Bad Knees Blog - take 25

Bad Knees Blog- take 25

This will be the final regular blog entry for Bad Knees, at least until and if something monumental happens. As it stands, my knee is doing well. I'm not 100%, but I'm dramatically better than I was six months ago. In fact, I was going to Pittsburgh next week for my six-month visit with Dr. Lieber, and I realized there was no point. I think I'm doing slightly better than two months ago, but I have no empirical evidence for why the knee is better, and the good doctor will simply confirm that I'm doing well. Recent news has noted the loose nature of stem cell therapy in this country, and it looks like clinics are going to be more strictly regulated in the future. I approve. My concern is that I have undergone a collection of therapies simultaneously, and I can't say for certain that one is responsible for the change or has been more effective than the others. On one level, that's fine. I'm doing well, and I hope to be doing even better over the next year. On another, I'd like to have a clearer picture, literally, of what's going on inside my knee, and that isn't part of the program at Regenexx.

My daughter recently suggested that, because my untreated left knee isn't improving as I continue to do physical therapy and take supplements, the fairly dramatic improvement on my right is likely due to the treatments. She has something there, but the treatments included enriched platelets, prolotherary, and the stem cell injections as well as my unloader brace. Is it the cocktail or some part or parts of the treatment that has been most effective?

My wife asked me if I would have the left knee done. For now, I can't say I will. First, my left knee is not great, but it's far from as painful as the right was last year, so push hasn't come to shove just yet. I hope to find out more about what has happened inside my right knee. I think Regenexx has a responsibility to follow up on its treatments and to establish a clear cause and effect relationship between its treatments and patient outcomes, but that hasn't happened yet.

So, I am, as always, a skeptic, but a skeptic who can sleep and walk with far less pain than before. I'm happy with that outcome, whatever the cause, and I hope to get even better with time. I've also enjoyed writing this blog and talking to people who, like me, struggle with severe osteoarthritis. That said, I close with this admittedly unsatisfying conclusion. I'll tack on a post or two if something big happens or if I finally get that empirical yes or no, and I'll certainly send out a one-year update next March, but for now, I wish you all the best.

Be good and be happy.

Ralph