Stem cell therapy helps heal ailing heart of area woman July 16, 2009

Posted by TheraVitae in : VesCell in the News , trackback

Tammy Henderson can ride a bike. It might not sound like a big deal, but for a woman who was a hair’s breath away from being placed on a heart transplant list two years ago, it’s huge … really huge.

To Henderson and her family, it’s a sure sign that the adult stem cell therapy she had in Thailand in April 2008 is slowly repairing her severely damaged heart.

“My doctor fully believes this is working,” said Henderson. “My echo showed at least a 5 percent improvement in ejection fraction — how well the heart pumps — and my heart shrunk by 3 mm, which is terrific. Usually, the heart enlarges as it gets worse.”

“My oxygen level went up three points. I have been feeling really great, and I’m back to bike riding and walking,” she added.

For the Garden City resident, the road to recovery started in 2007 when she and her family started fund raising the estimated $40,000-$50,000 needed for the stem cell therapy. She decided to try the treatment at the suggestion of her cardiologist and flew to Thailand last year where she received immature stem cells created from her own cells. The stem cells were injected by catheterization into her body close to her heart.

“It’s been eight years since I had my massive heart attack and double bypass,” she said. “They told me that without a transplant, I wouldn’t live six months and here I am. I’ve improved. Up to a year ago I think I was using up my reserves, I wonder what they would say now.”

A bad heart isn’t all Henderson has had to deal with over the years. In 1990, she was diagnosed with stage II Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She underwent radiation and chemotherapy and was cancer-free for 11 years, when she suffered a massive heart attack July 23, 2001. Five days later, she had another attack, so doctors operated to install a heart pump. That evening, she had a mini-stroke. The next day, she had emergency bypass surgery.

In January 2002, she was told by the Henry Ford Transplant Center to start the tests and process for a heart transplant. She went through the process and was within a week of being added to the list when doctors determined she had improved her heart’s pumping power by taking a CoQ10 supplement.

Kelly Moyer said her sister, who grew up in Westland and graduated from John Glenn High School, is amazing and the improvements “are exactly what we hoped for.”

“In April, her family and I walked the Kensington Park path — 8.5 miles — that includes many hills, I was very impressed with her strength,” Moyer said. “A couple of years ago I would have never thought that kind of experience would be possible. Her heart is getting smaller and pumping better, clear medical signs of improvement. I couldn’t be more pleased.”

While her heart has shown signs of healing, Henderson said she has been cured of chronic sinusitis. She use to spend $25 month for Zyrtec, but stop taking it in April 2008.

“I have not had a sinus infection since then,” she said. “I think the stem cells took care of it. That’s a major extra plus.”

Henderson still gets a call from Thailand every few months to see how she is doing and keeps in contact with other patients on Facebook and MySpace on the Internet. People also contact her to “see what my opinion” is about stem cell therapy.

And she still receives donations. Recently, a couple sent her a check for $200 and postage stamps. The message was simply, “Do something nice with your family.” Henderson set the envelope aside, but said she now knows what she will do with the money — take a vacation to the Wisconsin Dells and maybe a trip to Frankenmuth.

“I haven’t been on a real vacation with my family for years,” she said. “In the past I didn’t want to be to far from Henry Ford Hospital. You never know, especially with your heart. I was afraid to go to far away.”

Moyer hopes that some day the stem cell therapy will be available in the United States. Her sister said there’s a possibility it could be done at Henry Ford within a year.

“I pray that this treatment will be available in the U.S. as soon as possible,” Moyer said. “For someone sick to have to travel around the world for treatment is just absurd, especially living in the U.S. We live in the best country in the world, it doesn’t seem right.”

smason@hometownlife.com | (313) 222-6751