" After the first treatment, I was able to jump which I couldn't do before. I couldn't walk up stairs, and now I can walk up stairs without having to hold onto the handrails. Others have noticed the improvements in me; it isn't just my perception. "
Ciska was diagnosed with open angle glaucoma in 2008.
Condition Prior to Treatment
After Ciska was diagnosed with glaucoma, her doctors told her that her vision would never improve. Her interocular pressure was between 42 and 43 mmHg in each eye at the time of diagnosis. She was promptly given eye drops to try and slow the pressure from continuing to rise.
Her vision had been narrowed to two points. She describes this like looking at the world through “movie binoculars”. Her peripheral vision was gone. Basic activities like walking required her to focus her attention on the ground in front of her to help keep her balance.
While traditional medicine could reduce interocular pressure, doctors had no options to help her restore lost vision.
Treatment in China
Ciska received 6 packets of umbilical cord-derived adult stem cells through IV, spinals, and a retrobulbar injection. She also received acupuncture, electric wave therapy, and traditional Chinese massage during her treatment.
Condition Following Treatment
Ciska noticed a change in her vision during treatment. She told us, "I walk around the block steadfast now. Not unsure on my feet anymore." She continued, "My balance is so much better." During the interview Ciska described significant improvements in her peripheral vision. Tests from the Shandong Eye Institute carried out at the end of her treatment showed marked improvement in her field of vision.
Adam Kitchen and his wife, Laurie, sat with us in Qingdao for an interview. If you can't see the video, click here.
Age 32, USA
Diagnosis
Adam was born with Optic Nerve Atrophy.
Condition Prior to Treatment
Adam describes his vision as, "If you took your glasses and you put Vaseline on them, that’s basically the way that I would see. You can kind of see things that are there. Just, there's no clarity and no definition to it."
Adam wore glasses that brought his vision to the "2200-2400" range, and he was classified as legally blind.
Adam's wife Laurie describes Adam as highly functional for a legally blind person but says, “where we do notice [his blindness] is when he puts something down, walks away, comes back, doesn't know where he put it."
Laurie describes Adam's challenges keeping up with his four children saying, “now that our kids are getting older, our oldest daughter sings in concerts… our other ones have done sports and things. And he can never tell which one is which. He always asks me which one is which."
Adam used magnifiers and glasses to help accommodate his Optic Nerve Atrophy.
Treatment Received in China
Adam received nine stem cell transplants, 4 via IV and 5 lumbars. Adam also received acupuncture and facial massage during therapy.
Condition Following Treatment
Adam experienced improvements in his vision during his therapy in China.
Laurie told us “in Adam's case now, he can see the date on his watch. He had ever been able to see that before. He's reading things on his Blackberry that he was never able to see before. Are these small things? To you and me, maybe. To him, no. They're huge."
Adam said “after I received my second injection… we had gone out and did the testing out there again. And at that point I could see the big E from a full meter back. So about 3 feet back from when I first started."
"When I first showed up, it was about 216 centimeters back is where I could see the E. And I've gone up to about 405 centimeters. So it's nearly doubled since."
Adam talked about what it felt like to experience new vision for the first time saying, “there’s just so much pop to everything. Just as I walk through the [Hospital] Common Area, the sofas have those little white seams on the side. It just seems like all the sudden now it just pops out at me. Just every little line, or every definition is coming out all of the sudden."
If you would like more information about adult stem cell treatments available today please send an inquiry here.
Carl Dean sat for an interview at his home in the United States of America.
Diagnosis
In January of 2004, Carl Stevens was hospitalized with strep B pneumonia. He developed sepsis and was put on a ventilator. He was in a medically induced coma. After Carl recovered from the pneumonia and sepsis, he was brought out of the coma. Upon waking up, Carl discovered that he had lost his eyesight. He was diagnosed with Ischemic Optic Neuropathy.
Condition Prior to Treatment
The damage to Carl's optic nerve left him with no light perception in both eyes. Carl adapted to living without eyesight and considered himself mobile around his house. Carl describes himself as being "in total darkness" before he went to China for stem cell treatments.
Treatment Received in China
Carl received 5 stem cell transplants, 1 via IV, and 4 via lumbar puncture.
Condition Following Treatment
While Carl was in China, he began to notice that he could see light coming in through windows. He hadn't been able to see light since his hospitalization.
In the six months following treatment, Carl started to be able to distinguish the color red and the movement of people and objects around him. Carl says he has not been able to see color or motion for a long time. He did retain light perception in both eyes.
For more information about stem cell therapies available today please send an inquiry here or fill out the form in the upper left corner of this page.
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Connor was diagnosed by his doctors as having Leber's Congenital Amaurosis, LCA. This disorder leads to varying levels of blindness. Connor's mother believes he could see during his first few months of life but that sight went away. Connor has no hereditary links to LCA and has not been genetically tested for the condition.
Condition Prior to Treatment
Prior to treatment Connor would play in the dark just the same as he'd play in a lighted room. He had virtually no light perception. He had nystagmus and often eye-pressed. His doctors gave no course of treatment for him. If he was getting worse they wanted to see him. But there was nothing they could offer to help him get better.
Treatment Received in China
In China Connor received IV and LP injections of umbilical cord blood stem cells along with traditional Chinese acupuncture and electric wave therapy.
Condition Following Treatment
During the course of Connor's treatment his mother noticed Connor begin to respond to changes in light. She found he began to prefer to have the light on in whichever room he was in. She noticed his eye-pressing behavior and nystagmus reduce significantly. The reduction in his nystagmus has allowed medical staff to more accurately gauge his level of vision in a way they simply couldn't before.
Before Stem Cell therapy, I could not wear glasses my vision was so bad. I could tell between dark and light, I could make out shapes and outlines of people.I could never see peoples faces, see steps, curbs, watch the TV, read or drive.
My color vision was limited. I could not see red or green. My vision was like a jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing and these pieces were grey/white in colour. I was also only able to count fingers from around 2 foot.
Course of Treatment
4 IV stem cell transplants, 4 spinal stem cell transplants Accupuncture Electric Wave therapy Massage
Reason for Coming for Treatment
In April 2004, I woke up one morning seeing perfectly normal. I went to college and done my day there. After college finished, I headed downstairs,I missed a step because I couldn't see it. I could see fine again after this and a few days passed. I then woke up and I couldn't see very much. My vision was blurry, jigsaw like and I couldn't see my parents faces when they came into my room. I told them that there was a problem with my eyes and I was then brought into our optician in town. She knew something serious was wrong and she brought me up to the consultant in Galway Hospital. I was brought in for numerous tests over a few weeks. All they knew was that my optic nerve was inflamed, optic neuritis, only problem was they didn't know why.
I was admitted into hospital for a few weeks, where I had Iv steroids to help bring down the inflammation. Everything was ruled out at this stage as to what caused it was then concluded that I got Optic neuritis from a virus because my B12 levels were extremely low. The steroids brought down the inflammation and I was on weekly injections of B12. Unfortunately, the damage was done, and I was left seeing the way I have seen for the last 6 years. No treatment had improved my vision. I tried everything, I went everywhere and my only option left was stem cell therapy to help restore my optic nerves to regain vision.
Condition After Treatment
After my 3rd transplant, I had a feeling something was working. I thought I could read the eye chart better but I didnt believe myself, thinking it was a placebo effect. I remember looking out our window from the hospital and seeing a red squiggle (a Chinese dragon) on the roof across the road. I said to my boyfriend, Matthew, without realising it, "Oh look theres a red dragon!" He looked at me funny and said "What?"
I repeated it again and he jumped up and looked out and said "You can see the red?" I could make out the colour red for the first time in 6 years. When I first arrived in Qingdao, I could see the top letter of the eye chart from 1.03 meters in my right eye, 1.0 m in my left. After my 4th transplant this jumped up to 1.87m in my right and 1.10m in my left. From here, I began noticing steps, curbs.
I bought red clothes. I brought the software on my laptop down by 2 sizes. On leaving China, the top letter was now seen by 2.97 m in my right and 2.07 in my left. All my tests showed remarkable improvement.
Home From China
Since coming home, I can make out peoples faces, I can see who is coming toward me. It's not an outline anymore, its a person and the closer they get, I make out their clothes, eyes, nose--which I could not do before. I got fitted for glasses to help me see in the distance. They help but only by brightening things and making it bolder. I can now read the eye chart, top leter from 3.65 m right eye and 2.07 left eye. I have loads more confidence, I now walk around town and I notice the steps and stairs.
I have a long way to go but stem cells have given me sight back that I was told I would never get back. I said to myself leaving Ireland, if I get any bit back at all I will be so happy. But I have gone beyond dreams now. I have never been happier.I am so grateful to have been given the oppurunity to go to China and extremely thankful to the doctors, nurses, translators and Beike staff for helping us through a difficult journey.
When Kyle was 2 years old he
was diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis, a rare cancer which results in
various growths in the body. It is most famously and incorrectly known as The
Elephant
Man's Disease. In Kyle's case neurofibromatosis presented itself as a tumor in his
brain. He explains,
"It was a grade 3 cancer,
rapidly growing, grade 4 is the fastest, but mine was still growing
pretty fast, it was an atrocytoma, it was a star shape in the beginning,
but then it grew and all connected and wrapped around my brain."
After undergoing chemotherapy,
the tumor thankfully went into remission. However Kyle still had some
nerve damage. He explains the effects,
"I had optic atrophy, my vision
was around 2400. I have trouble with my peripheral vision, in my left
eye I have no peripheral and only limited in my right eye. This also
causes problems with nystagmus."
Treatments
5 umbilical cord blood stem
cell transplants plus acupuncture and rehabilitation therapy.
Treatment in China
Kyle did not let his vision
problems affect the way he lived. He is currently working as a massage
therapist while also attending college. He also leads an active life
outside of school and work, playing guitar and going snow boarding.
It was on one of these snow boarding trips that he heard about stem
cell treatments for optic nerve damage. After doing his research he
decided that the trip to China was the proper next step for him.
While in China, Kyle started
to see some changes to his condition. He explains,
"For example, say I am sitting
at my computer with my huge font. I can actually sit back from the
screen
much farther than I could before. Or if I am running at the gym. Usually
I have to get pretty close to read the time on the treadmill, but now
I can sit back and run normally."
He offers up this advice to
other people with similar conditions,
"Blind people are taught that
there is no hope. That they basically have to live their lives relying
on other people. I don't feel that that is right, I feel we need to
try."
