By Pattie Mihalik

newsgirl@comcast.net

Maybe you’ve noticed the proliferation of stories about stem cell therapy providing new hope for seemingly hopeless medical conditions.

Maybe you’ve even seen ads for informational seminars on available stem cell procedures in your area.

And maybe you’ve seen the article titled “Could this cell save your life?” in this month’s Consumer Reports magazine.

The article does a balanced job of acknowledging the benefits of using our own stem cells to improve and perhaps cure serious medical conditions.

It states that while stem cells are special cells with the potential to repair damaged cells, it is not appropriate for all conditions.

It reports some clinics offering stem cell treatment are charging thousands of dollars for treatments, even though there is no research proving it can help those conditions.

When I read the article, I was heartened to think that so much advancement in medicine is right around the corner.

But I was also sad.

I am sad because I know that desperate people don’t care that a procedure hasn’t been approved by the FDA. They are willing to try it anyway.

I know that because it’s something I’ve gone through with my late husband, Andy.

When I was 50 and he was 54, it was one of the happiest times in our life.

It was until he had a stroke that left him completely paralyzed on the right side. It was a long, hard rehabilitation as he regained the power of speech and learned to walk with the help of a brace and quad cane.

Then he suffered a second stroke while we were on vacation at the Outer Banks. Worse yet, the emergency room doctor said he was sure the large lump on his neck was cancerous and would need immediate surgery.

Back in Pennsylvania, after he made it through surgery, we thought he was out of the woods.

But the news kept getting worse.

A doctor told us he also had advanced prostate cancer.

“It’s too advanced for us to treat,” the doctor said. “We can do nothing for him except to give him palliative care.”

In other words, try to subdue the pain until he dies.

I thank God that I did not accept the doctor’s prognosis. Instead, we took Andy to Fox Chase, where we were assured their treatment would give him an average of two years. Instead, we got over three years.

Meanwhile I searched the internet for clinical trails that might help. I found two.

I remember sitting in a small waiting room for hours with people from all over the country who came there with hopes of being accepted for the cryosurgery trial.

We were all in the same boat. We were desperate, willing to try anything to extend life for our loved ones.

I’m a journalist who normally asks a lot of questions. I didn’t ask anything about risks or potential outcome. We just begged to be part of the study.

Andy was turned down because he was a former smoker.

He was accepted for a different clinical trial and it had wonderful results.

Remember when I told you the Allentown doctor said there was no hope for Andy? We could do nothing except “keep him comfortable” until he died.

Well, thanks to prayer and to those treatments, Andy lived for another 12½ beautiful years. They were wonderful years where he was able to see his daughters married and to officiate at the baptism of his grandchildren.

So I know the value of clinical trials. And I understand fully the desperation of people willing to try anything to gain a little more time.

The article on stem cell research pointed out that most stem cell treatment isn’t covered by insurance. People are shelling out thousands of dollars of their own money for the chance that stem cell therapy might help them.

Here’s a typical scenario.

A clinic runs an ad saying cancer patients and those suffering other major illnesses can be helped by stem cell therapy.

Eager for anything that might help, most people sign up for the therapy. They don’t realize there are different kinds of stem cells and that only those that come from human embryos or those specifically programmed in a laboratory can help specific diseases.

People don’t know that ahead of time and most don’t ask questions. They did what I did with Andy.

I only said, help us. Please!

About the same time I was searching for clinical trials for Andy, my friend Pat was traveling to another part of the world for a treatment that might help her husband. I only know he had a rare disease for which there was no cure, according to several doctors and teaching hospitals in the U.S.

When Pat heard about the experimental procedure that was reportedly helping people who couldn’t be helped with traditional medicine, she was willing to spend every last cent they had to help him.

Bill begged her not to do it, saying it would leave her destitute and he would probably die anyhow.

That’s exactly what happened. Pat worked at a minimum wage job well beyond her retirement years because all their money went for her husband’s treatment.

I probably would have done the same thing.

I understand desperation. I also understand stem cell therapy can be greatly beneficial.

But more oversight is needed to protect unwary consumers.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.