Amazing Improvement In Macular Degeneration With Bone Marrow Stem Cells
Sam Smith has macular degeneration, worse in his right eye. When Sam had his eyes checked a couple of years ago, the doctor told him "this is something you need to keep watching." Keep watching? Sam didn't want to just keep "watching";, he wanted to do something about it! When asked the first signs of any problem, he said, "I was on the Metro Link reading, and when I closed my left eye the book disappeared. I'm a painter and a sculptor. I do all of it - I have a jewelry line, design houses, furniture, and I use computers for graphics, literally everything from little three-quarter inch jewelry pieces up to houses."
When Sam heard about how he could use his own bone marrow stem cells he was very excited. So in February 2007 Sam had the OPTOS® test to document damage that might be seen in the macula. Then Sam had his bone marrow transplant. Within days Sam said he was telling his son, "Man I can't believe what's happened to the left eye, my sight is now as good as it has ever been." Sam told us "In the right eye, I can tell a difference as well, even though we don't see as much improvement on the second OPTOS® photo that was taken."
At one point during this journey Sam talked to an ophthalmologist who couldn't believe Sam ever even had macular degeneration. But when Sam described the symptoms, explaining how the lines on print actually had a wave through them, above and below the center point,the doctor concurred that he did, indeed, have macular degeneration (or should we say "had"?).
Sam during his procedure
In April 2007 Sam repeated the OPTOS® and the improvement was amazing. Sam will tell you that with his right eye he could tell within 10 days that there had been improvement and, as he puts it, "that blew me away." But then, when Dr. Steenblock looked at my left eye photos taken in April, Sam says Dr. Steenblock said, "WOW- okay, this is obvious". Sam told Dr. Steenblock how the "hard edge" of the degeneration was going away, and it was turning into a more gray fuzzy pattern. Sam feels that his healing was starting more on the outside rim of the degenerated area and was working its way in.
Sam will be repeating the bone marrow stem cells if needed after he gives it more time to see if there will be even more healing. In the meantime, Sam has learned to take better care of his eyes. He's wearing glare protection now. Sam and his wife live in the high desert where the sun can get really intense. He told us that he has a pretty good diet overall. He said Dr. Steenblock recommended that he temporarily halt taking the vitamins he'd been taking for about a month (so that nothing interfered with the stem cells doing their work). He also told him to quit drinking alcohol. Sam said he was only having one glass of wine at night but doesn't even want to do that any more.
Sam said that everyone that knows him is still blown away with the results. They ask "how's it going?" Sam tells them, "it's being healed." One of Sam's friends said, "this is the medicine of the future - that"s here right now." We all agree.
OPTOS® images of Sam's Left Retina - Before and After
These two photos are of Sam's left retina. They have been enlarged and made black and white to clearly show "before" his procedure, and then on the right is "after". Note the optic disk - this is where the nerves and blood vessels come out from the brain. The circled area in each photo is the macula which is the central point of vision in the retina. The white spots on the macula are Drusen, which are abnormal deposits of protein-like material and indicate damage that has been done. Drusen shouldn't be there. Sam has early macular degeneration, which is the ideal time for this potentially beneficial therapy, before further damage may occur. Note the amazing improvement in the Drusen after Sam's bone marrow procedure! Of course the most exciting thing Sam will tell you, is the improvement in his vision!
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