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.
Friday, March 29, 2019
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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