2nd Regenexx Experience to treat Avascular Necrosis (AVN) & arthritic hip-Marrow Draw

[Josh]

It has now been 2 weeks since my bone marrow derived mesenchymal adult stem cell re-injection into my left hip. The procedure consisted of 4 or 5 injections (I'm not sure the exact # because I was under anesthesia). Regenexx was able to grow more than enough cells needed to treat my hip. Therefore, Dr. Schultz put the maximum amount of cells into my hip-40 million and the remaining, extra, cells are now frozen for future use. 30 million were injected into my actual hip bone to stop the progression of the avascular necrosis (AVN) and 10 million were put in the joint space to regenerate cartlidge. I can honestly say that I'm not experiencing much pain from the procedure and my hip is feeling better than it did before the procedure. However, I have been on crutches for the past two weeks and have not used my hip at all. I have to stay on crutches for 3 to 6 weeks because of the risk of fracture due to the large needle used to go into my bone to treat the AVN. I am told that it will take at least a month to feel the effects of the adult stem cells.

Barbara, if you are reading this I know you have been trying to get in touch with Dr. Schultz with Regenexx. I can honestly say that both Dr. Schultz and Dr. Centeno are very busy, but keep trying, Dr. Schultz is a nice guy and really cares about his patients. On the day of my procedure, Dr. Schultz was a busy person-back to back procedures. In addition to adult stem cell treatments, they also perform various other, more common, pain management procedures.

So far I only have good things to say about Regenexx and I think they are really on to something. I will post again in a couple of weeks.

Josh

[yorkere]

Hey, Josh! I'm glad to hear you decided to go for it; I hope you have huge success!

Please keep the postings up; can you provide some information regarding the current costs? When I was trying to be accepted for my shoulder several months ago, I was advised by them that the cost would be ~7k...

Robert

[barbara]

Josh - I am sending you good wishes. Dr. Schultz and I have been in touch. He is the host of this month's Ask the Doctor, so watch for the Q and A's at the end of the month.

[Josh]

Originally Posted by yorkere

Hey, Josh! I'm glad to hear you decided to go for it; I hope you have huge success!

Please keep the postings up; can you provide some information regarding the current costs? When I was trying to be accepted for my shoulder several months ago, I was advised by them that the cost would be ~7k...

Robert

The cost for the Regenexx Procedure which includes the marrow draw, blood draw, growing the cells and the re-injection into the joint is $7000. If anesthesia is needed, the cost goes up a couple thousand due to the extra cost of doing the procedure at an outpatient surgical center near the CentenoSchultz Clinic. If they are able to grow more cells than needed for the procedure, the patient has the option of banking them for an annual fee of $250, for future use, or the patient can opt to dispose the cells.

Josh

[pink7]

Best Wishes to you. I hope this treatment will work for you.

pink7

[barbara]

Hi Josh - I was wondering if you could update us on how you are doing. Thanks.

[Josh]

It has now been approximately 2 months since my autologous mesenchymal adult stem cell (Regenexx) treatment for my left hip. I had approximately 30 million cells injected into my hip joint itself, to stop the AVN, and 10 million injected into the joint space to hopefully regenerate cartlidge. I was on crutches for six weeks after the procedure and now no longer need them. I now have considerably less hip pain and I was told it could take up to 3 months to feel the final outcome. Going into this, I was in quite a bit of pain so I was not expecting to have all the pain disappear from just one procedure. I can honestly say the pain is about 60% gone at this point.

Also, I still have cells left over that were frozen in the Regenexx lab. Therefore, I can opt to have more injected if I choose to, which is a real possibility for me. In 4 to 5 months I will have an MRI done to see if the procedure has stoped the progression of the AVN. If it did, I will probably have the rest of my cells injected into the joint space of my hip to grow more cartlidge. I will post the results of that MRI. If anyone has questions feel free to post them or contact me via email.

Josh

[vince]

Hi Josh,

I also suffer AVN for over 13 years, and am considering going there for a try. Do you mind sharing your experience with me? Like how do you feel after more than half a year now? is it recovering well? Do you think it is worth it spending $10K on this treatment?

Thank you very much.

Vince