Clara Chestnut On The Comeback Trail

Stem Cell Guy is on a high (but not on drugs). Stem Cell Guy has been given the green light to keep on blogging. Like LeBron James vs. the Detroit Pistons, Stem Cell Guy is taking it to the hoop. Nobody, and I mean nobody is going to stop the Stem Cell Guy from blogging about his favorite topic- adult stem cell therapy for heart disease. Despite calls from the embryonic stem cell guys to shut down this blog (and more often- calls from my boss), I will ignore them and continue my work.

Today, I have a story about Clara Chestnut, a lovely woman who came to Bangkok for her adult stem cell treatment for her heart. As usual I'll shut up and let you read the rest--

Keep in mind, most of these patients I post about are real people and you can request their phone numbers and emails and I will be happy to provide them for you. Just email me at stemcellguy@theravitae.com


SUMMARY: She ought to be dead, but adult stem cell therapy has ensured a California woman with Cardiomyopathy continues to live an active life without any further deterioration to her damaged heart.

BANGKOK, Thailand, 2 May 2007 – Clara Chestnut from California has just become one of only a handful who have received her second treatment of adult stem cells for her failing heart. “I’ve been going downhill since 2000, with every year more of my heart being dead,” she said. “But after my first treatment in April 2006 my cardiologists have done a huge attitude shift and now recognize that ‘No change’ is a certificate of my wellbeing. Staying the same is terrific, so if it takes coming back every year I will do that.”

Like many heart patients Clara had experienced several heart attacks without knowing what they were. Her doctor concurred that at 59 the pains she experienced were probably arthritis, so she started carrying her purse on the other arm, but it made no difference. Then in 2000 she had two major heart attacks and started on the downhill slide. Specialists gave her 30days to live without a bypass and also told her she probably would not survive the surgery.

Clara got mad and searched until she found someone who could help her. “I wasn’t ready to die, and I knew that someone, somewhere, knew more than those people,” she said. Her new doctor gave her the first of seven stents and she felt “wonderful”. She read about singer Don Ho and his success story with stem cells, so did her research and in the face of her doctors’ opposition went to Bangkok in the care of TheraVitae, a leading international biotechnology company whose product, VesCell, has now helped hundreds of heart failure and PAD patients. “I was most impressed with the professionalism of the doctors and the nursing staff. Everything went fine and the following February I returned to my specialist for a cardiogram. He told me nothing had changed, so I asked him ‘Would you go back to Bangkok if you were me?’ He said that he would, but that I didn’t have to leave the next morning! That is an enormous attitude change.”

People looking for hope and help, who want to feel better and be more active, are the most outspoken advocates of adult stem cell therapy. “I listen to myself and I feel anybody with any sense would listen to themselves and know it’s something they should do. They know how they are feeling. They know how wonderful it would be to feel better. I don’t see why anybody would be reluctant,” she said.