New York Woman Feels Good Enough to Dance After Stem Cell Treatment

TransWorldNews, July 31, 2007

The life of a New York woman was almost destroyed because of a root canal treatment that became infected. Once an active individual, the infection spread causing Ann to have difficulty breathing as the bacteria multiplied and spread towards her heart. Her heart began to fail when one of her heart valves stopped functioning properly.

Ann was rushed to have immediate valve repair once the doctors found the source of the problem which was initially mistaken for pneumonia. She grew sick of being tired all the time as the months following surgery became a struggle.

A company in Bangkok, Thailand was reporting success using a patient's own adult stem cells to treat cardiomyopathy, ischemic heart disease, and congestive heart failure. The woman investigated further, intrigued by the possibility of getting her life back. Ann had made up her mind to the extent of 50/50, but the tipping point came when over Thanksgiving, she couldn't pick up her grandson.

“In that one instant, when he asked me to pick him up and I couldn’t, my mind was made up,” Ann said.

“What do you know about stem cells?” she asked her doctor. “They are doing great things with them, but not here,” he replied. After being shown all the information, he said: “I don’t want you to think that this is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If it works it’s going to work, but if it doesn’t work then it’s not going to work but you’ll be no worse off than you are now.”

Ann left for Bangkok's prestigious Bangkok Heart Hospital after her family helped her conduct more research and gather all the necessary information to make an educated decision. The hospital care she received in Bangkok was wonderful.

“I never had a nurse at home pat my hand and tell me I was going to be all right. I needed somebody to tell me that,” she said. “Do whatever you have to do to have this done, because immediately you can breathe again. I can blow the little ball on the blowing machine and exercise twice a day on a bicycle without any pain. It’s just great and if it’s this great now imagine what it’s going to be like in three months time!”

Ann feels as good as new four months following the procedure. Her future looks bright and she can swim and dance once again. Her cardiologist sees her progress as ‘the future of medicine’ and can't believe how well she is doing. Her ejection fraction, which is a measure of the pumping efficiency of the heart, has gone up to 45%. She was as low as 17%-27% prior to adult stem cell therapy. And instead of her heart getting in the way, it is her legs that give out first when she runs on a treadmill today. A one-lead defibrillator has replaced her three-lead one.

Occasionally, she reminisces about Thanksgiving and the motivation she received that prompted her to choose adult stem cell treatment. The source of her motivation is also the proof that adult stem cells work.

“Now I can not only pick him up but I can carry him upstairs!” she exclaims.