it's a very special privilege of me to
tell you about a very special patient
this is a lady she's a strong lady but
unfortunately she she had a fall she
took a fall from a ladder she'd had some
problems with this arm and i'm showing
you x-rays of her left arm and
unfortunately she had some attempts at
an outside hospital at getting this
fracture to heal she had a fracture of
both her radius and ulna both bones just
below the wrist and unfortunately not
only did she go on to have problems
healing this bone over time because it
wasn't healing it also started to
angulate and became Mao United or not
correctly aligned so this is an arm that
in a very active lady who has become not
functional and not really shaped how
it's supposed to and the yellow line is
where she was and the red line is where
it's supposed to be so not only not
healed but not correctly aligned and
this is a patient who it again who had
had several operations the soft tissues
being very compromised at the surgery
site I think three operations you know
this is one person who really needed
something special and we thought would
be a great candidate for our bone marrow
concentrate study and this is what we
did to her we realigned her bones and
you can see here we actually and there's
some in summons you can see live some
hazy cottony type material which is
actually the the graph that we used to
deliver some of those bone
marrow-derived cells and we realigned
her and she has gone on to to heal well
from that procedure and so she's a lady
I think who really benefited from our
ability to do early translation with
mazon komal stem cell technology and so
that special patient is actually here
today and so it's again a special honor
for me to now introduce Diana Souza
who's x-ray as you just saw who was able
to take advantage of the technology we
have here thank
thank you dr. V and thank you to the
California Institute for regenerative
medicine for inviting me to speak to you
today I am very grateful and extremely
honored to be here this afternoon
because I think it is so important to
tell you about my life and why stem cell
research is so important for people just
like me I also want to thank you for
hosting public information sessions like
this one creating awareness about the
incredible stem cell research taking
place in California is extremely
important I had the good fortune to
learn about dr. mark Lee's innovative
stem cell work from my daughter's mother
in law Leilani Corral who worked in
biotechnology research at the Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory and she
was very plugged into the latest news
about regenerative medicine this
spotlight on disease is another
important way to share the news about
stem cell research and the benefits it
might provide to patients around the
state throughout our nation and even
around the world so I feel let's keep
this going and let's keep up the good
work I am here today representing
hundreds of people who unfortunately
find themselves with a fracture that
will just not heal or has not healed
correctly no one should have to live in
fear of this this problem is especially
troubling for older people where quality
of life can be severely impacted by a
never-ending recuperation process I have
friends and also have certainly heard
many stories about people who have
broken a leg or hip and they quickly see
their lives diminish as they found
themselves unable to take care of even
the most basic needs the cost of
treatments therapies and nursing
assistance and support immediately
becomes an overwhelming problem for
those who
for such debilitating injuries for me
living on a 23-acre ranch in the
mountains east of reading had long kept
me fit healthy and happy then in 2005 my
husband passed away and i had more
responsibilities I was doing too much
and getting hurt too often I broke my
arm the first time in my early 20s the
second time shortly after my husband
passed away and the third time just this
last year my arm was a complete mess
this fracture could not be easy repaired
because of the three previous surgeries
with complications and many castes I
faced a very real possibility of being
left with only one working arm at a home
and on a beautiful piece of property
that needs a type of labor that gives
much joy to my life fortunately I found
out about dr. mark Lee's clinical trial
to help heal badly broken bones when I
brought him my x-rays I was so
embarrassed and ashamed because my arm
was deformed it was very very crooked I
think even dr. Lee was stunned at the
challenges he faced but dr. Lee looked
at me and he said with such confidence
Diana I can fix your arm there was so
much trauma to the bones in my arm
because of the previous surgeries using
metal plates and screws it actually to
me look like Swiss cheese just full of
holes and gaps where the bone was not
growing together it looked absolutely
very unhealthy dr. Lee didn't have a lot
to work with so I was thrilled when he
competently told me he could help me and
it was his clinical research using stem
cells that I think made the biggest
difference in my case I still had to
undergo a lengthy surgery it was about
six hours and somewhat painful recovery
but as I think dr. Lee has already noted
he could have not accomplished nearly as
much and
enabled my weak and unhealthy bones to
repair themselves without using the stem
cells he extracted from my bone marrow
she fill in the holes and gaps in my
bone which strengthen the bone and
finally allowed my arm to heal properly
and look normal that surgery took place
just last fall today I'm back at the
ranch much stronger outside nearly every
day taking dr. Lee's advice and I hired
a helper and I am healing I'm healing
quite well my friends cannot believe the
difference in my physical strength and
well-being and I cannot believe the
difference it is incredible after living
with such damage deformed and unhealthy
arm for so long those stem cells in dr.
Lee and his surgery team have given me
great hope and optimism it is really a
new lease on life for me I'm looking
forward to getting back better range of
motion and renewed strength and dr.
Lee's research offers incredible hope to
others like me who suffer these types of
terrible bone fractures every year I can
only imagine the advances that will be
made in the near future again thank you
so much for including me in this program
I am thankful for pioneering physicians
like dr. Lee and I am very appreciative
of a pioneering agency like the
California Institute for regenerative
medicine your mission and work
represents the promise of finding
innovative solutions and cures for our
most challenging health problems thank
you so much