DAY #12 - Treatment #3

Today my cells came home, only in better condition.  Today is the first day they used my own stem cells that they harvested.  As you can see, my dad was very excited too and decided it was necessary to make a sign for them:

Again...tasted like peaches during the injection.  I just think that's so funny!  Nothing else to report - it went just as well as it could of.

Today was my last day of physical therapy.  She worked me hard, as usual, even though I kept complaining that I was tired.  I'm pretty sure she didn't care at all.  She just loaded up the weights on my legs and told me to keep on going.  It was probably good for me though haha.  She did give me a print-out of all my exercises to take home so at least I have a plan of what exercises she recommends I keep doing.

Tonight my dad and I visited the stem cell lab, called MediStem.  It is located in Clayton, which is the part of Panama that used to be the U.S. military base.  The lab is located in one of the old barracks - a really cool building located on quite the piece of land!  Everything is so green because of all the rain Panama gets. 

 

We met with two of the lab employees who explained all the details of how they harvest and analyze the stem cells.  The umbilical cord stem cells are thoroughly screened on several occasions for endotoxins and infectious diseases.  They only keep about 30% of the umbilical cords that are donated because the other 70% doesn't meet the quality control standards.  The adipose-derived stem cells are also screened for endotoxins and washed several times before being counted.  They are counted with a laser because it is more accurate that the human eye.  Here is a video with more information about the actual process of how they process the stem cells: http://apps.facebook.com/youtube-videos/watch.php?v=unAbSUhGEzk
You should really check it out if science interests you!