Before. During. After. 18 Months of Stem Cells.

This took 2 years and to me this is one of the most important videos, if not the most important video that I've ever produced. She's had a very complicated stem cell procedure done and when we were researching stem cells, we couldn't find any video that went into the depth that we're about to go into before you had the procedure, during we're going into the hospital room, the operating room, while you're actually still under anesthesia. >> that. >> Okay, so we did facet joint injections, which as you can see on this model here, is this joint right here. So, we actually did all these from L2 down to L5S1 because they're so arthritic. Hers look like this, they're grinding bone on bone. Put a needle in that space, expanded it and cushioned the cartilage in there and give a scaffolding to rebuild on. Then we did an SI joint injection because yours has a large gap there. It was definitely loose. That needle popped right in. And when I started injecting, I didn't even put pressure and you were like, "Oh, that's my pain." >> And then now afterwards, it's been almost 2 years. I think I thought it was more than that. And we're going to lay out this entire thing for you guys and the reason why I think this is the most important thing because I know that this video is going to hopefully change some lives. It's the type of information we hunted and searched for and could not find and we're going to bring you this right now. So, let's just get into this one. >> Here's the needle coming in right up. Yeah, beautiful. Right there, that's the rotator cuff tendon and that's where she's been having the most pain and so it perfectly matches up with the pathology. Now here you'll see the patch is over the rotator cuff as I go to the insertion or footprint of where the where the tendon inserts on the bone there and then going up to the surface of the tendon right over this nice tear there. So, that's going to be our patch of stem cells right there, this whole black. >> I can see that. >> Yeah, I know. It's It's It's not subtle. >> I don't even know what I'm looking at and I'm like, "That wasn't there a second ago." >> Yeah, I don't know why more doctors aren't proficient and expertise don't have expertise in ultrasound, but it once you learn it, it's very evident what you're looking at. The hard part is we don't have a good training program for doctors to learn this kind of stuff. You really have to do it. All right, guys. We are in the actual operating room with my wife on the table. She's just completed the surgery and this is going to be one of the longer videos that I've done. I'm simply because we have been doing a lot of research on stem cells and when we were doing research on stem cells and trying to find the right information, what we were finding out there just left us with more questions than answers. And so, we're going to take you along for the ride today. We're traveling from Minnesota to Utah where we're going to do a bone marrow transplant using my wife's own bone marrow to fix her hip, her hand, which is now bone on bone, her shoulder, which was bone on bone, and we're going to take you guys along for the ride and try to answer all of the questions that her and I had when we were doing the research. You're going to get to meet the doctor. You're going to get to meet You're going to get to to see exactly what happens as it happens. And then, we're going to wrap this video up with showing the the process of how she's recovering and getting the feedback. Is this good, bad, or in between? We're going to let you guys know as we learn and go. So, sit back. If you had questions, were thinking about doing this, or if you have back pain and we're going to get a fusion, don't until you see this because there's a lot of uh lot of information in today's video. >> But, this is a special stem cell system as well. This is no ordinary system. >> Right. Right. Right. >> Cuz what he does is not done nowhere else in the world. >> It's amazing. >> And you had your spine done? >> Mhm. >> You had your shoulder done. >> Mhm. >> You were bone on bone in your spine. >> Mhm. >> Bone on bone in your shoulder. >> Mhm. >> Bone on bone in one or two of your hands. >> Both my hands. >> And her hip. This girl right here would sit up on the edge of the bed and start bawling because she couldn't even walk to go to the bathroom. And then >> place. >> You went to the doctor and this is when I jumped in and said enough is enough is enough. The last time you would went to the doctor before we went in for this procedure, what would What did they say to you about being incontinent? What was it? >> They they would ask me if I'm still continent. >> What did that mean? >> Am I still able to pee on my own without peeing myself or crapping myself? >> And you came back from that >> me. That scared me. >> And you basically didn't think you were going to be around anymore. >> No. >> You you when you say you went to a dark place, you would >> That's really dark place. Yeah. >> You really thought that you were had just months basically left. I mean, is that right or am I wrong? Am I jumping going overboard? >> No, I just didn't even care anymore. You just You get in so much pain and um nothing's working and >> No hope? >> Yeah, you lose it. >> You no hope. And this is This is going through medical procedure after medical procedure until I jumped in because my buddy Greg Whitstock, the pond guy, his wife was facing a catastrophic situation as well and she had was doing the stem cells and that's when we decided we are going to do this. We said We said screw you to all the doctors, to our entire family, cuz every single one of them wanted her to just listen to what the doctor said, and and we said, "No. And we're not doing this." Your pain level, to put this in perspective, on a scale of 1 to 10 for your spine, was about a what? >> When I was in pain? Probably like an 8 9. I just couldn't get out of bed. I'd just cry. Yeah. >> And 18 months later, where where's your back now? It was an 8 out of 10 then, where is it now? >> A what? Yeah, probably a 1 to 2. >> A 1 to 2 on average. >> Yeah. Like I can do stuff. >> And then your shoulder? >> I can move. Yeah. Well, my shoulder still bugs me a little bit, you know. Like probably a 2. >> 2, okay. And how how's the hip doing? >> Still bugs me sometimes, but I would say it's a 2, sometimes maybe a 3, but more likely a 2. >> Okay. And then the hands, how are those? >> They still hurt, too, but I'd say probably a 2 out of 10. >> And so let's let's dive >> I do now? >> Okay. But >> I do now different? I can move. I can I can go to the gym. I can lift weights. I can I can live. I can pee. I can get up out of the bed and not cry. I can Well, gardening still it's tough on the back, but it I can do it. I want everyone to do it, cuz yeah. >> We want everybody want everybody to >> Yeah. >> to be able to live, basically. I mean, when it boils down to it, that's all we want. That's the point of this video. >> They saved my life. >> You saved your the doctors >> He saved my life. >> He saved your life. >> You saved my life, too. >> Cuz I'm the one that said, "We're not listening to all >> You brought me. >> I made you. >> You must love me. >> I do. All right. So, today's treatment is costing us $19,900. And this guy's been pretty good so far. Honestly, he's been his communication's been phenomenal. And he said, "Hey, we got it we may have to do more. It may take longer, but don't worry. I'm not going to charge you more. It's He just wants to be very thorough." And when you actually look up, like she did all the research, looked up his history, where he came from, what his hobbies are. It's a little stalkerish. >> Yeah, well. >> But I don't blame her. Okay, so this is the place. Alpine Spine and Orthopedics in Orem Institute regenerative medicine, stem cell therapies. Oh, he does say stem cells on it. Brain, spine, nerve, and pain, sports medicine, orthopedics, arthritis. And I hope if you guys come here on your own after seeing this that it works for you. That's all right, guys. This is the doctor. Thanks. He says he's camera shy and a nerd at heart, but one of the things I really want to find out is, you know, I want to dispel the myth. Like so it says stem cells and you can actually do stem cells in the United States? >> Absolutely, yeah. You can use your own cells. Here, I'll turn this TV off just so you're aware. >> Okay. >> So yeah, you can use your own cells and there's many different types of stem cells. And so today, because of all the orthopedic and joint injuries, we're going to be using stem cells that come from the bone marrow. Those cells include mesenchymal stem cells that are already primed to repair orthopedic type tissues. So that can include cartilage, ligament, tendon, muscle, bone, and that's what they do even through your entire life. They're very good at repairing your your tissues. >> Okay, so you're going to pull it out of her stem out of her bone and put it into her back. Now you use Now if I understand this correct, you use kind of a special like a gel or something. >> Yeah, so it's like a matrix that's a sticky matrix that helps hold the stem cells to the injury site. And that's really important number one because stem cells like to be bound, they don't like to just float around in solution. Even in the lab when I cultured them, if you let them float around, they just kind of disintegrate. They They undergo a programmed cell death called anoikis. And then secondly, uh by sticking them to the injury site, you ensure that you get maximal tissue repair locally at the injury. And then number three, by rebuilding some sort of scaffolding there, it helps the tissues to have something to build on and not just be cells by themselves. >> do you mean by scaffolding? >> Yeah, scaffolding. So So, the future of all tissue engineering, whether it's orthopedic or neural tissue engineering or any of those things, you need not only the cell component, you need something that guides the tissue formation. >> Uh-huh. >> And that includes an extracellular matrix, and in this case scaffolding. Now, there are ways of doing it with artificial biomaterials or synthetic polymers, but in this case we're using a biologically derived polymer, which is fibrin that forms a tissue scaffolding that the stem cells are very good at migrating through and rebuilding tissue structures. >> So, it basically concentrates the stem cells where they need to be instead of instead of letting them just run all over higgledy-piggledy. >> Exactly, yeah. >> Okay. But some of them do get loose, right? And and they're it's not bad for them to get loose because they're just going to make you feel better. >> Yeah, it's fine to let them like even at the end of the procedure, we can still do an IV infusion of whatever cells are left over. They tend to stick to inflammatory sites, and so it's good to just get them systemically. I'm fine with that. But when you have very specific tissue injuries that are visible on the MRI, you really want to patch those injuries directly. And so, that's what I do with image guidance. >> Huh. Okay. Yeah, see he says it a lot better than I say it. >> [laughter] >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, one of the things I forgot to ask the the doc is um and I forgot your name. I'm sorry. What's your name? >> Oh, yeah. Dr. McMurtry. >> Dr. McMurtry. Okay. And this is your clinic, right, doc? >> This is, yeah. >> Oh, okay. Okay. Um is anybody else using that that gel-like substance you were describing? >> I'm sure there are people who have or thought have you know, I'm sure there's some people somewhere. I'm not really sure who is or isn't doing it, but I highly doubt people can do it to the level that I do it because I spent a lot of years doing research at Oxford, number one university in the world, and I'm one of the only surgeons who also trained in stem cells and did lab work and figured out all the protocols for growing stem cells. I was the first one to grow 3D neural tissues and show how to guide neuron guidance through 3D tissues and um figured out protocols for differentiating those stem cells. I took you know, cells like skin cells, white blood cells, and genetically reprogrammed them from a patient who had spinal cord injuries or stroke or other neural injuries and use that to rebe rebuild 3D tissues. And so, um there's very few people who have both surgical skill set and the stem cell skill set and the tissue engineering skill set to figure out the best protocols for each type of injury. And uh it would take a lot of years of work to catch up to me. >> [laughter] >> So, maybe they can try to copy me or say that they can do it, but uh I I I don't know. It It takes a lot of years of work to get to that point. >> And that's why we're here. Cuz she She has done so much research on you. >> Oh, okay. >> Oh, yeah. >> I liked him the best. >> Oh, yes. I tell you, I knew every accolade. I knew how long you've been doing this. I knew what you were skilled in. And I'm a dirt digger. So, I have no clue what she's saying. But I nod my head and I'm like, "Yes, dear. Okay, honey." >> And I showed you and you're like, "Oh, okay. I've no idea what that says." >> [laughter] >> Yeah. [snorts] >> Yeah. And I'm still trying to be on the cutting edge, too. Like, if you know, every week I get updates on articles that are published, I try to keep up to date with the latest and greatest. And if something new comes out tonight, I can implement it tomorrow. And really try to stay at the forefront of how do we get cells to do what we want them to do? How do we best reconstruct tissues? How do we best repair injuries? And so, there's a lot more work coming down the line, as well, that'll be really, really cool. And um you know, >> Yeah, it was so much working with you. Just I mean, this is our first time ever meeting, but she reached out to other stem cell places. And it was just like, we kind of felt like we're going into a a car dealership with some of them other places in the other land. You knew the person you were communicating with had no clue what they were doing. >> Yeah. >> You know what I mean? >> And And it's I mean, it is exhausting for me cuz I basically answer emails all night long. >> Yeah, we we noticed that. Even on Sunday. [laughter] >> Even on the weekend. >> a full shift and I get a 1:00 email from you and I'm like, [laughter] "Oh, he's up, too." >> Yeah. And so, I can understand, but I really want to be That's the other thing, too. I take each case personally and I want to be involved from step one all the way to the finish because you You to be meticulous and you can't miss things, and you really have to look at the imaging. You have to analyze and figure out the best treatment plan. Everybody's unique. Everybody's complex. And it's really easy to just gloss over and say that you're doing stem cell treatments and really not be addressing the underlying issues. >> Mhm. >> And if you really want to get the best treatment, you need to be very thorough, very meticulous, very detailed. And >> So, let's talk about the treatment. So, when I was looking at some of the other places like Ronnie Coleman, like the world-famous IFBB bodybuilder, he's gone back time and time again. He's like, "Well, I'm here. I'm going back in 6 months." How And that set off a red flag. Like, how many treatments do you need to go cuz there is no insurance that covers this? >> All right. So, I want to jump in here. One of the questions was, "How many procedures do you have to do? How many procedures have you done with him?" >> One. >> One procedure in 18 months? >> Although I bugged him. I I did have I I >> She bugged him cuz I made her bug him. I'm behind the scenes going, "Let's go back in. Let's go back in. Let's go back in." Because it didn't happen right away. >> No. No, it it happened slow, but then I did something, and then my back went out, and so I was having a flare. Hate that word. >> Yep. >> And then I couldn't walk. And so there I am, Dr. McCartny. "What do I do? I can't walk." Blah blah blah. And he said, "It's probably a trigger point. If you're right around the corner, come in. I'd fix it for you." He really doesn't know anybody in our state that could help me in the way that he does. So, um I kind of just suffered through it, but instead of lasting a week to 2 weeks of not being able to walk and crying and >> Mhm. >> whatever, being a spaz. Um it was like a couple days, 2 3 days, and it started easing up. And I'm like, "Woah, this is I can do this." >> the journey? How long did it take before you really started to go "Holy crap. This is actually working." What did you notice? Give these guys an example of if they do something like this. >> were ending. Like I I could do more. Uh he does he did recommend I wear like a hip brace to cuz I have an unstable hip over here. It's just a genetic thing or whatever. But um I do that at work or if I'm going to do some kind of heavier lifting that could do my hips more. Um that helped. Really did. Helped stabilize me. >> But how about a timeline for these guys? Like >> I probably had two flares. >> Okay. >> I had flares anytime I did something. I mean and then I'd I'd be down for a week or two. I was worthless. >> So and then even after the fact we were both pressuring her cuz I wanted to go back in. I was doing it He told us 6 months. And at 6 months you were >> told me that. That's what helped. He's like you got to wait it out. It's got to take time. Right. >> Yep, 6 months is where he said and then if you're not better by 6 months then he'll look at doing it. So I'm here on the side pushing both of you guys. Like let's just go back in because I seen it was getting better but you weren't good yet. >> Right. >> And he held back. >> He's smart. >> And you held back. He's not here to spend your money. And and >> No, I wouldn't say I wouldn't >> We paid full price. He didn't know who we were out from Adam. >> He's a little worried about the whole video of thing. >> Yeah, he just let us do the video. He didn't know I was going to do this. He had no clue. >> guy. >> Yeah, he is a pheno- he is a phenomenal guy. And I didn't want to jump in making this video because if we ever did need help again >> I know. I don't want to wait in line. >> want to wait in line. [laughter] But if it's going to help you guys then it's absolutely worth it. >> do it. >> Yeah, you should do it. You should look at it before you get your spine fused. Before you go in from for some life-altering decision that they're telling you there's no other option. >> He was a trauma spinal surgeon so he he knows. He knows what he's doing. >> Yeah. What is this? So, well, you know, when you think about stem cells, like it's all out of pocket. How many treatments would I mean, if she's a complicated case, so >> Yeah. Yeah, if you've had like if you have either um you know, uh exposures like for example, repeated steroid dosing that has weakened and disintegrated cartilage. Or if you have…