32 yo with whole-body osteoarthritis

[gh253]

My name is Brian. As 32, I am afflicted with early-stage degenerative arthritis in nearly every synovial joint in my body. My condition is not genetic or congenital; I acquired it nine years ago as a result of a specific cause that I’m certain of. While still in its early stages and only mildly symptomatic in any one joint, cumulatively is quite painful and has caused significant hardship by cutting me off from my preferred work options and lifestyle. My quality of life is being wiped out and I don't think I can stand for it to progress another nine years. I recently read several studies documenting the potential of inter-articular MSC injections to regenerate articular cartilage, which is the first time I've seen any hope of a disease-modifying treatment for what ails me. I'm absolutely enrage that the FDA has made it impossible for physicians to administer cultivated stem cells in the U.S. since its successful lawsuit against Dr. Centeno's company. I assume that the only way for me to obtain enough cells to treat so many joints would be to use an expansion procedure. While I don't fault anyone for charging for a service, the cost of pursuing this in places beyond the reach of U.S. regulators is almost certainly going to be prohibitive. Had the FDA stayed out of the way, I'm sure competition and mass production would have made it much more affordable. Anyway, I'm exploring all options, including the possibility of buying my own equipment and learning to cultivate cells at home. I think the the biggest barriers to doing this will actually be obtaining my own bone marrow, which will be hard to get a physician to do for me given my purposes, and injecting the finished product back into my joints, which I'm certain no physician will do for me. Most likely, I'm just going to have to learn to do everything myself. So that's my intro

 

[Claire]

Brian,

You have my deepest sympathies. I have severe orthopedic injuries and OA throughout my spine, both knees, left elbow, etc. I've been treated by Dr. Centeno and I've had great improvements in pain reduction and overall function. I highly recommend that you contact his office for an evaluation.

I thought I would require the cultured stem cells, too; however, he said I do not need them, with the possible exception of two, badly damaged discs in my lower back. I do have to return to his Colorado clinic for at least one more round of treatment, but the first series of procedures produced quite impressive results. I urge you to contact Dr. Centeno for an evaluation as soon as you are able to do so.


Sincerely,

Claire

 

[gh253]

Brian,

You have my deepest sympathies. I have severe orthopedic injuries and OA throughout my spine, both knees, left elbow, etc. I've been treated by Dr. Centeno and I've had great improvements in pain reduction and overall function. I highly recommend that you contact his office for an evaluation.

I thought I would require the cultured stem cells, too; however, he said I do not need them, with the possible exception of two, badly damaged discs in my lower back. I do have to return to his Colorado clinic for at least one more round of treatment, but the first series of procedures produced quite impressive results. I urge you to contact Dr. Centeno for an evaluation as soon as you are able to do so.


Sincerely,

Claire

Thanks. I have contacted him, but I don't see how I'm going to be able to treat ~100 different joints unless I come up with half a million dollars or the means to do it myself.

 

[Claire]

I assumed I was going to have to spend a fortune, too. I had been a completely disabled "shut In" for about two years and had to use a wheelchair for quite a while. I began to be able to walk a bit just prior to going to Colorado for my first round of procedures; I think the fact that I knew Dr. C could help me gave me the power to get out of that chair and start walking a bit.

He treated my cervical spine, left elbow, right tendon, both knees, hip girdles, ligaments almost all over my body and he extensively treated my lumbar spine twice. I think he did almost ten procedures spread over a two week period of time. I need to find my total costs so I can tell you the exact figure, but I want to say it was about $7,000. (My insurance covered $1,000; so, that lowered my costs to about $6,000, if I recall correctly.)

I did an online fundraiser; it took over a year to raise about $7,000. My former classmates and church friends helped raise money for my treatment.

I certainly expected I would need 50K+ because I was so severely disabled. So, before you assume you have to "win the lottery" to afford treatment, interact with him and get an estimated treatment cost. I think and I hope you will be pleasantly surprised.

All The Best,

C

 

[barbara]

Thank you Claire. Your story is very inspiring. I'm going to move this thread to the Patient Review section as your input certainly fits the criteria.

 

[Claire]

You are most welcome, Barbara!


Brian,

Please let us know how your phone consultation with the doctor goes!

Best,

C

 

[gh253]

headed to the Grand Cayman 10/21 for my BMA, returning in January for re-injection. We probably won't be able to get enough cells to do as many joints as I'd like, but hopefully we can get enough to do a lot of the worst ones. Going to be a struggle to hold out that long as I am hurting like a MF.

 

[peg]

Osteoarthritis

My name is Brian. As 32, I am afflicted with early-stage degenerative arthritis in nearly every synovial joint in my body. My condition is not genetic or congenital; I acquired it nine years ago as a result of a specific cause that I’m certain of. While still in its early stages and only mildly symptomatic in any one joint, cumulatively is quite painful and has caused significant hardship by cutting me off from my preferred work options and lifestyle. My quality of life is being wiped out and I don't think I can stand for it to progress another nine years. I recently read several studies documenting the potential of inter-articular MSC injections to regenerate articular cartilage, which is the first time I've seen any hope of a disease-modifying treatment for what ails me. I'm absolutely enrage that the FDA has made it impossible for physicians to administer cultivated stem cells in the U.S. since its successful lawsuit against Dr. Centeno's company. I assume that the only way for me to obtain enough cells to treat so many joints would be to use an expansion procedure. While I don't fault anyone for charging for a service, the cost of pursuing this in places beyond the reach of U.S. regulators is almost certainly going to be prohibitive. Had the FDA stayed out of the way, I'm sure competition and mass production would have made it much more affordable. Anyway, I'm exploring all options, including the possibility of buying my own equipment and learning to cultivate cells at home. I think the the biggest barriers to doing this will actually be obtaining my own bone marrow, which will be hard to get a physician to do for me given my purposes, and injecting the finished product back into my joints, which I'm certain no physician will do for me. Most likely, I'm just going to have to learn to do everything myself. So that's my intro

My name is Peggy Rogers. I have lived with chronic neuropathic pelvic pain for the past 20 years. I recently received a stem cell paste injection into my damaged pudendal nerve area. My physician Dr. Todd Malan of Scottsdale AZ, harvested 70 million adipose stem cells from my abdominal area through a mini lipo-suction. Then the stem cells were separated & counted by computerized equipment. The stem cells were then prepared into a highly concentrated paste for injection. Once injected, the stems expand to 4cm at the injection site. The stem cells will stay at that site for 2years. The stem cells will be healing and combating inflammation/ pain. Dr. Malan told me that this stem cell paste can be injected also into disc & joints. Even if there is no cartilage in the joint. The stem cells will grow new cartilage for that joint. Send me a message if you would like more information about the stem cell paste injection. Dr. Malan travels worldwide teaching other physicians about stem cell therapy. It has been 9days since my injection. I haven't felt burning pelvic pain since the injection. I only feel pressure, tingling, & mild pelvic spasms. Which Dr. Malan said is normal after the injection.

 

[gh253]

I'm in the Grand Cayman now. My re-injection procedure was yesterday. They treated each hand/wrist and foot/ankle as a single joint for pricing purposes, so the cost was more manageable that I originally thought. My culture also yielded a lot more cells than expected; I was able to treat 22 of my worst joints and still have half my original cells left in storage. If the treatment works I'll be back either this year or next to use up the rest. I'll post the results in a few months.

 

[barbara]

Thank you for letting us know. I hope you have great results!