Home › Blog › 4 Year Knee Stem Cell Procedure Update: Our Amazing Patients

One of the great things about pioneering interventional orthopedics is the amazing people we meet and have the privilege to treat. Right off the bat, our patients are brave individuals who take the initiative to figure out what’s best for their health and ignore doctors who tell them  surgery is their only option! They are moms and dads, grandparents, weekend warriors, CrossFitters, adventurers, business people, retired people, professional athletes, dancers, marathoners, cyclists, skiers, snowboarders, runners, academics, high school and college athletes, medical professionals, and designers, just to name a few. They’ve done their research and come from all walks of life from around the world and locally.

One of those amazing people the long-time readers of this blog might remember is Paul Lyon. Paul is an avid skier that was featured on a Seattle TV News story about his knee stem cell procedure four years ago. He was told by doctors that he needed a knee replacement as his knees had gotten to the point that simple things, like climbing stairs or getting up from kneeling, had become very difficult. He didn’t mind fixing things, he said, but he just didn’t feel comfortable with the notion of “replacing things.” He had friends who’d had knee replacements and they did well, but they were limited in what they could do because their knees had been replaced with metal or plastic. Paul traveled from the Seattle area to the Centeno-Schultz Clinic in Colorado for a Regenexx same-day knee stem cell procedure. Paul was actually biking the next day (which most patients should not try)! He was so happy with his results he decided to have his other knee treated, but not till after ski season, which for Paul included hiking five miles up Crystal Mountain and then skiing down with his son!

While the registry contacts patients on an ongoing basis, it’s always wonderful to hear directly from patients! Paul popped up on Facebook a few days ago:

“I believe use and support the use of prp. Had stem cell procedure done on both knees done 4 years ago at Regenexx. I had 2 separate orthopedic doctors prior to having stem cell procedure done said I need to replace both knees. I’m leaving Saturday for helicopter ski trip…. my knees are not perfect, put seldom any pain. I’m 70, plan on hitting 100, pretty sure I won’t need my knees replaced. Feel free to contact me about my experience.”

We asked how the helicopter skiing went and he replied:

“Fantastic…I was the oldest, next day, no pain at all…others, very sore. Thanks and Aloha”

The upshot? It’s great to hear how Paul is doing and to get a four-year update on his knee stem cell procedure! Given what we’ve seen, I think his goal of being active to 100 is on track, and, hopefully, he’ll get there with his own knees!

Chris Centeno, MD is a specialist in regenerative medicine and the new field of Interventional Orthopedics. Centeno pioneered orthopedic stem cell procedures in 2005 and is responsible for a large amount of the published research on stem cell use for orthopedic applications. View Profile