What would u guys do?

I have a question for you, I had bypass in Aug, had an ef of 14% three weeks after surgery ef went to20%, they said i had damaged half my heart due to possible heart attacks before hand, now with pm/defib medication changes ef now is at 24% I have been studying stem cell on the internet and have found a place that is doing a clincal study with stem cells taken from your own body and injected into the dead muscle of the heart, same procedure they are doing in tialand and other places. My question is my cardioligist suggested to my wife after my pacer surgery that sooner or later i would probably have the need of a heart transplant and hopefully he said that maybe they would have stem cell going by then, now the last visit i had which was last week i had given him all the paper work from the clinc which is doing it, he said none of the tests would hurt me to do, but i was holding my own and he thought maybe he wouldnt do it, but then says it wouldnt hurt anything to check it out and talk to them, I had been all fired up about this and i do know that any procedure is risky and expecially a clincal trial, but now i have mixed feelings I want to do it as sooner or later i dont want to think about, but on the other hand they seem to be (doctor) seems to keep going all over the place. I understand that my ef has gotten better by 8% since surgery and meds but Im leaning to doing it but im running out of time they are only taking 10 people, and if i wait for the next study i run the risk of getting into a placbebo group and really will not go thru all the tests they have to do just to get a placebo. i know it is utimately my and my wifes choice but Im curious what u would do.
Thanks for any input
dave

4 Comments

Hmmm,

by Bionic Beat - 2009-01-15 03:01:40

As you've stated, your heart is getting better on it's own.

Your doctor says that you're holding your own, ie doing reasonably well given whatever circumstances you're dealing with.......

I'm not dispensing medical advice either, just my pov with the limited knowledge from your post.

Hearts are known to 'remodel' themselves, not always but frequently.

I wouldn't be putting myself into any experimental treatment if my heart was showing signs of self-healing.

Seems like you're getting better, slowly but at a reasonable rate.......nature can be wonderful/dreadful, sometimes at the same time.

Best wishes,


Bionic Beat

tough call

by Tracey_E - 2009-01-15 07:01:15

If you're holding your own, I'd probably let well enough alone. Clinical trials scare me and personally I'd only consider it as a last resort. But that's just me. ;o)

Is the trial here or abroad?

stem cell

by verger - 2009-01-15 10:01:16

i find myself in the same position as you, 1/2 heart damaged, and not getting better anytime soon.
also i was advised for a transplant, but for certain circumstances i decided it probably wouldn't be worth all the trouble.
and i've read and read as much as i could get my hands on about this stem cell research. for me, it's the last real option available for improvement, i have already given my name for consideration in an upcoming clinical trial. there are quite a few of them out there. the 2 major players i've found are vesscell(thailand) and Bioheart(US). if i had the money i'd jump on the first plane to thailand which is backed by an international consortium.
after much searching i found another major US clinical trial at some university in texas (can't recall the name)
and out of all the results in the trials, i found only good results.
my advice to you is get searching on the internet and you will find all the info that you need. you'll also be amazed in how many countries this procedure is being performed, too bad that the US got bogged down with
moral dilemmas with the research.

i'm actually surprised how few doctors have heard of this, i've even asked cardiologists who had never heard of it. unbelievable
good luck in your choice

feeling

by walkerd - 2009-01-17 04:01:10

Darn patch I thought allright as soon as I saw you would support me, shouldnt have read the rest lol. Ok doing anything little excertion I guess things I used to take for granted I get short of breath, my blood pressure runs high then back down, doc will not let me work so I lost my good paying job and now the economy is in a hole, am taking eleven pills a day, and take well have so far blood tests every 3 months like I said so far to check medication effects on some of my organs which all the sixteen page warning papers with all the meds have side effects on rest of body organs so what am i doing to the rest of my body to help my heart, still get light headed once in awhile not as bad as before. They tell me my heart is still laboring to supply blood ie the damage, I dont really feel real bad. Thats why Im not sure what to do, Its at Northwestern in Chicago so its not at some fly by the night clinc. The stem cell they use out of your body is the same as the hospitals in Tialand and other places do now. I just dont know what to do. I guess one way to look at this is if im questioning it so much maybe I shouldnt do it, but on the other hand, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr think Ill go fishing and think about it.

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