I'll be the Regenexx Stem Cell Therapy Guinea Pig!

[mike86]

ok guys! my first stem cell injection is tomorrow! i fly in from houston tomorrow morning, and leave that same evening.

wish me luck!

[Dave]

Good luck Mike. Here's hoping the injection goes well and you see results.

[Justin]

ok guys! my first stem cell injection is tomorrow! i fly in from houston tomorrow morning, and leave that same evening.

wish me luck!

Travel safe Mike. Good luck!

[sportsnut3007]

Good luck Mike!!! Ill probbably be getting injections in a year or 2 once i save up the money maybe, but hopefully my current glucosamine dosages rehydrate my discs which can hold up till mesoblast stuff gets approved.

[mike86]

Alright guys! I'm back from the Stem Cell Re-Injection! Boy has it been a busy and eventful day. Let me guide you through the details:

I traveled alone and arrived in Denver at 110 AM. I went to pick up my car rental and drove to the mall near the clinic to get some food before the 30pm appointment (I got some sushi because I heard fish oil is good for joints!). I arrived at the clinic at 20pm only to be greeted by the $3000 for the stem cell re-injection Anyways, they took me inside at 2:45pm, took my blood pressure, and injected me with an antibiotic. They say the antibiotic was necessary to prevent infections, given the size of the stem cell needle

Finally Dr. Schultz walks in and guides me through the process. We go over the MRI's and he develops an injection strategy (I guess it depends on where the herniation is and where you pain travels to). He decided to go with a LEFT approach. Also, he decided to do only ONE (1) stem cell re-injection for the whole treatment, given that the needle causes a lot of damage to the disc and he said i'm too young to have a damaged disc. So he decided to inject the whole 41 MILLION STEM CELLS today. That's right, FORTY ONE MILLION STEM CELLS.

I walk into the procedure room, which looks like a surgery room. It has a live x-ray machine that moves very swiftly around me. He starts out with some local Anaestesia. He then proceeds to do a series of injections (well it felt like it at least). He then prepared the BIG MOMMA injection, which he guided to the center of the disc using the live x-ray machine. This process was extremely painful for me. I handled it like a man though! He then proceeded to inject some contrast die and then the stem cells. By the way, i took a look at the stem cells.. it's a white/creamy colored cream.. it's weird.. and it was a VERY small quantity... i just couldn't believe there were 41 million in there.

He proceeded to inject the stem cells.. a procedure which he called MARVELOUS. He said he got them in exactly where he wanted them. After that, they proceded to draw some blood from my arm, which he would use to close down the hole that he made on the disc.. he patched it. This way the stem cells won't just squirt out the moment i stand up. This process was painful as hell too!

After that, he said: WE'RE DONE! He told me to lie there for a while, and so I did. Then i started feeling a moderate pain somewhere around the area.. sort of like a huge needle being throbbed viciously. It only got worse after that. He said that these pain levels are normal.. some people get them, others don't. He proceded to give me an IV with some potent pain killer (he said it wasn't an anti-inflammatory because this is in the list of prohibited stuff i can't take). He then gave me a prescription for Oxycodone (i had never taken it before.. which was of concern to him..). Meanwhile, while all of this was happening, I was crying in pain. I couldn't stand up until the effects of the IV kicked in. Then I lied down for 15 minutes and proceded to leave the clinic given that my flight was at 7:30. So I went to walgreens (yes, i actually drove there.. i almost died in pain) and bought the medicine. Then I drove to the airport, and the pain killers started wearing off.. so I took an oxycodone. By the time i got to the airport, it kicked in.. and BOY WAS I HAPPY. I was a jolly old fella. I was greeting everyone! I boarded my plane, and midflight, THE PAIN CAME BACK AGAIN. So i took another pill and now here i am lying in bed.. very comfortably. If I try to move it starts hurting.. but I don't really want to move because I want to take care of my little baby stem cells.

Recommendations:
-FLY FIRST CLASS!
-Stay a day after the stem-cell re-injection
-Get someone to drive you
-Get a comfortable car
-GROW SOME BALLS, because this **** is painful!

Some thoughts on Dr. Schultz:
He's awesome. He's a great person, very understanding, and i consider him my friend (even though he charged me haha). He was very understanding of my pain, and did everything he could to control it. The procedure was flawless... he has some pretty amazing needle hands.

So now, I have to take care of myself. No running, no doing stupid ****. No drinking, no drugs, no anything. Sounds like a reasonable price to pay for a pain-free lifetime after this.

So anyways, WISH ME LUCK. I will be posting pain levels throughout the week. So stay tuned!

I WILL POST PICTURES OF THE LIVE X-RAYS ONCE I SCAN THEM TOMORROW! I'VE GOT PICTURES OF THE NEEDLE GOING INTO THE DISC, THEN INJECTING THE CONTRAST DYE, AND THEN THE STEM CELLS. PRETTY SWEET!

[Cindylou]

Mike, you are THE MAN!! I cannot believe you traveled alone and did this whole deal in one day! Holy cow! It sounds like it would have been a good idea to overnight in the area and travel home the next day, but somehow you pulled it off. I tip my hat to you. I will be very eager to watch your postings and progress on this procedure reducing your pain levels to 0%, hopefully.

[mike86]

Hello everybody.

I'm 2 days into my stem-cell re-injection. It seems that I have a couple of muscle spasms in my lower back. At least that's what I think.. Whenever I move such that my lower back muscles need to do some work, I get a sharp stabbing pain in my back. It's kind of obvious that it's my muscles because of this, and also because the needles were doing some pretty heavy work around and though them. I'm trying to calm them down before they cause any unnecessary pressure on my discs. Any tips on calming down my lower back muscles without using any medicine?

I'm trying out my heating pad but i'm not allowed to use it more than twice a day and for more than 30 minutes.

Thanks!

[Keano16]

TENS unit

[Justin]

Mike,

Congrats on your successful trip--all in one day to boot!

Hello everybody.

I'm 2 days into my stem-cell re-injection. It seems that I have a couple of muscle spasms in my lower back. At least that's what I think.. Whenever I move such that my lower back muscles need to do some work, I get a sharp stabbing pain in my back. It's kind of obvious that it's my muscles because of this, and also because the needles were doing some pretty heavy work around and though them. I'm trying to calm them down before they cause any unnecessary pressure on my discs. Any tips on calming down my lower back muscles without using any medicine?

I'm trying out my heating pad but i'm not allowed to use it more than twice a day and for more than 30 minutes.

Thanks!

You can try ice to help with the inflammation / irritation.

[mike86]

Here are 4 pictures of the live x-rays that were being done during the procedure. It was basically a live x-ray video so he could guide the needle to the appropriate location. The dark areas are dark because they injected contrast dye through the needle so that he knows where the stem cells are being injected (you can't see the cells through x-ray, so you need a liquid that does show up on x-rays).

The level is L4/L5.



If you have any questions, let me know!