Four month stem cell therapy patient update

We've got another great progress report! This one from Barbara Grinstead on her husband Bob. Thanks, Barbara and good luck Bob! I hope Barbara's list of chores that have been piling up the last few years isn't too long!


Dear Don Margolis, Jitra and TheraVitae,

My husband, Bob Grinstead, was the first private patient in the world to travel abroad for stem cell therapy by TheraVitae. This came to pass because our son-in-law, Mike McKenzie, was reading the November issue of Fortune magazine and read an article about a man in the US who had been part of a clinical trial for adult stem cell therapy and was progressing beautifully. This man was Bob's age and had an almost identical heart history and Mike thought, “That sounds just like my father-in-law." With that thought our adventure began.

We spent about two months researching stem cell therapy. Bob talked to Emory Hospital in Atlanta, read many articles, even called a doctor in Michigan that had preformed a similar procedure and then found TheraVitae on the Internet. After a family friend, who is involved in medical research, said that we were dealing with a valid company and very competent doctors we polled our four children and every one of us felt that we should go for it. We had decided at that point that all we had to lose was money and stood to gain a healthy Bob Grinstead once again.

At this time, I would like to fill you in on Bob's heart history. Two days before Christmas, in 1990, with no other warning other than he had diabetes Bob, age 55, had a massive heart attack and under went by-pass surgery. From that time on he went through twenty six heart catheterizations which included angioplasties, eight stents with multiple laser burn outs and nuclear isotopes, three minor heart attacks and a second by pass surgery followed by three medicated stents. In August of 2004, he was told that there was nothing else that could be done for him. He had reached the point where his congestive heart failure was so bad that a shower and shampoo made him take nitroglycerin.

We were accepted into the program by TheraVitae and our daughter, Darla, decided to go with us. So off to Thailand the three of us travel and the fairy tale began. From the time that our plane landed in Bangkok until we left to fly home, we were in awe of the treatment that we received. A reception committee was there to greet us and take us to a wonderful hotel. The hotel had five major restaurants, palm trees four stories high, boats to take us down the river and every amenity.

Bob was checked into the hospital and underwent the most thorough physical that he had ever experienced. Some of his medical records had not reached the doctors there so they even preformed a nuclear scan on him. Darla and I looked at each other and decided that we could not believe the extent to which they were going to make sure that the therapy was a success.

We had a few days to sight see and have a great chance to get to know and love Thailand and its kind people. We had never dreamed that we would see so many interesting things there: palaces, pagodas, temples, floating markets, chanting monks, rice fields, salt flats, hand carved teak factories, night markets, etc. What an added bonus to our trip.

We left Atlanta on March 1st and on March 10th his blood was drawn to be sent to Israel for extraction of specific stem cells and multiplication of these cells. Bob was back in the hospital on 17th, waiting for the stem cells to return. He underwent a painless insertion procedure just like all of the angioplasties that he had received in the US.

The hospital, Chaophya, could not have been cleaner or better equipped. The doctors and nurses could not have been nicer, more efficient or more knowledgeable. They spent a vast amount of time and effort keeping us informed and comfortable with all that was happening. The doctors really impressed us and we will be eternally grateful for all of their kindness towards us. We learned that the nurses had even been given classes in English so that they could converse with us. Just walking through the hospital was an experience as we were treated like royalty.

We returned home to Atlanta on the 20th of March. Four weeks later, Bob was out cleaning the garage which he had not felt like doing for years. We celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in June with all of our children, grandchildren and great grandchild here to enjoy it with us. I get excited when I hear Bob running up the stairs or doing other things that had taken so much effort before stem cell therapy.

We want to say a heartfelt thank you to all of the people at TheraVitae for making this truly an experience of a lifetime.

Sincerely, Barbara Grinstead

No case is typical. You should not expect to experience these results