Adult Stem Cells Provide Miraculous Treatment for Man with "Nine Lives"

Yahoo! News, April 20, 2007

The technology of adult stem cell therapy saved an American man from a hospice and certain death. Suffering from a full load of medical problems the stem cells were his last resort.

Dave’s doctor suggested hospice care as a means to die with comfort and dignity. Dave would have none of it. He was quickly running out of time, and he was going to go down fighting at the very least. So in March of 2007, Dave joined 20 desperate “end stage” patients to participate in a trial in Bangkok, Thailand.

The path leading up to his trip to Asia was not without struggle. Alternatives therapies he tried caused no improvement in his condition. A paralyzing hemorrhage stroke grabbed Dave in late 2006. But considering his circumstances, the stroke was minor. Dave arrived in Bangkok in March with a health rap sheet full enough for several people. In addition to the paralyzing stroke, Dave had an ejection fraction in the teens, cardiac arrhythmia, Dislipidemia, hypertension, three separate valve problems, severe Congestive Heart Failure (NYHA Class IV), more than seven heart attacks, five previous angioplasties, and one open heart bypass, all leading up to his stem cell treatment. And then there was an old kidney transplant to throw another wrench into the engine. For Dave to have lived this long, he must have had “nine-lives”; thus his nickname, “Nine-Lives Dave”.

Doctors avoided him like the plague. But Dr. Kitipan Arom at Bangkok Heart Hospital wasn’t afraid. Dr. Kit returned to his homeland Bangkok to see if he could upgrade Thai thoracic surgery. And if there was anyone up for this job, it was Dr. Kit. Over the course of 30 years, he preformed the most dangerous surgery in the United States. He also co-founded the famed Minneapolis Heart Institute.

Dr. Arom was willing to see Dave. Legal risks sometimes deter doctors from treating high-risk patients like Dave, but Dr. Kit would give him a chance. Dave would get his treatment.

Dave’s case was “impossible”, and there was a scare even before he was put under for the procedure. Dave “straight-lined” on the heart monitor, and the rhythmic beep of his heart became a long tone. His heart hung up the phone. Dr. Kit and his partner Dr. Permyos were ready as they quickly shot 300 Joules of electricity from a defibrillator into Dave’s body. Nothing happened. Dr. Permyos realized that Dave’s heart had fallen out of his myocardium when Dr. Kit sliced into his patient’s left side so Permyos could reach inside. He successfully massaged the heart and placed it back inside the myocardium. The heart monitor soon jumped back to life as Dave’s heart beat returned. As soon as the threat of any other complication was eliminated, the stem cells were successfully injected into Dave’s heart muscle. There was no brain damage and the patient was now stable.

Measurable improvement in Dave’s condition was recorded a mere five weeks later. He arrived in Washington D.C. in the same wheelchair he has lived in since his stroke and testified on stem cells at the ten week mark.

He was the most severe case Dr. Kit had ever treated and his ejection fraction had already doubled at his six-month checkup. Dave’s American doctor was highly skeptical of the treatment prior to seeing the checkup results.

When Dave got to ten months post treatment, he visited Dr. Grekos in Naples, Florida. The examination proved that his heart was stronger, much better than before, but Dave was advised to get another shot of stem cells to supply even more blood to his improved heart muscle. He got his second stem cell treatment by catheter implant into the coronary artery at the eleventh month-mark in Bangkok.

Less than a month after his second treatment, the proof of adult stem cell power became visible. It was now about 18 months since his initial treatment, and Dave asked his wife Susan to hand him his cane. Dave left his wheelchair for good. He exercised like a madman for two weeks in rehab, and then returned home.

"If I can walk over a quarter-mile at a couple of airports coming back home, I darn sure don't need a wheelchair to go out to dinner anymore!"

Senator Grassley read Dave’s testimonial about his life saving adult stem cell treatment into the Congressional Record on April 10, 2007 during the U.S. Senate stem cell debate.