Using Stem Cells to repair cartilage/ligament damage

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sg1
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Joined: September 26th, 2007, 10:49 am

Using Stem Cells to repair cartilage/ligament damage

Post by sg1 »

Rangers and Past military members,

I enlisted a couple of years ago but suffered a knee injury prior to basic and this kept me from fulfilling my commitment to serve. I learned to respect what ArmyRanger.com does for future soldiers and although I'm now past the age limit to enlist I wanted to give back to this community.

I've read posts on here from former Rangers/Soldiers who have bad backs, knees, and ankles from years of rucks and landings. I'm determined to run more marathons and don't want my knee cartilage to hold me back so I'm trying a new treatment that I wanted to share.

I've been to a medical clinic outside of Denver called Regenexx. They are using stem cells to treat orthopaedic injuries. I did my own due diligence and met with surgeons where I live that I respect and with other doctors who know the doctors at this clinic. I received positive endorsements.

Here's the summary (more detail below):
- they do a bone marrow extraction from your hips. the bone marrow contains mesenchymal stem cells which are specific stem cells used to build and repair cartilage, ligaments and tendon. cartilage cannot repair itself and they're finding that these stem cells can actually diagnose the problem area and grow new cartilage. it should eliminate the bone on bone pain many people have.
- they send the bone marrow to a lab where they grow more and in 6 weeks they inject the stem cells into the injured area.
- it's not covered by insurance which means you have to pay cash. it's not cheap. it's about $7,000. eventually when the FDA approves this it will be covered. not sure when that will be though.

Here's what I've been through so far:
- they require new MRI's so they can assess the injury.
- you then pay $200 for a 30 minute consult with the doctor. after he's reviewed the MRI he gives you a Good, Fair, Poor rating. I was rated Fair for my injury which lead me to the next step.
- I booked a trip to the clinic. It's about a 20-30 minute drive from Denver. Once there, they take a pint of blood and the doc evaluates you and the injury.
- Then they take you into the surgery room for the bone marrow extraction. They offer a General or a local anesthetic. I took the local. I've heard from others about the immense pain cause by this but I wanted to experience it for myself. Ain't gonna lie. It's a big freaking needle (it looked like a straw). The pain was about a 6 out of 10 for a few seconds and then it's an awkward pressure feeling while he drives the needle into the bone. They do this on the left and right hip.
- It's awkward to sit afterward but the pain isn't too bad. I took no Tylenol and after about 7 hours the pain went down considerably. I was on the plane about 7 hours after the extraction.
- the pint of blood and bone marrow is sent to a lab for multiplying the stem cells. then it's sent to a lab for quality control. they need to make sure that the stem cells will work and not be tumorous.
- i go back in 6 weeks where they will take the stem cells and inject them into my knee using a fluoroscope for guidance. the fluoroscope is a bad ass x-ray machine. you can sit there and watch them guide the needles into the damaged area.

I'll post again once I've had the stem cells injected in my knee. I have to have about 3-4 stem cell injections called a "layering" procedure because of the diffuse damage in my knee.

Stem cells really seem to work. I'm cautiously optimistic. As an FYI....check out this recent news story about stem cells curing blindness.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/ ... 1727.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Last edited by sg1 on July 4th, 2010, 5:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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al_2ndWolfhounds
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Re: Using Stem Cells to repair cartilage/ligament damage

Post by al_2ndWolfhounds »

Thank you for the info. Updates will be most appreciated.
RLTW

Active service 01/67-12/73
Ranger Class 10-68
2/27 Inf 25th Inf Div Vietnam 01/69-01/70

"In America, anybody can be president. That's one of the risks you take." - Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965)
“The enemy is anybody who’s going to get you killed, no matter which side he is on.” – Joseph Heller, Catch-22
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sg1
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Joined: September 26th, 2007, 10:49 am

Re: Using Stem Cells to repair cartilage/ligament damage

Post by sg1 »

Rangers and all,

i wanted to provide an update on this new stem cell treatment for my damaged knee.

Recap:
damaged the cartilage in my knee and had some bone on bone pain so i couldn't run or hike anymore.
found a company called Regenexx that has had success treating this condition with Stem Cells.
had stem cells taken from my hip and "expanded/grown" in a lab to be reinjected into my knee.

New Information:
About 7 weeks after I had the stem cells taken from my knee and grown in a lab, I was scheduled to go back to have millions of stem cells injected into my knee to begin rebuilding/repairing my cartilage. 5 days before i was scheduled to have this done I received a phone call from Regenexx. they told me that the FDA has made them temporarily stop using "expanded" stem cells.

The FDA says since the cells are sent to a lab to be grown they are now a drug and they need to be regulated by them. Regenexx says they're just multiplying existing stem cells and not turning them into any drug; they're just stem cells. Needless to say, I was pissed.

I went there anyway and had a same day procedure done. It's called Regenexx-SD. They take blood from my arm, they do another bone marrow draw and in 5 hours you go back and have the Stem Cells, Platelets and other parts of a cocktail reinjected into my knee.

I asked about the difference between the same day procedure and the "expanded" procedure. here's the scoop. on the same day procedure you get about 500,000 stem cells injected into your knee and the "cocktail" should get it to about 5 million stem cells. if i had used the "expanded" stem cells, i probably would have had about 20 million stem cells injected into my knee so there's a substantial difference.

after the injection into the knee, you have to take it easy on the knee for the first week, the 2nd week to the 4th week you can walk and ride a bike and by they 6th week you can begin to add more intensity to your workouts. they have this precaution because they need to have the stem cells "stick" to the cartilage surface and excessive pounding, weight, and sheer forces can damage them.

Next Steps

Since the injection 4 weeks ago, my knee feels good but i also haven't had the opportunity to push it given their instructions. I may do some in two weeks.
Until their issue with the FDA is setlled, my stem cells are in cryogenic storage waiting to be used. My option is to wait, or to go have another Regenexx SD procedure done. The cost of that is $2995 and I've already paid once for the "expanded" stem cells so I'd be out of pocket more money. We'll see how the FDA thing turns out and how my knee feels.

As always, if y'all have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
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