' he said.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/mans-cancer-may-be-linked-to-stem-cell-th...
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