When I first started talking about the injections, I was told it could take as long as six months to see a change so I wasn't really expecting an immediate change although I did a lot of self-searching. At two weeks, I went in for my first rehab which actually was a check to see where I was physically.
She asked if I had noticed any difference. I sort of shrugged and said I guessed most people didn't at this point. She smiled and said some did but my knees were much worse than most. Yeah, remember I was already planning a double knee replacement.
When I started rehab with Dr. Kirwan, I realized it was like no rehab I had ever done. It was one-on-one with Dr. Kirwan. With the exception of when I was on the treadmill, she was with me, checking my form, making sure my balance was good – hands close to my sides or arms to make sure I didn't fall. She wanted to improve my core strength as well as my form moving on my renewed knees.
Rehab wasn't easy but it wasn't at all painful. I had to learn to feel my body centered with my eyes open and then she made me do it with my eyes closed. That is hard. She encouraged and was so patient and made me realize that I was improving.
Rehab at many places is a solo thing or nearly so. Someone gives instructions and then walks off to work with someone else. They come back when a timer calls them and sets the next task. Lonely and not very instructive is what I'd call it.
Not so with Dr. Kirwan. She is my support, my teacher and she makes sure I'm not repetitively doing the same wrong movement. She makes me know I'm getting better.
Friday, May 3, 2019
Friday, April 19, 2019
Time for the injections
I got there early – highly unusual for me. I've always joked church should start at 11:03. I knew what was going to happen and I could hardly wait.
The nurse practitioner knew her job. She came in and immediately started checking about how I felt and asked if I had any questions. She started to explain the procedure and got my attention when she said that she would be injecting two different kinds of stem cells. I didn't know that there were different kinds other than those from umbilical cords and analogous, ones drawn from oneself.
She explained that the cord provided two kinds. The blood itself had one type and the cord had another kind called Wharton's jelly. Each replicates and helps create the type of cell that the recipient needs. In my case, it is meniscus. I have very little cushion in my knee so my knees hurt most of the time and keep me from doing a lot of things – like walking an incline or decline or using stairs. Those are the everyday things. More than that, it keeps me from doing other things that are important to me – crawling around on the floor with my granddaughter, sitting in a circle with my students and more active things like snow skiing.
She and April used a sonogram to identify exactly where she wanted to do the injection on each knee. She cleaned my knee, used betadine and then numbed the knee for the injection. On the left knee, she chose the outside front and the injection was pretty easy. The other knee would be done after I was no longer wearing the brace on the left knee.
They brought in the braces and adjusted them to fit although she said I would have to make adjustments as well. Before I left, Dr. Kirwan came in to talk about how to adjust the braces in a way different rather than just adjusting the main strap. Adjustments would have to be made from the inside for the best fit. I also discovered that putting them on while standing worked better than while sitting. They stay up better.
I knew better than to expect anything immediate but I left in high spirits with instructions to take it easy, not to lift anything heavy, stay off of pain meds and a few other supplements. Staying off of medications would increase the inflammation so the stem cells would answer the 911 and go to help there.
In two weeks, I would go back to Integrated Medical NT to start rehab. I know I need it. Pain had changed the way I move. I would have to rebuild muscles and learn to move correctly again.
The braces work best for me over leggings. I tried them over jeans one day and had trouble keeping them up. I was reminded about how to adjust them from the inside and it made a world of difference.
I'm so excited!
The nurse practitioner knew her job. She came in and immediately started checking about how I felt and asked if I had any questions. She started to explain the procedure and got my attention when she said that she would be injecting two different kinds of stem cells. I didn't know that there were different kinds other than those from umbilical cords and analogous, ones drawn from oneself.
She explained that the cord provided two kinds. The blood itself had one type and the cord had another kind called Wharton's jelly. Each replicates and helps create the type of cell that the recipient needs. In my case, it is meniscus. I have very little cushion in my knee so my knees hurt most of the time and keep me from doing a lot of things – like walking an incline or decline or using stairs. Those are the everyday things. More than that, it keeps me from doing other things that are important to me – crawling around on the floor with my granddaughter, sitting in a circle with my students and more active things like snow skiing.
She and April used a sonogram to identify exactly where she wanted to do the injection on each knee. She cleaned my knee, used betadine and then numbed the knee for the injection. On the left knee, she chose the outside front and the injection was pretty easy. The other knee would be done after I was no longer wearing the brace on the left knee.
They brought in the braces and adjusted them to fit although she said I would have to make adjustments as well. Before I left, Dr. Kirwan came in to talk about how to adjust the braces in a way different rather than just adjusting the main strap. Adjustments would have to be made from the inside for the best fit. I also discovered that putting them on while standing worked better than while sitting. They stay up better.
I knew better than to expect anything immediate but I left in high spirits with instructions to take it easy, not to lift anything heavy, stay off of pain meds and a few other supplements. Staying off of medications would increase the inflammation so the stem cells would answer the 911 and go to help there.
In two weeks, I would go back to Integrated Medical NT to start rehab. I know I need it. Pain had changed the way I move. I would have to rebuild muscles and learn to move correctly again.
The braces work best for me over leggings. I tried them over jeans one day and had trouble keeping them up. I was reminded about how to adjust them from the inside and it made a world of difference.
I'm so excited!
Friday, April 12, 2019
Meeting the nurse practioner
After I had decided that I would much rather have a chance at a full life without a double knee replacement, it was time to meet the nurse practitioner who would inject the life-giving stem cells
I consider myself friends with all the people at Integrated Medical NT.
Melissa put me in the front room and started the usual procedures – weight, blood pressure (it was up – I was guessing because of the excitement). A few minutes the nurse practioner knocked gently at the door and then came in.
She started with a few questions about my general health and then said she really liked my goals. It had been several weeks since I'd filled out the forms so I couldn't remember exactly what I'd written. I had said, "To be able to do the same things I could in my 20s and 30s."
I asked if that was a possibility. She smiled and said it certainly was.
Wow. Really?
We discussed the procedure. She asked frequently if she was being too basic and I always said no and the journalist in me had me asking lots of questions. She said she actually appreciated someone who wanted to know all of the details.
I told her I had had many injections in my knees. She nodded and said that it would be similar: They would clean the knee, use betadine and then spray it with a numbing agent before the injection. It would only take a few minutes each leg.
She said it would probably be easier because the needle is smaller than those used to inject cortisone. She also said I would have to wear braces for a month to hold my knee in the proper position. I won't have to sleep in them. I'd do it if I had to.
I'll have the injection on a Friday. They pick that day so you can plan to be relatively still for the weekend. Knowing me, they said to take it easy – really.
Next the injection. I'm SOOO excited.
I consider myself friends with all the people at Integrated Medical NT.
Melissa put me in the front room and started the usual procedures – weight, blood pressure (it was up – I was guessing because of the excitement). A few minutes the nurse practioner knocked gently at the door and then came in.
She started with a few questions about my general health and then said she really liked my goals. It had been several weeks since I'd filled out the forms so I couldn't remember exactly what I'd written. I had said, "To be able to do the same things I could in my 20s and 30s."
I asked if that was a possibility. She smiled and said it certainly was.
Wow. Really?
We discussed the procedure. She asked frequently if she was being too basic and I always said no and the journalist in me had me asking lots of questions. She said she actually appreciated someone who wanted to know all of the details.
I told her I had had many injections in my knees. She nodded and said that it would be similar: They would clean the knee, use betadine and then spray it with a numbing agent before the injection. It would only take a few minutes each leg.
She said it would probably be easier because the needle is smaller than those used to inject cortisone. She also said I would have to wear braces for a month to hold my knee in the proper position. I won't have to sleep in them. I'd do it if I had to.
I'll have the injection on a Friday. They pick that day so you can plan to be relatively still for the weekend. Knowing me, they said to take it easy – really.
Next the injection. I'm SOOO excited.
Friday, March 29, 2019
First the consult
I met with Dr. Mary Ellen Kirwan in early March in a group session where she gave the facts and details about stem cell. She explained what stem cell regeneration can do, gave realistic expectations and explained the procedure in simple terms. I don't mean she talks down to you, but, rather that she doesn't explain it to you in a way it's too difficult to understand. While I'm well read, I'm certainly not a doctor or a scientist. I appreciate having it broken down.
Where do the stem cells come from? While some parents pay to save their baby's umbilical cord blood stem cells, others donate them so someone like me has a chance to use them to get back the active life they want. The important part to a lot of people is that they come from live births — not aborted fetuses.
How do they get where they are needed? I brought them x-rays from my orthopedist showing the condition of my knees. Anyone thinking about a knee replacement would have those. The person who would perform the procedure, a nurse practitioner who specializes in stem cell therapy, would examine the x-rays to determine the best way to go about injecting the cells. During the actual procedure, she would use a sonogram to identify the exact spot.
I'm excited about what is coming and to meeting my new life. I fully expect the transition from grabbing for support to stand to standing without thinking about it to happen. I hope to get back to snow skiing even if only the easy blues.
I'm also looking forward to life without invasive surgery on both of my knees and months of painful rehabilitation.
Let's do this thing.
Where do the stem cells come from? While some parents pay to save their baby's umbilical cord blood stem cells, others donate them so someone like me has a chance to use them to get back the active life they want. The important part to a lot of people is that they come from live births — not aborted fetuses.
How do they get where they are needed? I brought them x-rays from my orthopedist showing the condition of my knees. Anyone thinking about a knee replacement would have those. The person who would perform the procedure, a nurse practitioner who specializes in stem cell therapy, would examine the x-rays to determine the best way to go about injecting the cells. During the actual procedure, she would use a sonogram to identify the exact spot.
I'm excited about what is coming and to meeting my new life. I fully expect the transition from grabbing for support to stand to standing without thinking about it to happen. I hope to get back to snow skiing even if only the easy blues.
I'm also looking forward to life without invasive surgery on both of my knees and months of painful rehabilitation.
Let's do this thing.
Friday, March 22, 2019
Looking to have a new life
My life as I know it
How stem cells can change my life
and help me live it to the fullest
First, let me give you insight into my journey from very active to having a handicap pass.
My knees have been steadily degrading since my early 40s. I was an avid (Read: Six days a week) Jazzercizer. I didn’t see any limits to what I could do. I hiked, climbed whatever needed to be climbed and said yes to every activity from volleyball to softball and skiing – both water and, later, snow.
I tore my meniscus at 42. I had the repair and was back at Jazzercize in six weeks.
I started skiing at 45 and tore my ACL on the first day of lessons. I skied the rest of the week with two layers of neoprene holding my knee in place. Obviously, I didn’t know what I’d done. When I got home, I returned to my Jazzercize routine and discovered lateral movement wasn’t possible so I scheduled an appointment with a great orthopedist.
I had surgery on my ACL in May, completed rehab by August and went back to Jazzercize with my rehab professional’s blessing and warning to take it easy.
Six weeks later, I got into the ortho’s office where he said I was doing great – so I asked if Jazzercize was OK.
“Absolutely not,” he said.
Since I had already resumed it, I shut my mouth and kept Jazzercizing.
In December, I saw him again. “You’re doing great,” he said.
So I said, “So, it’s OK if I go skiing.”
Know what he said?
“Absolutely not.”
I’d already bought my pass and airline ticket so I swore to myself I would only ski greens. My first lift of the day took me to a green-free zone so I skiied blues and then blacks the rest of the week with my ski-buddy friends.
OK, so I’m good at rehab and not so good at minding the "rules."
I got a CAD brace for my left leg. (Read: Expensive and custom made for me) and it gave me a sense of security and allowed me to continue skiing. It did not keep my knees from continuing to lose cartilage. It didn’t keep me off the slopes until I broke my ankle badly Dec. 27, 2015.
Surgery, a plate and five screws later, eight weeks on a knee roller, and I realize that I have to slow down. From 1995 till now, I saw more orthopedists. I have had hyaluronics, steroids and more. Some didn’t work at all, some only for a short period of time and then I was back begging for more.
Inclines and declines, stairs, going from sitting to standing or standing to sitting are all challenges. I got a standing desk at school because it was easier to stay standing than to get up without looking like an old person. I hate my knees.
So now my life changes. In early December, I meet with with the expert at doing the injections at Integrated Medical NT and will start my journey to fearing nothing.
My knees have been steadily degrading since my early 40s. I was an avid (Read: Six days a week) Jazzercizer. I didn’t see any limits to what I could do. I hiked, climbed whatever needed to be climbed and said yes to every activity from volleyball to softball and skiing – both water and, later, snow.
I tore my meniscus at 42. I had the repair and was back at Jazzercize in six weeks.
I started skiing at 45 and tore my ACL on the first day of lessons. I skied the rest of the week with two layers of neoprene holding my knee in place. Obviously, I didn’t know what I’d done. When I got home, I returned to my Jazzercize routine and discovered lateral movement wasn’t possible so I scheduled an appointment with a great orthopedist.
I had surgery on my ACL in May, completed rehab by August and went back to Jazzercize with my rehab professional’s blessing and warning to take it easy.
Six weeks later, I got into the ortho’s office where he said I was doing great – so I asked if Jazzercize was OK.
“Absolutely not,” he said.
Since I had already resumed it, I shut my mouth and kept Jazzercizing.
In December, I saw him again. “You’re doing great,” he said.
So I said, “So, it’s OK if I go skiing.”
Know what he said?
“Absolutely not.”
I’d already bought my pass and airline ticket so I swore to myself I would only ski greens. My first lift of the day took me to a green-free zone so I skiied blues and then blacks the rest of the week with my ski-buddy friends.
OK, so I’m good at rehab and not so good at minding the "rules."
I got a CAD brace for my left leg. (Read: Expensive and custom made for me) and it gave me a sense of security and allowed me to continue skiing. It did not keep my knees from continuing to lose cartilage. It didn’t keep me off the slopes until I broke my ankle badly Dec. 27, 2015.
Surgery, a plate and five screws later, eight weeks on a knee roller, and I realize that I have to slow down. From 1995 till now, I saw more orthopedists. I have had hyaluronics, steroids and more. Some didn’t work at all, some only for a short period of time and then I was back begging for more.
Inclines and declines, stairs, going from sitting to standing or standing to sitting are all challenges. I got a standing desk at school because it was easier to stay standing than to get up without looking like an old person. I hate my knees.
So now my life changes. In early December, I meet with with the expert at doing the injections at Integrated Medical NT and will start my journey to fearing nothing.
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