" For ninety-nine percent of the patients, for them the most important is to have small improvements, and many improvements. Not one big improvement, because if you stay and wait, and wait, and wait for the big, the biggest improvement, nothing will come to you right away. "
Before Matt received adult stem cell therapy to treat the Optic Nerve Atrophy he's had since birth, he had to hold a book an inch from his face to read the text. He could see subtitles in a theater if he was in the very front row. While he couldn't see detail, he could see images and movement enough to play professional football. But he had trouble tracking his daughter at a soccer game and reading bed-time stories to the kids at night. He wasn't going to sit by if he could seek out some improvement.
Matt received IV, LP and retro-bulbar (RB) injections of adult stem cells. Early in his month-long treatment he began to notice a significant increase in clarity. Taking the Snell Test after his RB he could read the chart much better.
How much better? During his interview video he told us the numbers he had prior to departure. They're impressive. But he stressed that "for some people with 20/20 vision, they don't really know what a drop in 200 feet or 30 to 40 feet is. But let me tell you, it's a significant number. It changes the way that you see."
Lots of people will tell you that Matt's improvements were the result of the placebo effect. Maybe they will tell you he's the only one who has seen improvement. They will tell you he is an actor reading lines. Watch the video above and let him tell you what he's seeing. Click here to find out more.
If you'd like to see more interviews from patients and doctors talking about their adult stem cell treatments in China, click the pics below.
Little Cody Clarke and her parents came to China with the world listening for their reports. She has Septo Optic Dysplasia, a condition her doctors at home in Ireland had said was untreatable. Back then in 2009 she was completely blind. Her bowels and sleeplessness kept her parents up all night. She couldn't walk. Instead, she'd push herself across the floor with her arms.
She's come a long way since then. BBC film crews following her saw her start to reach out to objects around during her first trip. But back home they didn't catch her quickly learning to walk. In this interview her father talks about the numerous "coincidental" improvements they and her doctors saw in her condition and the quality of life improvements she's experienced since then.
China Stem Cell Patients in the US News: "Stem Cell Treatments Change Girl's Life"
Cora has Cerebral Palsy. She was one of three triplets born premature and the only one to develop CP. She's been chasing to keep up with her brothers ever since in spite of her challenges. They don't have anything on her in beauty pageant competitions. We saw this update from KFOR out of Oklahoma City including a great video.
The article notes that "Duke University is studying stem cell treatments for children with cerebral palsy" and that "experts say treatment similar to Cora Beth's Chinese therapy is still years away in the US." We're glad to hear about work being done in the US. We're also glad to hear something's already working for Cora Beth today. We look forward to sharing an interview from her family soon.
Michaela's father, Cchris, would ask Michaela this question in relation to her posture. Was she relaxed? Was she holding her head up high? Michaela has Secondary Dystonia, a condition prompted by a difficult premature birth. Her muscles don't cooperate with her, tense and locked up.
She has received two cycles of stem cell transplants now. She and her father sat for interviews near the end of her second treatment. They also gave us home videos they had shot before and after her first treatment. You can watch those clips in the interview video above. We were struck by the new range of motion she displayed in the walker in 2010 against the stiff 2008 footage.
Head over to her full patient experience here for more information about her condition and her progress today.
After a fall from a bridge left him with a neck injury, Gabi was paralyzed from the neck down. When Gabi first came to China for treatment he could raise his arms half way to his shoulders. With no control of his stomach muscles he couldn't sit at all. Since that time he has pushed himself through adult stem cell treatments and physical therapy to recover as much of his lost abilities as he can.
With 30+ umbilical cord, cord blood and autologous stem cell transplants over the past six years there are few people in the world who have as much experience with the adult stem cell treatments available in China or the physical changes made possible by them.
Stem Cells Plus Physical Therapy
Through the course of his treatments he has seen his level of sensation drop again and again. Early feelings of "pins and needles" in once-unfeeling regions led to sensations of touch and temperature. He regained sweat function and bowel-and-bladder sensation.
His upper body control now allows him to operate a computer with his hands and perform complex operations.
You can also check out these spinal cord injury video interviews and patient experiences here at StemCellsChina by clicking on the images below for Brandon Harmison, Claire Marsh and Tamara Marquis.
"She pulled my hair this morning. That was a lot fun because she's never done that before. She's never grabbed something."
Angelica's mother, Roxanne
Surviving a Brain Injury
Angelica suffered a brain injury due to oxygen deprivation following a bad combination of blood pressure drugs and anesthetics. A tough break for a newborn. Her mother tells us "she was a very good baby to travel with" to China. Angelica just lay there clenched up without crying.
Following stem cell therapy in Qingdao Angelica expresses herself much more freely. She tells her mother what she likes and doesn't like. Her arms and legs have softened up a great deal. She's alert to people in the room and follows them around with her eyes. Roxanne said "so she developed a personality. She likes to be held."
Roxanne doubts that it was a stem cell placebo effect at work on her 9-month old saying "but I do know that I brought here a child that was not active, that was barely alive, that did nothing. And now I have a little girl."
Keri, 9 years old, got a write-up in the Belfast Telegraph. The family was reporting back after her first transplant in Qingdao. Only able to see the shapes of objects an inch from her face, her family reported back a jump to ten inches. Her mother sent out a thank you to all their supporters back home.
Doctors back home will likely demand independent verification of these results. They might chalk them up to the placebo effect, Chinese food or strenuous travel involved getting to China. We're just glad to hear she's seeing a little better today.
