#but maybe a simi clinic | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

seoulfulcity · 6 years

Text

June 9, 2018: Take Me to Chengdu, China

你好, I have finally arrived in Pandaland - I mean, Chengdu, Sichuan, China. There's not a lot of things I know about Sichuan besides the McDonald's Szechuan sauce that was recently popularized and brought back by Rick and Morty, and of course, the pandas. That's about it.

Monday, June 4, 2018: On to Chengdu. So, Chengdu is the capital of the Sichuan province situated towards the middle eastern part of China. Simi and I took the slow train from Huaihua, Hunan - a province away from Sichuan - which took about 14 hours of our day. We arrived in Chengdu at 10 PM.

Before our trip started, I worked alongside the Nursing students who were accepted for that clinical trip in China - remember? That was the one I got rejected from. We tried to find a city we could meet and reunite and that was Chengdu.

So, of course, we booked the same hotel as them - and their expensive hotel was situated one hour away from central Chengdu - in Pixian.

The fake taxi drivers started gathering around me and Simi right when we got out of Chengdu East Railway Station, which was on the far east of central Chengdu, the complete opposite of where Pixian was. They offered to drive us there for 100 and 180 yuan. Simi and I did not oblige. We rather have an official taxi drive us to the hotel in the middle of the night.

So we boarded one with a driver who spoke no English and had no means of translation. He pulled over to ask for help with the local security patrolling the station, but to no avail - he did not speak yingwen either.

Apparently, the conversation was important because the driver and the police really tried to tell us something, pointing to us a sticker on the windshield of the taxi that was written completely in Chinese.

Sorry, you guys. I don't even know how to begin sounding the characters out.

I was ready to get my bags and go, because from what I was hearing, I think the taxi driver was complaining how far the hotel was? Or at least that was the vibe I was getting. They were actually yelling at us at this point. But no, they were merely trying to communicate that since our ride was more than 10 kilometers, if I remember the rule correctly, we were obliged to pay an extra 50% of our total taxi ride. Kind of expensive. I guess we should have went for the scammers after all. Lesson learned.

We reached Wyndham Grand Royale Palace safely with a total of 210 yuan. We really should have taken that 100 yuan offer from the scammer. We were assigned a spacious room with both a living room and a bedroom, so imagine how well we slept that night.

Tuesday, June 5, 2018: I woke up around noon the next morning to get my remaining American dollars to be exchanged to yuan with the receptionist since I was running out of cash with me. A guy next to me was asking the other receptionists about laundry service, but the conversation became confusing for both sides since neither spoke the languages well. Earlier in the day, I had the same issue. I haven't washed my laundry since I came to Asia, but the hotel was asking for 40 yuan for each item of clothing to be washed, so I decided to look for a coin laundry place nearby instead.

I stepped in to the conversation to tell the man that they offer laundry service in the hotel for a hefty amount of price and suggested he goes outside to a laundry service store instead. That was when I noticed he was wearing a lanyard that bore the name of my school.

"I go to that school too!" I told him.

He proceeded to tell me that he was accompanying his wife to China and pointed me to a woman sitting right in front of the reception desk.

The director of the Nursing program of my school was sitting right in front of the reception desk.

She recognized me as being one of her students and asked why I was here - so I told her how I was rejected to go to this clinical trip with her and decided to go to China on my own. Bold move.

One-by-one, my friends started coming downstairs and we jumped and hugged each other. We were reuniting across the world in a different continent. You don't experience that very often.

They were on their way back to their lecture after a lunch break, so I caught them at the right time. After they left, I grabbed my exchanged cash and went back upstairs to eat cup noodles. My entire trip was a paradox - we were staying in this grand and expensive hotel with a view of Pixian, yet we were eating cup noodles. Times are rough, everyone.

That night, my Nursing friends, together with the people who were accepted from Social Work, invited me to drink with them in one of their rooms. If you remember the final blog before the start of my trip, my school hosted the Bon Voyage dinner where I met someone from the Sociology group who was also going to China, together with my Nursing family. Her name was Krystal, and we have finally met again. I also met the other social work students, a graduate student in Nursing, and their personal translator who followed them around to translate lecture powerpoints, etc.

That night, we chugged Chinese vodka and talked about China. When do you ever gather with your Nursing family and people you meet in social work and just exchange vodka shots in China? Never. This was seriously a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Ganbei!

Wednesday, June 6, 2018: The next day, Simi and I decided to visit the pandas. Chengdu is known for the Giant Panda research center, where most of China's pandas are taken care of. We got a student discount, purchased our tram tickets, and off we went.

The place felt more like a zoo than anything. We visited places where pandas of different age groups ate and slept. From newborns in little NICU incubators, to young pandas in nurseries, and to adult pandas that seem to only sleep and poop.

We also had the chance to see the red pandas roaming around their area, which the Nursing group did not have the chance to see since it was closed.

All-in-all, it was a great experience. It was really something to cross off the bucket list. I finally got to see pandas in real life.

We took a taxi going back to the hotel and we had a lesson learned from Chengdu East Railway Station so we opted for the scammers, who offered to charge us 180 yuan back.

We haggled it down to 120 yuan and an issue arose when we were dropped off. The taxi driver took the route that had numerous toll highways, so he asked for an extra 20 yuan. Jokes on him, we have learned how their schemes worked and threw the 120 yuan at him and ran inside the hotel. No arguments ensued, but Simi was ready to start a fight with him.

The next few days were dull. We stayed in the hotel and caught up with our sleep. These were the first, and probably only, days where we slept past 10 AM, until we start our summer courses in Seoul. So, we really savored the moments of doing nothing.

Friday, June 8, 2018: Chengdu is apparently the gay capital of China, so we saved our final day to go gay bar hopping in central Chengdu. I found foreigner-friendly gay bars around and Simi and I checked the place out Friday night.

MC Pub was our first stop, and we were kicked out before we even entered the premises. I suppose we were kicked out for speaking English - but I read that MC Pub is actually welcoming to foreigners, so maybe we were kicked out because I was with Simi.

We checked out the next bar nearby, Max Bar. Gay pornographic videos were playing on every TV in the empty bar. It was just us and this group of teenagers who we walked in with and it seemed odd to me how the place was so huge, yet so empty, at 8:30 at night. The group of teenagers left and we followed behind.

Next door was B'Queen Bar, which we entered following Max Bar. It was packed and smelled like cigarette smokes and hormones. The bar was filled with young Chinese men, women, and LGBTQ - no signs of foreigner at all.

Simi and I chose a table in the corner and we were given a menu in Chinese. The bartender tried to tell us about a minimum of 200 yuan to stay in the bar, as I understood; and all of the drinks were priced way over our budget. Communication was terrible at the bar. The music was loud, the place was very dark, and the drinks were expensive; so we decided to kick ourselves out instead. No wonder why these bars are not welcoming to foreigners. It takes up so much time just to communicate about needing a cocktail.

So, Simi and I decided to walk around and ended up in IFS where there was a nearby sit-in bar called Good Haven just at Dongjajie Street. The ambience was fancy and welcoming and our main server did not speak English. He grabbed another server to communicate us and she actually wanted to practice speaking more English so we let her. Our main server really did try to learn English with us though. He did not know what chopsticks were (there are a few Chinese words you really need to know when visiting China - bathroom, water, and chopsticks are one of the few).

"Kuai", I told him. "Kuai is chopsticks".

After providing them to me, he repeated "chopsticks" over and over to learn what the word was. Small gestures like these make foreigners like us feel accepted and welcomed.

We had our cocktails and Indonesian food so we went back to our hotel content that night - via an official taxi this time; and of course we had to pay the extra 50% on top of our total after the taxi driver vehemently tried telling us about the rule beforehand.

We kept gesturing to him "yes, we know about the rule".

An odd thing I started noticing in Chengdu was everybody's obsession with having English phrases aesthetically written on their shirts; and many of them did not make sense. Even America is obsessed with wearing clothes and having tattoos written in different languages and I don't even want to begin understanding why many of them don't bother getting the sentences reviewed with a native speaker to avoid future embarrassing confrontations. So, I find it hilarious when I come across someone who is wearing a shirt that says "Stay Fooued" instead of "Stay Focused", and my personal favorite: I afford give you afford or strive.

Saturday, June 9, 2018: That was really it for my trip in Chengdu. It acted more of a vacation away from our packed vacation schedule, so we didn't do much. Every night, my Nursing friends would invite me over to their rooms after their clinical lectures and rotations just to talk and take a break from all the medical terms and knowledge. We would munch on chips or let out our frustrations about our trips. They were not allowed to leave the hotel, since they were told that Pixian was not a safe neighborhood, but I disagreed.

I roamed around Pixian on my own every chance I get to gather a sense of the local life and culture around. The area was filled with families bonding every night. The streets were loud with music for the older women to dance to and for kids to meet other kids to play. The square in front of our hotel had a magic show and public martial arts training sessions with local children so I did not feel like my life was in any danger at all.

The local life in Chengdu made me fall in love with the city. That is all I can say.

But, my Nursing friends could not leave the premises, so I acted as their go-to man if they wanted anything from the supermarkets nearby, such as food, drinks, chocolates, and magazines; and I was more than happy to do it because I get to hang out with them and walk around to see Pixian on my own.

I have 18 hours until my flight to Tokyo, with a 12-hour layover in Seoul once again. I will try to start, and hopefully finish, the Beijing blog before then. Right now, I just want breakfast that would not break my wallet since I only have a limited amount of Hong Kong dollars saved before entering China a few weeks ago. I'm kind of sad that my Chinese trip has ended, but at least I'm about to continue my adventures in Japan!

The Japanese exchange student Yuta, who I met in the Bon Voyage dinner, contacted me recently about Tokyo, so I really hope I get to meet with him during my stay there. I am really excited for this trip, though I need to review the Japanese I learned or else sensei's voice in my head will not stop yelling at me for confusing my question words. "Doko means where and dare means who. It's not that hard, Christopher". Wish me luck with this trip. Until then!

谢谢, Chris 「克里斯」

P.S. I lied. This blog wasn't shorter than my Hunan blog. I didn't expect to even write anything essential during my stay in Chengdu, but I guess I had some things to talk about.

P.P.S. It's 5:26 AM in Hong Kong and we were woken up and kicked out from this section of chairs in the arrivals hall an hour ago for cleaning before the 5 AM influx of arrivals come - I think they're already arriving. I actually had a good night's rest though so I am not mad at all - just craving pasta, that's all.

#abroad #chengdu #china #summer

0 notes

newstfionline · 7 years

Text

Invisible wounds of Las Vegas shooting could affect tens of thousands

By Katie Zezima, Washington Post, October 6, 2017

When she was under fire, dodging bullets at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Sunday, Megan Greene felt an odd sense of purpose. “If you’re still breathing, you’re fine,” she told a panicky woman trying to escape with her mother, who uses a wheelchair.

Greene remained calm on the long drive home to Simi Valley, Calif. But when she finally pulled into her driveway Monday morning, she burst into tears--the first outward sign of the invisible wounds that have come to plague her since the massacre.

“The simple things that used to be so easy are, just--I never want to be alone and I never want to go anywhere alone,” said Greene, 19, adding that she cannot stand the dark, constantly checks around corners and, during a rare stretch of sleep this week, scratched her legs raw.

An estimated 22,000 people were in attendance when bullets began raining down on the music festival from the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Fifty-eight people died and about 500 were treated for physical injuries. Many of the rest are now grappling with the psychological scars of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Law enforcement officials, medical professionals, family and friends also may be affected by witnessing carnage that one surgeon described as “exactly like what we have seen in a war zone.”

“We all go about our day-to-day business assuming we’re generally safe,” said Gerard Lawson, president of the American Counseling Association. “When something like this happens, it shatters your sense of safety, and that’s where the trauma comes in.”

Mandalay Bay has made crisis counselors available for guests and employees, and the Clark County Family Assistance Center has offered counseling to families and victims. Religious organizations and counselors from throughout the city and region also are offering services.

“We’re trying to get our head around what we’re going to see in the weeks and months and maybe years to follow,” said Michelle Paul, a clinical psychologist and director of a mental health clinic at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.

Paul and others said that everyone deals with trauma in different ways and there is no normal response. But it is not unusual for people who survive a mass shooting to feel guilt, have difficulty sleeping and be startled by loud noises because of their exposure to gunshots.

Greene said she is feeling all of those things. When she finally fell asleep after being awake for 43 hours, she woke up screaming. She now sleeps in her mother’s bed and went into a panic when her mother got up one morning and turned on the shower.

“Every time I close my eyes I hear the screaming of people or the footsteps, or I’m dreaming that I’m running and I’m just running and running and running,” she said.

On Wednesday, Greene participated in a weekly ritual: She went to college night at a local country line dancing bar. Many others also survived the shooting at Route 91 Harvest. There were hugs and the grateful feeling of being around people who are like family. But the night was difficult: The music and strobe lights made Greene panic. When dancers clapped during the “Cha-Cha Slide,” she ran into a corner, curled into a ball and cried.

Greene struggles with the guilt of surviving and not going back into the venue to help people. She saw a therapist Thursday who gave her Benadryl for the scratches and Xanax for anxiety. The therapist assured her that she is having a normal response to an acute traumatic event. But the days are hard. She went to lunch with a friend and did not want to walk to the bathroom alone.

“I’ve gone through this thing and no one knows what’s going on in my head right now and people are so unfazed because they weren’t involved in it,” she said. “I really feel like I’m moving a lot slower than the rest of the world right now.”

Anthony Dalrymple was at the festival with his wife, family members and friends who are off-duty police officers. The 44-year-old Army veteran knew quickly that he was hearing sustained rounds of fire from a modified semiautomatic weapon. He and his group escaped to his brother-in-law’s house, picking up strangers along the way.

“I’m doing okay. I’m handling it well,” he said. His wife is not. She has been unable to sleep and is afraid of loud sounds.

“Everybody handles it a little bit differently.” he said. “I told her she needs to let her emotions happen.”

Robyn Garcia, a pastor at International Church of Las Vegas, spent hours at the city’s convention center talking with the people whose relatives or friends were missing or had died.

Some people, she said, watched a spouse or friend die and were then told they had to leave the scene. They cried in her arms, saying they just wanted to retrieve the belongings of the dead and return to their home towns. Others had gone hours without hearing from friends or relatives who attended the concert and were prepared for the worst.

“It was very, very traumatic,” she said.

Emanuel Maidenberg, a clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA, said post-traumatic reaction can last from four to eight weeks, though circumstances differ from person to person. Paul said the vast majority of people affected by an event like the mass shooting will have their trauma run its course and can soothe themselves through self-care, self-compassion and community connection. Others, however, may develop and be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression or panic attacks.

A traumatic event like a mass shooting can also take a toll on those who are there to help. Tirrsa Isom, 35, spent much of the week speaking with families at the convention center. Many of them, she said, simply needed someone close by and, if they were ready, someone to talk to. Isom helped relatives of the victims process their losses, watching them realize that their loved one was dead and not accepting it the next moment. Isom said the overwhelming grief has worn on her.

“It’s more tender today,” Isom said of her own emotions, while on the verge of tears. “You’re in go mode, you help and then you finally feel it.”

#Las Vegas shooting #trauma from mass shooting

0 notes

saritashoemaker · 7 years

Text

Pain was at 8 out of 10 almost every day. If I did NOTHING then the pain went down to 3. If I even walked up steps it would go to 5 or 6 for 24 hours. I’d rest and it would feel better so I tried to “live normally” and work…which means I would be hiking trails, running, walking at boot camp.

Friend Ann Archinal had mentioned 1 million times that I should check into Regenexx’s procedure and possibly be part of a Clinical Trial. Began the process but was told I had to be “qualified” by a Regenexx doctor, which required an MRI. I found a doctor in Simi Valley on Alamo Street (right around the corner from where I live).

Work continued to antagonize my knees and since it got worse and worse we opted to get an MRI at Ventura Orthopedic in Simi Valley, CA. That cost $400.

MRI on right knee only was analyzed and sent to my sports chiropractor Dr. David Sommer, Sommer Sports Chiropractic in Simi Valley, CA. He explained the findings. MRI showed torn meniscus and burst baker’s cyst in my left knee. DISCOVERED LATER: Bone spurs and arthritis in my right knee.

Set appointment for Regenexx doctor in Simi. Just to see him cost $350. Went to appointment, he reviewed MRI and told me I was a candidate. Offered three solutions: cut, stem cell, do nothing. He said he would do Stem Cell for $9700 for ONE knee. He printed two pieces of paper from his website and charged me another $100. I left there pissed and resigned with the fact that I would never get my knees repaired.

Went to Facebook, Regenexx’s site. Posted that I had been quoted $9,200 for my knee. Immediately replies started to pop up, One said “$1,700 in Texas” which prompted me to begin researching other possibilities. One hour later I discovered that Regenexx had removed my post PLUS all of the replies and information. DANG IT. Luckily I’d written down a few notes and discovered a realistic solution.

Found Dr. Venkatesh Movva and called to find out if I could go there and what the cost would be. Quoted $6,000 for both knees (he would need to see my right knee himself and agreed to do this without the MRI).

THE PROCEDURE – TIME LINE

Tuesday August 23rd to Saturday August 27th

One little love bug living at my Air BNB place.

Tuesday. Day 1 flew to Texas (round trip tickets American Airlines $204 through Hotwire), got a rental car (Hertz $200) and drove to my Air BNB place in Grapevine Texas ($262) which I highly recommend you book.

Wednesday. Day 2 arrive at Dr Venkatesh Movva’s office at 9:00am and filled in paperwork and paid for both knees to have the Regenexx Stem Cell procedure. At about 11:00am I had injections by Dr Movva that I was told would inspire my body to send my blood to my knees to prepare for my stem cell injection the following day. Left after an hour and drove to a nice outdoor mall and wandered around. Noted that I was in less pain (I’d say 25%) and got a bit excited.

Day two! Bone marrow draw. Wore my PEACE headgear to keep calm.

Thursday. Day 3 arrived at 9:00am for bone marrow draw. You lie down on a table face down and injections to numb my hip area are done. It was numb. Dr Movva drew 3 vials of my bone marrow. It did not hurt at all and I was wide awake. I felt a sort of heavy pressure on my hip bones. Sent to lunch and then returned. My marrow had been split into platelets and stem cells. The stem cells were injected into my knees. This hurt a tiny bit and I think it was mostly because I was able to watch it happen (since I was on my back and wide awake). A little spray can was used in the areas the needles were going into. There was really no pain, just a “fullness” in the joint area. Sent to meet with the Physical Therapist for my PT assignment, fit for two knee braces and a set of crutches (same building) then directed to go home and STAY OFF MY LEGS.

Friday. Day 4 arrived at 10:00am to get my final injection which was my platelets. This hurt more than anything else. One side hurt way more than the other . Dr Movva said my reaction was the same as every other person and was normal.

Saturday. Day 5 got up super early to get to car rental return (Hertz) and fly home (American Airlines) from Dallas/Fort Worth. Hertz was ready (I was alone and called ahead telling them of my “stay off your knees” circumstances) to pick me up and take me to the airport in a private car! When I got dropped off a DFW employee scooped me up with a wheel chair and took me to my gate. I was embarrassed to use this but MAN it was necessary!

Followed instructions of NO RUNNING OR IMPACT for 5 weeks.

Began slowly. Tried Aqua Running before the 5 weeks was up and directed by Dr. Movva to go at 25% only (which I did).

I was 50% on doing my PT which I regret.

MONTH 1 SEPTEMBER

Went on a vacation to Oregon. Biked and walked a lot, braces on made it cumbersome. Knocking my knees a lot (the braces are very stabilizing…and HUGE) and tripping when they caught on each other. Knees had a slight pain but it was dull. Pain would be 3 out of 10. Did my PT 4 times a week average. It was tough stuff but when I did it I felt less pain the following day. My PT took 60 minutes not rushing.

MONTH 2 OCTOBER

Began walking slowly and jogged a little. Less pain. Knees felt unstable as though they were loose. Work was easier and I was able to run exercise stations and demonstrate (without extra weight). PT was 2-3x per week, regrettably. Began mountain bike riding and road rides for 1-2 hours at least once a week but started to feel pain on the back of my knees after a lot of uphill climbing. Continued to fall back on my “pain” habits such as gripping stairwell banisters, going down steps one at a time and slowly…mentally I feel like I’m shedding these go-to practices that always helped me alleviate the pain.

MONTH 3 NOVEMBER

Lots of activity, braces off. PT remained 2-3x per week. Again noticing how strong knees felt the day following PT. By end of October I was doing squats, running trails and road SLOWLY (partly because it has been years of low activity and my cardio was weak). Mountain bike riding was easier so I began pushing myself. Signed up for Spartan training and dialed it back on any lower body exercises. Noticed the pain in my knees when I did burpees (the kick out) so stopped. Pain stayed and moved to a 4 so I wrote to Dr. Movva and he replied right away despite being in India where he helps children (love that). He offered a Booster PRP procedure and said he would not charge me for it if I could get into the offices for the one-day procedure.

MONTH 4 DECEMBER

Feeling good and better after resting and staying mostly immobile during our time off of camp. It couldn’t have been better timing to have a break. I did no running, stopped drinking alcohol through the New Year! Focused on healthier nutrition during the down time. Felt like my knees were recovered.

MONTH 5 JANUARY

Started the year off slowly but eventually riding and running trails (slowly). No PT at all but do not feel the need for it because I feel stable and strong in my knees. RAN stadium at Moorpark twice, walked up and ran down Hummingbird Trail and Chumash. Ran /Walked Tapo Open Space. Things are stronger and no pain.

MONTH 6 FEBRUARY

Able to squat down low with kettle bells (26 and 18 lbs), swinging bells, burpees, jump rope and continued road and trail hiking.

Overall my experience was incredible. The only part of my procedure that was awful was visiting the arrogant local “authorized doctor” to find out if I was a “candidate” for the Regenexx procedure.

CURRENTLY (APRIL 2017)

Wow. I’m SO HAPPY I got this procedure. I am able to participate in pretty much any activity (with training) that I want from being a boot camper to running trails and road. I am mentally still worried to push the envelope and blow my knees out – but so far I’ve had no pain at all. LIKE AT ALL.

One thing that began in 2013 was my knee going out of it’s joint. That is very painful. It’s “almost” happened on both knees a few times in the past two months. Randomly I’ll be moving my legs (like swinging them onto the bed or into the truck to sit) and a knee will get that pang of pain. It takes my breath away instantly then is gone – no remnants. I believe I just need to keep strengthening the surrounding tissue by USING my legs and following the PT work.

I would only recommend Dr. Venkatesh Movva. He can review your MRI and tell you the truth from any place on earth. Just get your MRI and send it to him.

If you do end up using his services, be sure you mention you read my blog. He will appreciate knowing and maybe (just maybe) give you a “Sarita special deal”!

Read on if you are bored and/or interested in my sob story! It’s so fun!

MY PITY PARTY

AKA more explanation on HOW I became injured and what we went through

Pain began three years prior (2013) in my left knee and got worse over the years. No ONE event happened. I was very active as a kid into my high school years playing soccer, softball and volleyball. I got tons of injuries, mostly twisted ankles, that I’m sure I did not allow to heal properly before jumping back into my sport.

At age 38 I became a boot camp owner which “required” teaching exercises, running road and trails. My life went from cubicles to running around the planet and it was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

After the pain in my left knee began I backed off. It was an up and down ride on recovery inbetween visits to my chiropractor for therapy and my massage therapist for relief and excruciating fun on my IT band. The pain was undiagnosed because we did not have insurance and I am a “suck it up” type of person.

Eventually, over three years, I went from running races and training for them (25K Bulldog, Half Marathons, Xterra) and our boot camp regular trail running to walking races and trails for our boot camp to just sitting in the car because I could NOT ascend one of my favorite trails without paying for it dearly.

We finally saved enough money to get an MRI. This is after spending the three years going to chiropractic and massage for relief (which I did have, but then I’d go run again and it would return even worse).

MRI showed a torn meniscus with a Baker’s cyst that burst. NO WONDER I WAS IN PAIN ALL THE TIME.

Spent too much time trying to become a candidate for a Regenexx “Clinical Trial” which may have happened but I did not live in Colorado and/or they didn’t care who I was or my situation.

My friend Ann had the procedure for her knee and a shoulder injury and she was back up and operational in a short amount of time.

I decided to get myself to a doctor to find out if I was a candidate. We had to pay $350 just to sit in the room with this doctor and he looked at my MRI then described the few options: stem cell, surgery, nothing (pain management…aka pills).

He said he could handle my left torn meniscus with stem cell but it was not guaranteed (of course). Stem cell meant there would be no tissue removed and I was good with that. It would be my own stem cells…good with that. I would only need to pay him $9200 for it. He printed me two more pieces of paper FROM HIS WEBSITE then sent me on my way…after charging me another $100.

I left his office PISSED at his arrogance and certain I’d never get this procedure.

The next day I went to the Regenexx Facebook Page and left a note for everyone to read (or it was a comment, it has since been removed): “Got a quote for a torn meniscus and baker’s cyst in my left knee for $9200. This is way more expensive than I expected.”

Immediately comments began popping up from other folks that were in the forum. Most people were commenting on how much they’d paid. One person posted “$1,700 in Texas”. I almost fell out of my chair.

I hobbled downstairs to Randy’s office to tell him the good news!

From there my quest became locating the doctor that had given this procedure for this price. I logged back into Facebook to find the person and ask more questions. THE POST WAS COMPLETELY REMOVED. Like 100% gone.

Side note: every post I have made complimenting them is never replied to, answered, response of a ‘thanks’ in all of my social media. I think I must have hit a nerve?

Go to the top…

MORE PHOTOS AND COVERAGE THAT YOU MAY FIND INTERESTING

On my way home…waiting at DFW.

I kept the tool used to get to my bone marrow.

Day 1 injections.

One of my knees and the needle being inserted.

One of my knees and needle inserted.

I’m really doing this!

The big machine that helps Dr. Movva see where to inject.

Got nails done prior just in case I had to take my shoes off!

Post injections, just took braces off. Feeling good!

My Favorite Stem Cell Team

My stem cells and my platelets – aren’t they dreamy! With Dr. Venkatesh Movva.

more to come!

T Pain was at 8 out of 10 almost every day. If I did NOTHING then the pain went down to 3.

#bone spur #EXERCISING #Injuries #Regenexx #Regenixx #running a stadium staircase #Simi Valley #Simi Valley California #SNOW SHOEING #Spartan #Stem Cell #Stem Cell Procedure #Torn meniscus #trail running #Training for Spartan #Venkatesh Movva

0 notes