Wedding Woes

Hooray for stem cells?

I decided to try stem cell injections for my migraine and neck issues, and went through the process yesterday. 

I had to be awake (albeit, loopy) for the procedure, so I was able to communicate to the doctor throughout. I feel like I got hit by a truck, today, and even the codeine isn't doing much for the pain. 

if you're interested, here's a rundown of the procedure. if not, skip to the end for a pretty picture of my neck. 

  • take 1 pill 90 minutes before appointment - i cant remember the name of the drug, but it's in the same family as valium. 
  • start to get loopy, get mocked by DK
  • post on the internet to get proof about my theory of getting cold if they take "7 bloods" away. 
  • DK threatens to take my phone away. 
  • go into exam room, have blood drawn (for the record, they took 50 bloods (50cc) , and hit the vein on the first try.) nurse preps the blood to get "PRP" (platelet rich plasma) and remove the RBC.
  • become overly interested in the medical diagrams in the room, ask DK if he wants to know what his butt looks like on the inside
  • due to altered mental state, have no idea why that's funny. 
  • wander across hall to restroom. fortunately do not get lost on return trip
  • post picture on FB to ask if your pupil should be this dilated after 1 pill and 50 bloods. once again, no understand why people find this funny. 
  • DK takes phone away. 
  • sad because you don't have a phone anymore, and also they took 50 bloods. 
  • make DK feel bad enough to give the phone back
  • post throughts about one of the ladies getting smacked by the blue man group. make sure that everyone knows i'm not talking about smurfs, but the music ones. 
  • Doctor finally comes in and preps for stem cell removal. 
  • stem cells harvested through liposuction, so doctor and nurse scrub down abdomen including belly button. i find this hilarious. 
  • get lipo - i'm super bruised, but this really wasn't bad at all. 
  • asked why the fat was orange - was it because it really is yellow and there's blood.
  • doctor said yes and started telling me how it looks like a papaya smoothie. i told him that i didn't like papayas. 
  • doctor preps the fat to break out the stem cells. explains difference between what he does and what a cosmetic surgeon does. (they can use enzymes, his process is manual.)
  • nurse uses PRP and fat to prep syringes for the doctor. 
  • doctor has me lay on my stomach with my face in a hole. i have a big chest, so this is not easy. eventually we come to a happy medium. 
  • doctor gives me local anesthetic and gives me the worst massage ever to find all of the points that he wants to treat. he marks them. 
  • doctor shoots stem cell mix syringes to treat the areas he marked. a lot of the tissue he was treating was deep, and some of the 50ish spots took several tries to hit and were really painful. 
  • ligaments are crunchy when you stab them with a needle. you can hear it.
  • doctor and nurse told me that i have a really high pain tolerance - a lot of people don't handle the injections very well. 
  • i'm really stiff and bruised right now, but if this works as planned, it's going to make a significant difference within a month or 2. 


Keep in mind, this extends around the sides, below the shirt, and well into my hair/back of my head:Jess Kluczniks portrait

Re: Hooray for stem cells?

  • Ouch, that looks painful!
  • Your neck looks painful and I'm sorry the pain meds aren't helping...but your "I don't like papayas" and blue man group vs smurfs has me rolling!
    image
  • Although the process doesn't sound delightful, I am very interested in how this helps migraine sufferers. Please keep us updated! I have what my doctor believes are chronic migraines and/or trigeminal neuralgia depending on the day and after 8 years I've about given up on finding a treatment that helps. Just today I planned to cancel my June appointment with her because I'm so frustrated. I will have to do some more research on this though, did you find out about this on your own or did your doctor suggest it? 
  • Oof!  That sounds awful and looks so painful.  I hope it really helps out your migraine and neck problems.

    It's funny how loopiness can really alter our perceptions!

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  • I hope it works to make all this worth it and to make your life easier.
  • kvrunskvruns member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    your comments cracked me up but ouch that looks bad. I hope it works well though! I'm interested in hearing because my BFF has terrible migraines and they have been unable to find a solution for her
  • @Lulawife - i was diagnosed with chronic migraines ~5 years ago, although i've had them much longer. I've been on my current treatment plan (botox, Rx preventatives and abortives) for the better part of that 5 years - with some minor tweaks. I started having a lot more issues in the past year, especially the past couple of months - some loss of consciousness, dizziness, hearing/ear issues, fogginess - not all necessarily in conjunction with headaches. my neurologist suggested the stem cell treatment about 6 months ago, and given the recent issues i decided to try it. i was in a car accident 6 years ago (got rear-ended at a red light) and had a back and neck sprain and went to PT. They did an MRI ~18mo ago and determined that I have arthritis in my spine - likely developed as a result of the accident. I also have a fair amount of scar tissue. My neuro thinks that this is one of the major migraine triggers for me as my neck is always a mess. 

    the stem cells will (hopefully) regrow healthy tissue and bring back functionality - which will also reduce the stress/strain in my neck. 

  • *Barbie* said:

    @Lulawife - i was diagnosed with chronic migraines ~5 years ago, although i've had them much longer. I've been on my current treatment plan (botox, Rx preventatives and abortives) for the better part of that 5 years - with some minor tweaks. I started having a lot more issues in the past year, especially the past couple of months - some loss of consciousness, dizziness, hearing/ear issues, fogginess - not all necessarily in conjunction with headaches. my neurologist suggested the stem cell treatment about 6 months ago, and given the recent issues i decided to try it. i was in a car accident 6 years ago (got rear-ended at a red light) and had a back and neck sprain and went to PT. They did an MRI ~18mo ago and determined that I have arthritis in my spine - likely developed as a result of the accident. I also have a fair amount of scar tissue. My neuro thinks that this is one of the major migraine triggers for me as my neck is always a mess. 

    the stem cells will (hopefully) regrow healthy tissue and bring back functionality - which will also reduce the stress/strain in my neck. 


    I am sorry to hear things have gotten worse recently but I really hope this helps you get relief! The quick google research I just did shows a lot of good things written about it. There was an even an article on using stem cell therapy for neuropathic pain so I will be printing that out and bringing to my doctor next month. 
  • Your commentary :')

    That looks painful but hopefully it's worth it!
    Are you going to have to go back and redo all of that, or was this mainly a one time deal?
  • i may have to do a "booster" of the PRP at 6-8 weeks out, but the stem cell treatment should be a one time thing. 
  • GBCKGBCK member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I hope it works awesome
  • 6fsn6fsn member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Damn!  I hope this works. 
  • Your commentary is gold! 

    Please let me know how this works for you. If they have clinical trials for this process up here, I will ask my neurologist to be added to the list of patients (it's how I found out botox doesn't help, but I look years younger).
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