Recipient angered by stem cell misinformation
August 17, 2015
Your front-page article regarding stem cells was very welcome to see. There are many myths in the general population regarding stem cells.
In June 2013 I suffered a traumatic injury and broke 27 bones along with a spinal cord injury. I became paralyzed from the T8 level down. My doctor stated I would never walk again, along with several other activities. I am too stubborn to listen to someone who says you will never do something. It took seven months before I could even begin to start physical therapy.
In July 2014 I went to South America for my first stem cell therapy. Some 75 percent of the stem cells I received were from donated umbilical cords after recent births; 25 percent were derived from my own bone marrow.
I have made significant progress through continued physical therapy, but I also believe the cells accelerated the progress. Just a month ago, I was able to walk 90 feet using a walker with leg braces that locked my knees and ankles since I do not have control down to that level yet.
I just returned from Europe on July 8, where I had my second round of stem cell therapy. I received 5.4 million stem cells, all derived from my own bone marrow. I am excited about my continued progress and hope to walk without the aid of knee braces by June of 2016.
I feel very fortunate to be able to afford the high cost of this therapy, but I am also angered by the politics and religious zealots in the USA who are ignorant to what stem cells actually are, how they are derived and the benefits of their use. There is absolutely no reason why in the USA one should be prevented from receiving their own stem cells back into their body.
Stem cells are only created in certain areas of your body. For a spinal cord injury like the one I sustained, the cells need to be placed into the spinal canal so they can migrate and attach themselves to damaged areas of the cord and make repairs. This type of therapy should be available to people within the USA. We are many years behind Europe in adopting this technology.
Joe Pomeroy
August 17, 2015
Your front-page article regarding stem cells was very welcome to see. There are many myths in the general population regarding stem cells.
In June 2013 I suffered a traumatic injury and broke 27 bones along with a spinal cord injury. I became paralyzed from the T8 level down. My doctor stated I would never walk again, along with several other activities. I am too stubborn to listen to someone who says you will never do something. It took seven months before I could even begin to start physical therapy.
In July 2014 I went to South America for my first stem cell therapy. Some 75 percent of the stem cells I received were from donated umbilical cords after recent births; 25 percent were derived from my own bone marrow.
I have made significant progress through continued physical therapy, but I also believe the cells accelerated the progress. Just a month ago, I was able to walk 90 feet using a walker with leg braces that locked my knees and ankles since I do not have control down to that level yet.
I just returned from Europe on July 8, where I had my second round of stem cell therapy. I received 5.4 million stem cells, all derived from my own bone marrow. I am excited about my continued progress and hope to walk without the aid of knee braces by June of 2016.
I feel very fortunate to be able to afford the high cost of this therapy, but I am also angered by the politics and religious zealots in the USA who are ignorant to what stem cells actually are, how they are derived and the benefits of their use. There is absolutely no reason why in the USA one should be prevented from receiving their own stem cells back into their body.
Stem cells are only created in certain areas of your body. For a spinal cord injury like the one I sustained, the cells need to be placed into the spinal canal so they can migrate and attach themselves to damaged areas of the cord and make repairs. This type of therapy should be available to people within the USA. We are many years behind Europe in adopting this technology.
Joe Pomeroy