Bad Knees Blog - take 26: Empirical Evidence?

The Stem Cell Clinic in Pittsburgh has continued to send me questionnaires about the condition of my knee to, I assume, keep track of the progress of the procedure. First, I have to say that it has been nothing short of remarkable. As the good Dr. Lieber reminds me regularly, I'll never have the knees of a 21 year-old, but I can say that the difference between the before and after is dramatic. A year ago I had trouble getting in an out of the car and the shower. I couldn't sleep for the pain. Stairs were a nightmare, and I would go into as supermarket worrying that the walk might be too much. It was that bad. To be blunt - my knee was shit.

Now, there is virtually no pain. Stairs are easy. The car and shower are no problem. I can sleep, etc. You get the picture. I noted that on the most recent questionnaire, but I also mentioned my frustration with the lack of clear empirical evidence that the improvement is the result of the stem cell treatment. After all, the process included prolotherapy, enriched platelets, the magical knee brace, supplements, and intensive physical therapy. As far as I'm concerned, any and all of these can explain the results. I also wanted to know if the therapy actually resulted in new growth in the knee. It's so early that the jury is still out.

A week after I completed the questionnaire I got a call from Dr. Lieber. He said that they usually did a before and after x-ray of the joint, and that x-rays were more useful that MRIs in this. That was news to me, but I just happen to have the x-rays from December 2014, so the doctor said he'd write prescription for a new one. (My insurance doesn't pay for prescriptions from out of state doctors, so I asked my local guy, and, $60 in copays later, we were in business. It's worth that and more to satisfy my curiosity about this whole thing.)

Dr. Lieber called this morning. He said that there is clear cartilage growth, and he asked if I would allow him to use the images in his work and for presentation slides. I'm all about progress, so I agreed. He also assured me that the growth will continue indefinitely, and reminded me once more that I'll never have 21 year-old knees again. Dr. Lieber keeps it real.