Ten months after experimental surgery, David Landewee making great promise

[Leif]

http://www.semissourian.com/story/1133945.html

I know the person in this story has been on this board and here is a news article. Leif

Thursday, January 5, 2006
JULIA METELSKI ~ Southeast Missourian


Exactly 10 months after an experimental surgery that aimed to alleviate a spinal injury, Cape Girardeau native David Landewee said that he has made progress beyond his doctor's expectations.

"The progress I've had since I got back has been slow and steady," said Landewee, 42, who lives in Kansas City, Mo. "It's basically been working its way down."

In March, Landewee travelled to China, where doctors implanted into his spinal cord 4,000 olfactory ensheathing glial cells collected from fetuses aborted during the second trimester of pregnancy. Since his return in April, he has participated in biweekly physical therapy along with daily regiments at home.

Landewee's injury was considered complete, with no sensation or mobility below his fourth vertebra, as opposed to incomplete with limited sensation or mobility. Knowing that the surgery was not a cure, he said doctors told him that he could experience progress over 12 to 18 months, with improvements of two levels of motor function and four levels of sensation, which should have allowed for limited torso control in the upper rib area.

Levels of improvement

Instead, he has exhibited eight levels of improvement, regaining abilities associated with the 12th vertabra, said Landewee, who now senses when his bladder is full and is able to walk 375 feet with leg braces and a walker. He gives partial credit to the exercise and stretching regimen that he maintained over the 10 years since his injury, which did not allow for his muscles to atrophy. He credits the rest of his progress to the post-surgical exercise, "because a lot of it is 70 to 80 percent of what you put into it when you get back."

In November, he revisited China to accompany 18-year-old Christopher Schmieder, of Louisburg, Kan., who underwent the same surgery to alleviate an incomplete injury at the fourth vertebra. Landewee personally endorsed Schmieder's surgery, he said, because he exhibited the same determination to stick with the therapy.
Starting in late summer, Landewee expects to participate in a pilot program in China. Doctors will conduct six surgical procedures with 6,000 patients, Landewee said. In addition to stem-cell injections, doctors will administer hormone and antibody treatments to accelerate the regeneration of axon cells, which are insulators to nerve cells.

[Shwetarose]

wow...great......but leif, i really worry for me...what is muscle antrophy? my legs cannot get straight whole.just upto knee.its like iron sometimes....


my legs stiffness/ spasticity/ will discredit stemcell treatment if i go for therapy???


I am incomplete.i hv sensation almost.bowel control but not much bladder control.


Dr.Wise young pls enlighten. i m really tensed abt my legs stiffness. botox will help to loose legs? its like IRON!

[Buckanan]

I am excited to hear about this story and David's great progress. This guy is also running for president!
http://carecure.org/forum/showthread.php?t=56257

[carbar]

When these surgeries become established in the western world as an accepted "cure" for paralysis, there is going to be such an enormous need/demand for physiotherapists the handle all the subsequent intensive therapy programs. There can be no doubt that a huge part of the success of any cure will be in the hands of physical therapists and of course in the will of the patient his/herself.

[Steven Edwards]

Starting in late summer, Landewee expects to participate in a pilot program in China. Doctors will conduct six surgical procedures with 6,000 patients, Landewee said. In addition to stem-cell injections, doctors will administer hormone and antibody treatments to accelerate the regeneration of axon cells, which are insulators to nerve cells.

I want to know more about this. If he is talking about the ChinaSCINet, the number of trials and their details have not yet been finalized. If not... what?

[Leif]

Originally Posted by Steven Edwards

I want to know more about this. If he is talking about the ChinaSCINet, the number of trials and their details have not yet been finalized. If not... what?

Right Steven, I also did find it a bit confusing.

[Leif]

Originally Posted by Shwetarose

wow...great......but leif, i really worry for me...what is muscle antrophy? my legs cannot get straight whole.just upto knee.its like iron sometimes....


my legs stiffness/ spasticity/ will discredit stemcell treatment if i go for therapy???


I am incomplete.i hv sensation almost.bowel control but not much bladder control.


Dr.Wise young pls enlighten. i m really tensed abt my legs stiffness. botox will help to loose legs? its like IRON!

Shweta. Are you doing any physiotherapy like Carbar suggest. It is very important with stretching exercises for your legs and additional exercise. If you don’t have any PT to help you, do you have any other family members that can help you to stretch your legs etc. I have PT three times a week and have done so the last five years in addition to exercises by my own, this approach seams to keep me in some shape and not deteriorate too much. PT and exercises are very important. Leif

Carbar; my PT just bought a big gym to perform physiotherapy in, he and one companion – maybe he has listen to much to me with talks like planning ahead

[carbar]

Originally Posted by Leif

Shweta. Are you doing any physiotherapy like Carbar suggest. It is very important with stretching exercises for your legs and additional exercise. If you don’t have any PT to help you, do you have any other family members that can help you to stretch your legs etc. I have PT three times a week and have done so the last five years in addition to exercises by my own, this approach seams to keep me in some shape and not deteriorate too much. PT and exercises are very important. Leif

Carbar; my PT just bought a big gym to perform physiotherapy in, he and one companion – maybe he has listen to much to me with talks like planning ahead

I have found it very difficult to find any PT to work with, both here in France and in Ireland. And I wonder how many other people actually have no PT to assist them. For me rehab physio was great, very intensive but once that ended there was nothing else to take its place. I know many others who have no physio once out of hospital. I have tried a number of physios since then, but get no more than a 30 minute session a week and even then 25 of those minutes I have been left alone to do exercises. So basically I just do what I can by myself at home and no longer try to seek the help of a PT. I know it is not enough and I have a lot of spasm to fight and a dislocated hip - so a standing frame is out of the question. I will not be a good candidate if a cure comes up! Still, I'd be happy for a few levels back (like D Landewee above) without the walking.

[Leif]

Carbar,
Regardless of a cure comes up exercise is important as you writes and explained like the benefits you had from it during rehab. I know it can be difficult to find PT’s and have it the way I have, so I consider myself lucky here. I have PT three times a week, one hour a time, and during those sessions he more and less concentrates on stretching exercises on the legs. Also balance training but for the most stretching, this due to more exercises like to keep the muscles in shape I can do be myself with exercises on my own. I know I could do more here as well but I try as best I can. A dislocated hip like yours must be a serious problem as I understand with respect to some types of exercises like standing as you write. Maybe others have some ideas on how to do exercises in such situations. For my exercises now, the PT has had holyday vacation and I have too more or less and I can feel that it has changed my legs, just a couple off weeks of has done that.
But above that, family members more or less can do exactly the same as a PT, I have seen some illustrations for guidance somewhere with sketches showing which exercises that are important, but I don’t remember where I did find them. Maybe some of the SCI nurses here know? Exercises do have impact.

[JDLandewee]

Sometimes the press does not quote you word for word. The trials I was talking about did involve the ChinaCSInet but they were not the surgery I was talking about having again. The trials in China will probably involve close to 6000 patients per year if the success rate and hospital space allows. I have not been approached about participating in the ChinaCSINet trials. The additional surgery I was talking about is with Dr. Huang whom I had the intitial surgery from. There were several misquotes and things I did not even tell them. They wrote I had 4000 OEC cells injected into my spine and it was more like a million. Also, at the end of the article it states I would be receiving stem cells and that is not true either. They would be OEC cells involving a combination treatment. I am anxious as I am sure you all are to see the results of the ChinaCSInet trials. I know it is hard to be patient, but I believe the doctors involved in this study and trials are going to see some amazing results. It is a shame that trials like these cannot be done here. They also said in the news article that axons insulate nerve fibers which is not true. Myelin is what insulates the axons in the spinal cord. That was the purpose of the 4-AP trials. Scientists hope that 4-AP can help reinsulate axons which may still be intact in the spinal cord and restore some function. Don't believe everything you read in the newspapers. Some of it is true and some is not. One thing I stress to people is the importance of keeping in shape through exercise, range of motion, and e-stim if you have the availability to it. I know through personal experience that muscles that have atrophied are difficult to build and strengthen. It takes a lot of work. I would like to encourage the spinal cord community not to give up hope and be patient. A cure is coming. I applaud Dr. Wise Young and his efforts. He is a friend of mine and I do not know of many other doctors who care so much about the people he is trying to help.
Dave Landewee
www.dave2008.org