The writings of Birju Patel

Friday, February 23, 2007

My Stem cell Treatment Trip

My Stem cell Treatment: Nectar of life 23rd Feb 2007


I went through this procedure because it seemed like a great hope at the time. I didn't receive any major results, but it was worth trying. I will still look into other institutions and even other types of stem cell that are out there.

Stem cell can be the next nectar of life; it has the potential to heal many ailments that are considered as non curable. My first duty will be to educate you about stem cells, Stem cells can be derived from a lot of different places, and they can be collected from embryo, fetus, umbilical cord blood, bone marrow and a few other things. I went for the bone marrow stem cell procedure which is also known as Autologus stem cell. Other kind of stem cells might not be accepted by our body and there is a great chance of rejection of foreign cells. So even if my stem cells don’t work I will be assured that I don’t get into problems of rejections or tumors. I will not bore you much with all the medical stuff, but there are many articles on stem cell and its types. There is no major surgery involved in this procedure; everything is done with help of needles.

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On the 19th of Feb I flew from Baroda at 11.45, and I had to change planes in Bombay. I finally reached the Lifeline hospital at 5.45 pm. This hospital is in Chennai (Madras), so I would suggest you to plan your trip properly if you or a loved one is planning to go there. I had asked for an ambulance, and that was big enough for me and my family to reach the hospital. They just charge 1000 rupees for one way, but it is worth the comfort because that is a 45 min trip.

I was not made to wait in the hospital; as soon as we got in I was taken in my room. The room was so nice; it was like a nice hotel room. The room was spacious and clean; one attendant is allowed to stay with the patient. My dad and uncle were given a deluxe room right next to us; yes the hospital is amazing they provided so much help. Mr. Vivek and Mr. Suresh are the hospital administrators; they will make you feel at home upon arrival.

19th February 2007

As soon as I was in my bed the hospital started its amazing work, you don’t even have to tell them anything.

  1. Two nurses came to check my blood pressure and pulses

  1. Dr Ravikumar (Stem cell coordinator) and Dr Kapadia came to visit me, and had a long chat.

  1. Two nurses came and did my ECG to ensure that my heart was doing fine.

  1. Dr Daniel Neuro surgeon visited me after that, and had a talk.

  1. Dr Hemant, the anesthetic doctor talked to me, and had some FAQs to ensure everything was fine with me.

  1. A barber came and shaved my upper body, they will shave everything between the neck and knees to avoid septic to happen.

  1. An intra venous needle was inserted, then a shot of tetanus was given and a sample dose of the anesthesia was given to check how I would react to it.

  1. An X-ray of my chest was taken, that is done in the room.

20th February 2007

This is how my day one went; I got free at 12.30 am, so I would suggest people to reach there in the afternoon if possible. So my next day started at 6 am, and I was taken to the operation theater by 6.30 am.

  1. I was given general anesthesia for the bone marrow extraction, it was just a nice feeling being so high, and I was having funny feelings. Last thing I remember was they asked me to turn sideways. Then I literally went into dream land, and I just remember that I was in Japan.

  1. I was woken up by the doctors after they had aspired 130 ml of bone marrow from my left hip bone (110 ml for bone marrow & 20ml of anti coagulant) . There is a needle that punctures the skin and bone, and then the bone marrow is sucked. I was taken to the ICU after that procedure.

  1. The bone marrow was taken to the NCRM Japanese lab for stem cell isolation (http://ncrm.org/)

  1. It took me like an hour to settle down and get in my real senses.

  1. I was visited by many doctors in the ICU, including the doctors that met me on the 19th.

  1. Dr Ravikumar was accompanied by DR. Samuel Abraham (http://nichiin.com)

  1. I got some minor physical therapy during the time spent in the ICU, the entire time spent in the ICU I was attended by a nurse. I had I. V. on for rest of the day.

  1. Dr Nayarana, the Chief Neuro surgeon came and spoke to me for 20 minutes, he did some minor sensory and strength tests.

  1. I was visited by the CEO of hospital, and then did a small interview for “Jaya TV”.

There were more things happening, I met more people, but I don’t remember all now. I was going to be injected with stem cell at 2.30 pm at the same day. I was just waiting for the thing to begin soon. So the team came to the ICU just before 2.30 pm. I was made to sleep side ways, in such a way that my spine was arched in the proper position. 25- 30 minutes procedure

Stem cell Injection

  1. I was given local anesthesia by Dr Hemant in the lumber area, this is supposed to be painless, but I did feel some pain.

  1. Needles were poked in to my spine that went straight into the Spinal cord liquid.

  1. My injury is on the T3 level( chest level) but the injections were inserted in the Lumber area ( lower back)

  1. Dr Ravikumar injected 18 ml of stem cell in the spine; the approx count of stem cell was 360 million.

  1. The stem cell looked like a white liquid with some red spots in it.

  1. Once the 18 ml was injected, I was made to lie on my back and the legs were raised up so that the stem cell can travel to the injury area.

  1. I was given a sample shot of anti biotic on my hand before being injected intra venous

  1. I was taken back to my room at 7 pm and was asked to lie on my back for 12 hours. Ideally it is better to lie in that position for the 24 hours.

  1. The entire procedure was recorded on a camera

21st February 2007

The 21 February was a rest day; I rested the entire day, in the morning my I.V. was removed. It was a relief to be free of everything. I was visited by Dr Ravikumar and the other doctors. A patient is very well cared in that hospital. The nurses don’t like to be tipped, so it’s not a good idea to offer them money.

I met a patient Ali Akbar; he is 24 year old man who was injured 4 months back. He was paralyzed waist below; He couldn’t walk and didn’t have any bowel or bladder control. After 2 months of his injury he was injected with stem cells, and now he is walking. So this therapy did work for him. This therapy reacts in a different fashion with everyone, it might work for me, it might not work, but I am assured that it will have no adverse effect on me. The therapy might take 3 months to show any progress, regeneration process is a slow one.

This is like using grade “A” fertilizer for a seed; we just have to wait for the plant to grow. This is a wait and watch procedure, honestly I am not able to tell any difference at this time, but maybe in 3 months from now I would have something to say.


TESTS AND REPORTS REQUIRED
1. MEDICAL REPORTS

2. MRI & X-RAYS

3. URODYNAMICS

4. NERVE CONDUCTION STUDY

5. SSEP



Important points

  1. This therapy might not work in the same way for everyone.

  1. The quality and quantity of stem cell derived would be different for everyone.

  1. Age of the person is an important factor, younger the better chances of recovery

  1. Number of years of injury is an important factor, recent injuries have superior chances of progress

  1. Please be patient, this is not a one day wonder therapy. It would take months to show any changes. So please tell this to all your friends and family before you go.

  1. Most important thing is that this therapy might not help you, but it’s worth taking a chance because of no side effects or rejections.


My Email Addy Patelville@yahoo.com



34 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is a very informative and useful article.The language is that of a layman and so easily understandable.This treatment is surely worth a try for those who have lost all hope!!

Kunal said...

Yes very informative. Thanks for sharing this experience with us.

Anonymous said...

Birju Bhai,
its good that you are using this space to educate people.
I wish you a positive outcome from this procedure.
Can they separate the stem cells that provide all this ENTHU to you...maybe that should be injected in a lot of people.

Tenth Titan

pavel said...

This article is very informative and useful for like me people who planed to go for treatment in Life Line Hospital . Now we will go with more positive attitude in Chennai. Thanx Biju Bhai for share all thing in details.
.....+ve Hope Pavel

pavel said...

This article is very informative and useful for like me people who planed to go for treatment in Life Line Hospital . Now we will go with more positive attitude in Chennai. Thanx Biju Bhai for share all thing in details.
.....+ve Hope Pavel

Anonymous said...

Hey Briju,

I am hoping it will soon start to show some difference in you. On second thoughts I am sure it will. do keep us updated , coz we will all be waiting to hear from you.
Tan

Anonymous said...

Birju,
Thanks for the information.. Hope u'll b okay soon.. Will call ya later..

Anonymous said...

Hi Birju,
Quite an informative article. Thanks for sharing it with all of us. All the best!

Bhairavi

Unknown said...

Birju bhai,

Amazing article. Hope this treatment works for you.

Koushik

Unknown said...

Birju,
Thanks for sharing this experience with the rest of us. I hope and pray that this treatment will work for you. We miss you here and hope to see you soon. Take care and Salams
Your Brother
Ahsan Khan

Anonymous said...

This is exciting news and your write up is a very good explanation for all to read and share. All the very best with your procedures and I am praying for positive results. Shining Star.

Gayatri said...

good and useful piece of info. just want to suggest you something. untill 3 mnths, the stem cell thing shows somehting proactivities in your body, try to do some pranayams and breathing excercises that will act as a catalyst in your body to circulate the blood in the affective areas. take care

Unknown said...

Beerju..

Hope this treatment works for you. I have known you over 10 years now and we have played cricket together. I want see you play cricket again.. You have explained the procedure in very understandable term for general public.

Take care

Dr. Chirag Shah
Tampa, FL, USA

Lisa said...

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I am also a SCI patient (L-1, incomplete).

This procedure gives new hope to so many people.

Do you have any sense of the length of time after injury that the typical patient at Lifeline has undergone this procedure?

Anonymous said...

Birju,

Very informative article. Your personal testimonies give hopes to hopeless. You are doing a great service, keep it up. We will prey to god for your recovery, and back to playing cricket.

Best of luck
Sandeep

Anonymous said...

very informative article,get well soon

Anonymous said...

Hi Birju....buddy I am also having an spinal injury....and this article has really helped me alot....I will definetly try it...

I will like to stay in touch with you...

Take care..
Mayank

Anonymous said...

hello,
thank you for sharing your treatment procedures, we would love to read a of a weekly update, even if its to say no change,
like a weekly diary entry.
thanks

parvez said...

hi birju
u r helping so many people
god bless u..all my best wishes r with u
love parvez

Anonymous said...

Hi Birju,

This your best friend sapna and i would like to thank you for being so informative about your treatment.

Manasi said...

Hi Birju,
Stumbled across ur blg.. Now I am guessing u r the same Birju who was in IES'S (90)batch.. I was in the same batch too..
This is my first time on ur blog and I cannot but feel surprised at the turn of events..
However, U are a strong person and my good wishes are with U.
Good luck in everything and God Bless.

Unknown said...

HI BRO,
THANKS FOR THE INFORMATION......HOPE U WILL BE FINE SOON....!

Anonymous said...

Well written article, Birju.

We are all pullin' for ya!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

months later, no updates? hope it's because you are running around now. give us an update please!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi...I just read your blog and it gave me so much hope for my dad...He was ran over by a car and has an injury just like you had (he is paralized from the chest down) I will like to get in contact with you so that I can find out if your treatment work and to see if I can get my dad to go to India to have the treatment

Anonymous said...

Hi Birju!

I am very sorry abt what happened to u. And am even more saddened by the fact that u were cheated, esp. out of ur dream to walk again.
I also came here from the link in Durai's naration of his wife Padma's treatmment at Lifeline.

I found some more negative reviews of Lifeline-Chennai. Thank God these people were spared.

http://www.mouthshut.com/product-reviews/Lifeline_hospital_-_Madras-925076716.html

Anonymous said...

Sorry Guys!

More bad news. More negative reports on Dr.Rajkumar. I simply cant believe this.

http://digg.com/health/LIFELINE_Hospital_Chennai_Incident_Doctor_s_Neglect

Anonymous said...

Really sorry Birju,

Just now i read Padmas case, it was really bad treatment by the Life line hospital and I think Dr Rajkumar is not completed his MBBS and very very very very bad hospital, their intension is to make money.
Please be careful before going to LIFE LINE hospital.

aji Mevakkattu said...

Ishaq bin Ali Rahawi, in his infamous book, the Adab al-Tabib (Conduct of a Physician)wrote about Medical Ethics ...

"The doctor's aim is to do good, even to our enemies, so much more to our friends, and my profession forbids us to do harm to our kindred, as it is instituted for the benefit and welfare of the human race, and God imposed on physicians the oath not to compose mortiferous remedies."

Anonymous said...

Good words.

stem cell treatment said...

I know you'd be fine! :) My kid just have that treatment and it's all good for us. She's gaining her eyesight by and by. Thank you for sharing this with us!

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

I would like to read a bit more on this site soon. By the way, rather good design this blog has, but don’t you think design should be changed every few months?