Thread: FKNA!!!! I Had Stem Cell/PRP/HGH Injections in Two Knees and One Shoulder Yesterday

Are these adult stem cells or dead baby stem cells? I want the cells of dead babies to make me stronger!

The stem cells came from the fat in my gut around my belly button. It was liposuctioned out. Turns out cosmetic surgeons discovered that when they used that fat for body sculpting, like injecting it into faces, the people they did it to took on a noticeably younger look beyond just the cosmetic surgery. As it turns out, the stem cells are in the collagen that is in the fat. So the collagen is separated from the fat, then the stem cells are separated from the collagen. PRP is a blood separation. All separated using a centrifuge. The alternative is stem cells cultured from bone marrow which is probably somewhat more intrusive. The fetus umbilical stem cells are the most potent but a politically hot potato. Some say there's potential for growing an ear or whatever at the injection site. I really don't know, but my own stem cells sounded good.

Watching TV the other night and T.O. came on ESPN and declared himself 75% healed from (I think) ACL and meniscus. Then he started talking about some stem cell therapy he underwent to help the healing process. He didn't mention any Hot Red Heads though

Well, I'm still chuggin along and my patellar tendonitis has completely healed, my torn bicep tendon and rotator cuff injury is much better and so is my meniscus. I find the amount of time I can stand around on bare cement has increased and today I played disc golf on a rocky, hilly course, then worked on concrete and am feeling the meniscus a little bit.

My endurance of how long I can do things that really hurt before has increased time-wise and the pain, when it does it hurt, is less. The doctor has requested, however, that I make an office visit for a swift kick in the nuts for smoking again after quitting for three weeks.

I fell mt biking 5 weeks ago and landed right on my knee, been swollen ever since and finally broke down & saw the doc this AM, x-rays showed I fractured my patella, looking at another 3-5 weeks lounging and this sorta thing sounds like it may be what I need in a few weeks after the bone heals further.

Also saw you mentioned something about Prolozone, I gotta biking buddy who could barely ride and he had a couple shots in his hip and is raving about the stuff. Any thoughts on the 2, PRP vs Prolozone?

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I tend to think the two would work very well in conjunction with each other, powpig. However, the stem cell doc has asked me to hold off on doing prolozone to get a measure of the stem cells alone. I had life changing results with prolozone and am doing pretty damn good on the stem cell treatment. Personally, I can't help but think that stem cells would benefit greatly by the addition of a prolozone kick in the ass.

edit: Went in for my followup rpr/hgh injections. No kick, all smiles. Bulk of the injection, once it was distilled from my blood via centrifuge, went to my meniscus because it's response is lagging in comparison to the bicep tendon and patellar tendon. The knee with a couple surgeries behind it remains inflamed, as is evidenced by the feel of the needle going into it; kinda like the difference between poking a needle into an inner tube and poking it into a steel belted radial. But the most wonderful maggette doc in the world has some damn good moves when it comes to this stuff. The prp/hgh injections are so smooth, she doesn't have to do a local. Even on the steel belted radial of a knee that is so inflamed, the doc's thumb was shaking as she plunged the syringe, but she holds it steady. My doc that did my prolotherapy would anesthetize the area when injecting into my knees and he still made it hurt.

I've gotten two miracle cures out of the three issues that have been bothering bothering me. We're still working on that meniscus. I realize more with time how great this has been for me. It has taken realizing what I used to not be able to do (like when I'm doing something and think, "This used to really hurt.") to truly appreciate the validity of this treatment.

It has now been three months since I got the stem cell/prp/hgh injections in my knees and shoulder and each joint has gotten much, much better.

I totally recommend anyone with substantial damage to a joint get this treatment. I'm closing in on these joints feeling as good as they did pre-injury. The doc said it would be about 90 days for the full effect to occur and it has happened. Stoked. If you have a problem that doesn't seem to want to heal, this is the ticket. Glad to refer anyone to the doc who might need this to heal. It works.

That's good news. So, are you a case study or is this treatment pass that stage?

that is so awesome.

I'm kind of a case study, I guess. The doc has been training on this stuff on weekends down in Florida where it's taken off bigtime. She has now learned about as much as there is to learn and is doing it in her Incline Village office in Tahoe.

I have held off on saying anything until I felt it was a success and I can now say without a doubt it has been the success I was waiting for. I was holding back in my earlier posts because it simply hadn't kicked in. I had to be sure. I am now. WOW! I was fading after a few hours working on the cement floor in the factory making skis less than 9 months ago due to the knee pain. I'm now working 16 hour days and coming home and thinking, "Holy shit, this knee just keeps getting stronger and has no pain." FKNA!

I am now going to pass on the stats on my remarkable beautiful redheaded doctor: Her name is Dr. Rebecca Gelber in Incline Village. She is married to Matthew, aka Patches, here on the board. If you are having issues with healing a joint or tendon, r/c issues or even old nagging injuries, this woman is your best hope. I cannot tell you how much pain she has taken out of my body with this treatment. My left knee was so out of whack after two surgeries for ACL and meniscus (twice), I was developing issues in my right hip from walking with a limp for two years. When Doc Orr, Chief Orthopod for the US Ski Team, went back in and took 60% of my meniscus out, my knee joint went 3-4 mm out of line because I am bowlegged. In jointspeak - that's a shitton out of line. All the orthopods I went to wanted cut a wedge out of my patellar plateau. I said I'd wait until stem cell treatments finally took off mainstream and I am god damned glad I did. My knee developed arthritis that was getting worse and it simply wasn't getting better 2-1/2 years in. I screamed in pain when I hit bumps skiing and cramped the hell out my right quad from putting 90% of my weight on it in every turn. I had patellar tendonitis in my right knee from poor form doing squats to try to get my left leg muscles back. Patellar tendonitis: Gone. I shredded my left rotator cuff and bicep tendon on a nasty fall in Maggot Chute in Kirkwood. Doc Orr said that the r/c 'looks like hamburger' when he viewed the MRI on that shoulder. Pain: Gone. Strength: Increased and coming back more all the time.

Final Conclusion: The cure for most injuries we sustain skiing or otherwise can be healed with stem cell/prp/hgh injections.

Me? The happiest skier around.

Awesome to hear this is working for you man!

So, if I am 28 years old and had most of the cartilage in my ankle removed, leaving me with limited mobility and degenerative arthritis, is this therapy a viable option for me? Sounds intriguing to say the least...........

I can't answer you on that, Frank. I guess it would depend on what you might have left that, if grown again, would support your ankle. What does degenerative arthritis do? I had arthritis where the injury keeps trying to heal and grows bone instead of cartilage (osteoarthritis?). Doc did say that ankles were the hardest to work on, but she does do them. Something about working the injections in between those little bones. PM Patches here on the board, maybe talk to him on the phone and see what he thinks. He's the office manager for the flaming vixen shaman of stem cell healings, who also happens to be his wife.

OK, I too am a person that has physical issues due to past indiscretions. I skated the pools and parks, played years of tennis (from birth to 18), skied, first rode a winterstik snowboard in '77 at the Mammoth trade fair, surfed Todos, Kauai, & Baja Malibu on solid swells, and generally just liked to jump off of things. One more little item; I, not Brad, not Joe, came up with the concept of the first Carve Board, and worked with Joe to create what is now the Standard.
I spent 15 years with painful ankles, ankles that the doctors told me had to be fused to stop the pain. Since I like to swim and the ankles "kinda" still worked, I suffered. I had spent years working in the polymer world and completely expected there to be some kind of breakthrough at any time.
Well, it was when I read about the guy that had his trachea replaced with a cloned one from his own cells that I realized the time had come. I got on line and contacted the guy in CO. that is doing the stem cell treatment. They explained to me the need for two visits and the requirements necessary to be considered a candidate. I was stoked and ready for relief, to say the least...
It just so happens...
through an acquaintance, I was introduced to the wonderful people right here at Tahoe that are doing the same work, only different. I visited them to discuss the options and found out that with my ankles, in the condition they were in, after all the years of abuse, were not exactly what they would prefer to see and that the treatment would determine if improvement was possible. As usual, I jumped, literately, both ankles in!
So now it has been two and a half months. I have had the two PRP follow up treatments, and I have to say: compared to where I was from a pain standpoint, I am healed. Sure, the bone spurs that almost stick out of the skin are sensitive (the ortho. doctors want $10,000. a piece to remove them, with no guarantees). For the most part, I'd say 97%, the pain of bone on bone is gone. And it only seems to be getting better. Here is what is super-cool. My 86 year old dad, who is a photographer that has lost most of his site to macular degeneration, can be treated with the same process (not here at Tahoe, yet) and regain a significant percentage of his vision back.

are we talking PRP or Stem cell injections or some form of a mix of both as i have heard a lot about PRP but i dont see where the stem cells fits into this, or is the key the location of the body that the blood is taken from?

It's the location the stem cells are taken from - around your umbilical cord, your belly button. It's apparently the location of the highest concentration of stem cells in your body. But now...no dead babies are involved. PRP is from your blood.

The PRP and stem cells are separated individually; stem cells from belly fat and PRP from a blood draw. They are injected together, along with some HGH. I guess it's like the stem cells are the builders, the PRP is the materials and the HGH is the foreman on the job to kick everything else in the ass. There's a better analogy I was told but I forget it now.

The stem cells go to work and keep working for months. You get a periodic booster shot of PRP and HGH to keep them fueled for healing. I've been running 16 and 18 hour days lately, much of that on bare cement, and still feeling fairly chipper. I've had days when my knee has screamed "I feel so buff!" I mean, like it was the strongest part of my entire body. The the next day it wouldn't be so much like that and I'm sitting here wondering "What the hell was that? I want more!"

Coffinskate - thanks for your input on the bone to bone stuff for couloirman up above. I was close but not quite there with my knee. What's amazing is that stem cell treatments are here now. This is it. And this is it for skiers or anyone else who hit something while traveling fast or simply tweaked a part of their body. I look forward to the day when there are a hundred more testimonials like ours in this thread.

Wow, great read man. I can see myself needing this in a couple decades. If it's possible now, it should be cheap by the time I come around.

I guess its time for me to post here- I've written a bunch of responses over the last month or so but never clicked the "post" button.

I have lots of facts and lots of opinions that I would love to share, but I haven't because I'm worried about the ethical implications. There's a fine line between disseminating information and giving opinions and turning into a salesman, which is what I'm afraid I'll unintentionally become. I don't ever want to talk someone into having a medical procedure, even if its because I'm excited about helping treat them. People really should be doing their own research* and deciding if they want this without talking to someone who has a financial or emotional interest in treating them. By emotional I think I mean pride- treating people is fun; when you have a skill you want to use it.

The other reason I've been holding back is because more and more these forums have gotten filled with people who are subtly or not-so-subtly selling something, usually trying to get you to visit their blog or website or whatever. I don't want to contribute to that, I've really enjoyed these forums over the years.

Anyway, I felt like I should say something since the aforementioned Dr. Gelber is my wife and I run the practice. It would be weird if I didn't chime in. But for now this post will be it - my posting or not posting in the future shouldn't be construed as agreeing or disagreeing with what people are saying here. I may reconsider this decision in the future- better to take it slow though, than jump in too fast.

* Regarding research, this doesn't mean reading the websites of doctors who are doing the treatments or companies who are designing the equipment/processes. They all have biases. Go straight to pubmed or clinicaltrials.gov , for less biased information. Remember to google the authors of any studies you read, to find out if they have a vested interest in any of the competing methods (most do). On that topic, there are a bunch of methods for extracting and isolating stem cells and PRP. The various camps seem to spend all their time arguing over whose system is better. Honestly, they all look fine to me, as long as the practitioner is competent and diligent.

Patches - I just wanted to say that what you and your wife are doing is the glimmering cutting edge of healing therapy/technology. Thank you so much for doing what you do. I can't even begin to tell you how much improvement I notice in my knee every day and how much I think about what it was like to be in constant pain for two and a half years.

Thank You and Thanks to Your Beautiful Wife from the bottom of my heart and depths of my soul for healing me.

This is awesome, so stoked for you Spat, so stoked for the bold and courageous steps taken by Mr. and Mrs. Patches towards practicing and advancing this incredibly promising medicine. Best wishes to you all.

well, after a few phone calls and hours on google, i cannot find anyone in new england providing this treatment. am i looking in the wrong place? damn, i wish i still lived in truckee!

anyone with some info to point me in a direction would be much appreciated!

^word. i figured i could just roll up to Dartmouth/Hitchcock, to 'cure' the shit knees i own.
no haps! if you hear of something local. let i know

Sounds like a successful therapy and very satisfied patient.

I'm afraid to inquire about costs, I'm sure my insurance doesn't cover any of it. I need this procedure to regrow an acl or two, does that cost extra?

from what i can see it's a couple to four thousand. splat or patches would be able to answer that one. soon insurance will start to cover stem cell therapys...i hope.

You should talk to Patches directly. But if any of you clowns want to fly out there to have it done, I'd be glad to help with an airport pickup, ride to Tahoe and a place to crash. The entire experience, the healing, means enough to me to want to see other people be able to get it done.