Time for an update 1/28/10
I was one of the first people to ever have umbilical cord stem cell therapy for COPD. I had it in 2007. I live in Denver, CO which is not helpful for someone with poor lungs, but I was born here around the time of the dinosaurs. I first noticed symptoms of my disease over 12 years ago, but spent years being misdiagnosed much to the detriment of my future. Any disease that is caught early on has a much better chance of being treated successfully, but that was not in the cards for me. When my pulmo told me that there really was nothing else that he could do, short of a transplant, I decided it was time to get very serious about my disease and find an alternative. One of my fellow Pioneers, Nassin, posted something about a treatment that used stem cells and how it had helped him tremendously. This was on a COPD forum which basically threw him off and told him that he was a con artist. A small group of us decided however, that we wanted to hear more. We named ourselves the Pioneers and we got in touch with Nassin. He was a delight and still is. I owe much to this man. He is now the honorary lifetime President of our Pioneer group that is still active. We e-mail behind the scenes researching and sending each other silly jokes. Humor is a necessary and welcome thing to have in my life. My stem cell mate, Jeannine found a place for us to try this therapy and off the two of us went. Some said we were brave, others thought we were nuts, we just wanted to get well. After treatment, my son decided we needed an outlet to tell others about what we had done and he gave us a forum http://www.stemcellpioneers.com We also wrote a book, "Stem Cell Pioneers" which tells more of the story in detail. The ending of the book can still not be written as we continue our quest for better treatment and a better life for ourselves and others. I help my husband in our roofing business (just paperwork for me) and I also work with Jeannine. We have a business that offers supplements and vitamins geared to specific diseases and also for patients who have had stem cell therapy. You can visit our webstore at http://www.seachangeforlife.com We also were instrumental in finding a researcher to work with us using a product called Stem Cell Advance. He currently is conducting a study of the product which stimulates your own stem cells inside your body which in turn may promote healing.
I also have a 501c3 non profit bird and animal refuge and rescue. I love ducks and deal mostly with domestic waterfowl, pigeons and cockatiels. I also have 2 horses and a few living turtles. I collect non living turtles and have a collection from all over the world that totals more than 6000. Our house is completely duckorated (ducks from all over too) upstairs and the turtle collection is hibernating in the basement. I also have a beautiful Trumpeter Swan who rules the entire refuge. I used to do all the work myself, but when I got too ill to do it, we had to get a caretaker who helps out a lot. I feel very strongly about my work with these homeless, hapless birds and critters and I have never given up my goal of caring for them even when I could no longer do it personally. I have continued getting stem cell therapy and I am finding I now have more strength to do more of the work, but now I have time constraints with my other work and this forum. I get several hundred e-mails daily and I do like to answer them. I love to birdwatch with my husband and I travel in a small RV that is ideal for that because I can take a large liquid O2 tank with me. After my most recent stem cell therapy, I do not need O2 below 4800 ft. It's like getting out of prison! We also have 4 dogs and we all pile in the RV and take off birdwatching. We have found several good hotel chains that actually encourage pet owners to stay there so that has been a blessing. Sleeping in a small RV with 4 dogs is not ideal. I also have 4 cats, but they are content to stay home. I hope to travel more this coming year now that I feel up to it. I used to travel a lot internationally and have been to well over 50 countries in my lifetime, but now is the time to just take it easy and look for birds here in the U.S. We get hundreds of birds daily at our own refuge, but there is always that urge to go look for others.
I am an active member of ICMS http://www.safestemcells.org This is a grassroots effort to get a network of doctors across the U.S. who agree to adhere to the ICMS safe stem cell guidelines in place so that patients can get life saving treatment where they live and not have to seek treatment at offshore clinics. I do believe there is a cure for COPD and that a combination of stem cells and supplementation/other therapies will find many of us well in the future.
I was one of the first people to ever have umbilical cord stem cell therapy for COPD. I had it in 2007. I live in Denver, CO which is not helpful for someone with poor lungs, but I was born here around the time of the dinosaurs. I first noticed symptoms of my disease over 12 years ago, but spent years being misdiagnosed much to the detriment of my future. Any disease that is caught early on has a much better chance of being treated successfully, but that was not in the cards for me. When my pulmo told me that there really was nothing else that he could do, short of a transplant, I decided it was time to get very serious about my disease and find an alternative. One of my fellow Pioneers, Nassin, posted something about a treatment that used stem cells and how it had helped him tremendously. This was on a COPD forum which basically threw him off and told him that he was a con artist. A small group of us decided however, that we wanted to hear more. We named ourselves the Pioneers and we got in touch with Nassin. He was a delight and still is. I owe much to this man. He is now the honorary lifetime President of our Pioneer group that is still active. We e-mail behind the scenes researching and sending each other silly jokes. Humor is a necessary and welcome thing to have in my life. My stem cell mate, Jeannine found a place for us to try this therapy and off the two of us went. Some said we were brave, others thought we were nuts, we just wanted to get well. After treatment, my son decided we needed an outlet to tell others about what we had done and he gave us a forum http://www.stemcellpioneers.com We also wrote a book, "Stem Cell Pioneers" which tells more of the story in detail. The ending of the book can still not be written as we continue our quest for better treatment and a better life for ourselves and others. I help my husband in our roofing business (just paperwork for me) and I also work with Jeannine. We have a business that offers supplements and vitamins geared to specific diseases and also for patients who have had stem cell therapy. You can visit our webstore at http://www.seachangeforlife.com We also were instrumental in finding a researcher to work with us using a product called Stem Cell Advance. He currently is conducting a study of the product which stimulates your own stem cells inside your body which in turn may promote healing.
I also have a 501c3 non profit bird and animal refuge and rescue. I love ducks and deal mostly with domestic waterfowl, pigeons and cockatiels. I also have 2 horses and a few living turtles. I collect non living turtles and have a collection from all over the world that totals more than 6000. Our house is completely duckorated (ducks from all over too) upstairs and the turtle collection is hibernating in the basement. I also have a beautiful Trumpeter Swan who rules the entire refuge. I used to do all the work myself, but when I got too ill to do it, we had to get a caretaker who helps out a lot. I feel very strongly about my work with these homeless, hapless birds and critters and I have never given up my goal of caring for them even when I could no longer do it personally. I have continued getting stem cell therapy and I am finding I now have more strength to do more of the work, but now I have time constraints with my other work and this forum. I get several hundred e-mails daily and I do like to answer them. I love to birdwatch with my husband and I travel in a small RV that is ideal for that because I can take a large liquid O2 tank with me. After my most recent stem cell therapy, I do not need O2 below 4800 ft. It's like getting out of prison! We also have 4 dogs and we all pile in the RV and take off birdwatching. We have found several good hotel chains that actually encourage pet owners to stay there so that has been a blessing. Sleeping in a small RV with 4 dogs is not ideal. I also have 4 cats, but they are content to stay home. I hope to travel more this coming year now that I feel up to it. I used to travel a lot internationally and have been to well over 50 countries in my lifetime, but now is the time to just take it easy and look for birds here in the U.S. We get hundreds of birds daily at our own refuge, but there is always that urge to go look for others.
I am an active member of ICMS http://www.safestemcells.org This is a grassroots effort to get a network of doctors across the U.S. who agree to adhere to the ICMS safe stem cell guidelines in place so that patients can get life saving treatment where they live and not have to seek treatment at offshore clinics. I do believe there is a cure for COPD and that a combination of stem cells and supplementation/other therapies will find many of us well in the future.
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