Monday, June 15, 2015

Had my very first visit to the Stem Cell Institute this morning! I met with Dr. Jorge Paz Rodriguez and had my medical evaluation and blood testing done. I also recieved my schedule for the rest of the week. Tomorrow will be my first physical therapy session and on Wednesday I will be having my first stem cell injection. It will consist of an injection into my lower spine of expanded allogenic mesenchymal stem cells. These cells are found in umbilical cord blood and have the ability to turn into a wide variety of other cells(in my case, neurons and other important cells in my spine to help repair the connections between my brain and lower body that are damaged). Everyone on the staff was extremely pleasant and made me feel very comfortable and welcome.



I was tired last night so I didn't get a chance to give everyone a tour of our living conditions. It is called La Gaviota and is very close by to the Stem Cell Institute as well as lots of yummy places to eat(they have KFC and Taco Bell OMG!) and a grocery store. There is also a mall in walking distance and a casino ;)



The Stem Cell Institute also provided us with a cell phone and contact list so if we have any needs at all they will be taken care of and if we need transportation to and from anywhere!



And here is a quick walk through of our place:



I am very impressed with everything here so far! More to come tomorrow :)

4 comments:

  1. Hey Josh glad you made it there safe! This is Jonathan by the way! Good luck on your phys. therapy and 1st injection. Ttyl! Much love!

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  2. That's great Josh! I'm glad you got a sweet place and a great team of doctors and scientists. I looked up some info about the allogenic mesenchymal stem cells, and the reason they are able to use them without the risk of an allergic response is because they put up a wall of molecules so your immune system won't recognize them as a foreign object. In the first 2 minutes of this video I found a scientist explains it more in-depth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIHaMMccYzg

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    1. Thanks Phil! I remember watching this video a long time ago actually! Its really amazing stuff!

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