The progression of the MS symptoms hastened in the last 2 years before the treatment. Our goal with the stem cell treatment was to move back in time; to trudge through the muck and get to a better place. I wasn’t expecting to erase the disease. I just wanted to go back in time. I remember functioning better in 2007. Wouldn’t it be great to see those days again? Even better, what if I could go back to 2005? Or 2003?
According to the testimonies of other MS patients who had stem cell treatments, I was hoping to go back a couple years right away. As of today, I have gone back in time 6-8 months. That’s enough to know that I am no longer headed for a wheelchair. I am more certain that I’m headed to 2005. The stem cell treatment, diet, exercise, and supplements are my weapons in this daily battle. It takes time for nerves to repair and muscles to grow. One year from now, I will be a different woman.
Today, I still struggle. I still have to use my walker daily and my scooter from time to time. But I am getting out of the house without worry. I’m exercising! I am taking my kids out! I get out of bed in the morning with a smile – not an exhausted sigh. I believe that the stem cells have most definitely done their job in a tough environment. The disease had progressed so severely and it wasn’t easy to move back the clock.
If you see me out and about, know this: Yes, I still use my walker and I still drag my left foot sometimes. But I am tremendously better. I am headed down a different path.
If you are considering a treatment yourself, know this: The stem cells can’t do it alone. You need to change your lifestyle in order to help them do their job. Be ready to fight or don’t waste your money.
If you are one of the ones who said this doesn’t work, know this: Lifestyle change alone could not move me back in time. I tried it before. My body is experiencing a miracle.
I know we’re not supposed to live in the past. But for me it is so sweet to be able to visit it again. I set my eyes on the future knowing that it will bring me more of those visits.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Front Page News
Great exposure, Tennessean! Thank you! If you happened to have missed it, click HERE for the story!
What has been most overwhelming since the story ran are the people who have sent me emails and reached out to me on Facebook. I'm touched by all of them. I'm honored to be an inspiration and to be of any help to people out there who are just like me...struggling with a disease and not given hope by their doctors. There have been many emails and I'm going to reply to each and every one so be patient if you haven't heard from me yet.
There was also a huge amount of comments made on the story which sparked debate about stem cells in the US and also whether this treatment was viable at all. Honestly, it was hard to read some of them. Doubt and discouragement creep in so easily. Here is a sample:
Wow, I feel sorry for Dawn and her family, but I have to admit this is some pretty shoddy reporting by the Tennessean. Barely a mention of the fact that this is a complete scam lacking in any scientific validity, preying on the desires of dying patients for miracle cures to rob them of their life savings.
Agreed. This is a south of the border scam, ripoff, outright criminal fraud.
I hope that Tennessean will have a follow up report in 6-12 months. These things unfortunately do not work and if theoretically some stem cells survive, they still will be affected by autoimmune process. Clinic in Tijuana is richer by $30,000 and a lot of people are misled.
To those of you who wrote these comments, shame on you for attempting to crush my faith and the hopes of others reading this. Just a scam? Tell that to my tapping left foot.
My hopes were so huge that I truly thought I'd come home from the treatment and not need my walker anymore. I thought I'd hop off the operating room table and be ready to walk. Reality has set in and I realize that, as I stated in the article, it didn't pull me out of the deep hole, it gave me a ladder. I wasn't able to exercise at all pre-treatment and now I am. I was given the chance to work and get stronger. I will wake up every day for the rest of my life and have to face that challenge. That is my current reality. Without this stem cell treatment, my reality would have been a wheelchair.
Sure, there are bad guys out there who do con sick people and prey on their hopes. But not my clinic in Tijuana. There is no doubt in my mind that they truly want to help their patients. And there is no doubt in my mind that I will stand next to them in Heaven one day. They are truly good men.
To end this on a positive note -
Dear Dawn, You stick to your guns! You and John have entered a controversial area of medicine where people in the United States truly believe that the FDA and the AMA are the final authority in deciding what is best for the population here and their needs as far as medical drugs and medical treatments. When the doctors finally come to an MS patients and say, “there is nothing else I can do for you” what are your options? You can roll over and make believe that your life is over, you can wait and hope that in 10 to 15 years the FDA does approve stem cell treatments and you will still be around to get it or as you did, look for alternative medical procedures in other countries that allow these types of treatments and where many other people in your situation have benefitted from them. People need to look at the clinical trials that are happening all over the US using Adult Stem Cells. This treatment process works and you are living proof that life goes on and life gets better with faith, hope and a little help from your own stem cells!
Peter K. Sidorenko, Stem Cells for Hope
What has been most overwhelming since the story ran are the people who have sent me emails and reached out to me on Facebook. I'm touched by all of them. I'm honored to be an inspiration and to be of any help to people out there who are just like me...struggling with a disease and not given hope by their doctors. There have been many emails and I'm going to reply to each and every one so be patient if you haven't heard from me yet.
There was also a huge amount of comments made on the story which sparked debate about stem cells in the US and also whether this treatment was viable at all. Honestly, it was hard to read some of them. Doubt and discouragement creep in so easily. Here is a sample:
Wow, I feel sorry for Dawn and her family, but I have to admit this is some pretty shoddy reporting by the Tennessean. Barely a mention of the fact that this is a complete scam lacking in any scientific validity, preying on the desires of dying patients for miracle cures to rob them of their life savings.
Agreed. This is a south of the border scam, ripoff, outright criminal fraud.
I hope that Tennessean will have a follow up report in 6-12 months. These things unfortunately do not work and if theoretically some stem cells survive, they still will be affected by autoimmune process. Clinic in Tijuana is richer by $30,000 and a lot of people are misled.
To those of you who wrote these comments, shame on you for attempting to crush my faith and the hopes of others reading this. Just a scam? Tell that to my tapping left foot.
My hopes were so huge that I truly thought I'd come home from the treatment and not need my walker anymore. I thought I'd hop off the operating room table and be ready to walk. Reality has set in and I realize that, as I stated in the article, it didn't pull me out of the deep hole, it gave me a ladder. I wasn't able to exercise at all pre-treatment and now I am. I was given the chance to work and get stronger. I will wake up every day for the rest of my life and have to face that challenge. That is my current reality. Without this stem cell treatment, my reality would have been a wheelchair.
Sure, there are bad guys out there who do con sick people and prey on their hopes. But not my clinic in Tijuana. There is no doubt in my mind that they truly want to help their patients. And there is no doubt in my mind that I will stand next to them in Heaven one day. They are truly good men.
To end this on a positive note -
Dear Dawn, You stick to your guns! You and John have entered a controversial area of medicine where people in the United States truly believe that the FDA and the AMA are the final authority in deciding what is best for the population here and their needs as far as medical drugs and medical treatments. When the doctors finally come to an MS patients and say, “there is nothing else I can do for you” what are your options? You can roll over and make believe that your life is over, you can wait and hope that in 10 to 15 years the FDA does approve stem cell treatments and you will still be around to get it or as you did, look for alternative medical procedures in other countries that allow these types of treatments and where many other people in your situation have benefitted from them. People need to look at the clinical trials that are happening all over the US using Adult Stem Cells. This treatment process works and you are living proof that life goes on and life gets better with faith, hope and a little help from your own stem cells!
Peter K. Sidorenko, Stem Cells for Hope
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