I arrived home March 24. My family and some media met me at the airport in Kansas City. Today is April 5. I knew the results from the OEG (olfactory ensheathing glia) cell transplant I received in China would be much more effective after I arrived home.
I have a device implanted in my abdomen called a Baclofen pump. It gives a continuous infusion of Baclofen, a muscle relaxant that, when injected directly into the spinal canal, can alleviate muscle spasms and pain.
I have had bad muscle spasms in the lower part of my body since the injury. I knew that I had to get home and have the pump turned down to be able to notice the real effects of the surgery. The muscle relaxant hinders the strength I am regaining in my abdomen and legs. Since I returned home, I have had it turned down twice, and the spasms have not taken over like they would have before.
This is a positive improvement, which can only be attributed to the cell transplant. There is a list of improvements that have occurred since the surgery: my breathing and lung function is 20 percent better; I can now move muscles in my legs and abdomen that I could not move before; I have started to sweat below the area of my injury; I can move my legs from side to side with no assistance and almost do a sit-up by myself; and my hamstrings, quadriceps, knee flexors, hip flexors, abductors, and inductors are getting stronger daily.
I had my pump turned down halfway on Tuesday and that evening could feel a strange tingling sensation in my toes and was able to move them and flex my ankle a little. I can feel my bowels and internal organs that I could not feel before, and they are working better. I believe that when I am able to turn the pump off completely, my muscle strength and sensation will continue to improve.
The doctors in China told me that the results would continue to improve over 12 to 18 months because it takes time for the axons in the spinal cord to bridge the damaged area and make new connections. I feel as though I got my money's worth from the spinal cord surgery. I am hoping with intensive therapy that within a year I may be able to walk again. It will take a lot of work and therapy.
I have been impatient in the past and want results right now, but you have to figure that an infant has its spinal cord intact and still takes a year before it can walk, so I have decided to look at it with that approach. It is difficult trying to move muscles that have not been used for so long. In therapy you literally have to focus on the muscles you are trying to move and concentrate with all your might to get them to move.
Another thing that is difficult is thinking about moving them while you do your everyday tasks. While transferring or moving from one location to another, I usually pick up my legs and swing them where I want them to go. Now I have to make a conscious effort to focus on making my limbs help with the motion to get used to moving them again. I have faith it will happen and the determination to do so.
The ALS patients in China were especially astonishing. The OEG cells injected into their brains stops the illness dead in its tracks. I saw two people who could not walk before moving down the hallways with some assistance. Patients who could not talk clearly were speaking better and improving.
If anyone would like more information on the surgery and getting help, I have listed the hospital's contact person in the United States who schedules the procedures and can give you information. Before I left, the waiting list was until September. After I arrived, it was the first of January 2006. Now because of the media coverage I understand that they are booked up through 2007. With all this publicity and the demand for the procedure, I hope other doctors there will start performing the surgery and that it can be expanded to other hospitals and facilities.
I had my doubts about this surgery until I found out that it had been proven to work in animals and I would be receiving the same therapy. All I can say is the results speak for themselves.
PERSONAL STATEMENT (APRIL 17th, 2004)
My name is David Landewee. In September of 1995 I was in a car accident that left me paralyzed from the chest down, (T4). At first I was depressed and did not know what life had in store for me and how I would cope with my injury. My injury occurred shortly after Christopher Reeve had his accident.
When I was in the rehabilitation hospital in Kansas City, I watched a news program that showed the progress researchers were making towards curing spinal cord injuries. It was then that I decided that I would do whatever it took to make sure that I was a candidate for the procedure someday when it was available. I went to Rutgers University the following year to visit with Dr.Wise Young and see what research he was doing and how he had his rats walking again. I was very impressed and I knew it would only be a matter of time before the procedure would be available to help me walk again. Unfortunately, scientists and researchers have to get FDA approval from our government to perform such a procedure. Everytime I asked how long it would be until trial would begin people kept telling me five more years. I got tired of hearing 5 more years.
Last year, I heard that Dr. Huang was performing this procedure in China so I investigated it and found it to be true. I signed up for the procedure as quickly as possible. I traveled to Beijing in February of 2005 and Dr. Huang performed the surgery on me on March 4th of 2005.
A few days after surgery I was getting sensation and movement in areas I did not have before. I was excited and amazed. I was the first person Dr. Huang operated on that had an in-dwelling baclofen pump that gives a constant infusion of a muscle relaxer directly into the spinal cord because I had bad spasms before and this controlled them. Unfortunately it has also hindered my progress because it is like having an anesthetic called a spinal which relaxes the muscles and numbs the nerves.
After I returned home I started rigorous physical therapy and have been turning down the pump over the last 6 months. Every time it gets turned down I get more sensation and muscle strength back. I am now walking short distances with braces and a walker. My doctors here do not know what to say. I believe patients should know that this therapy which regenerates the nerves in the spinal cord is not a magic bullet nor should they expect to walk home after the surgery. It takes a lot of work and determination to get back what you have lost. I have muscles I have not used in 10 years and are slowly coming back to life. It has taken much work on my part to strengthen them back to the point where I can use them again. I cannot tell a difference day to day but I can look back week to week, month to month and see much improvement. For every gram of strength I get back I believe I sweat a liter.
The doctors and staff at the hospital were very good to me and I could not have asked to be treated any better. I miss them and that is the reason I stay in touch and am going back to visit. If Dr. Huang feels that doing the surgery again would help me gain additional movement and sensation, I would not hesitate to have it done again. It gives myself and others so much joy and inspiration to see my progress and it makes you want it that much more everytime something starts to work again or you feel a new sensation that was not there before. I am indebted to Dr. Huang and his staff for their help and fully support what they are doing to help people with spinal cord injuries, ALS, and other ailments of the brain and spinal cord. I believe with the advancements they are making and the therapy they offer is going to get better as time goes on.
