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WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO ...

Pioneer stem cell patient is 'quite well'

By Helen Altonn

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 25, 2008

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Question: What ever happened to the Big Island woman who was the first known American treated successfully with stem cell therapy for Parkinson's disease?

Answer: Penny Thomas of Captain Cook said people from all over the world have contacted her since the Star-Bulletin published reports of her stem cell surgery in Beijing two years ago.

"I've had people come to visit me here to see if I'm for real," said the Big Island woman, who has been living the past year with her daughter, Cheyenne, in Pagosa Springs, Colo.

After hearing about the successful treatment with 3 million stem cells — from a donor's retina — deposited in her brain in May 2006, others followed her to the Tiantan Puhua Neurosurgical Hospital, she said. "I don't know what the numbers are up to now."

She said she is "doing quite well" and is active backpacking, camping, gathering wood for winter and riding her two horses. She is looking forward to snow for cross-country skiing.

Thomas, 55, takes about one-fourth of a tablet of Sinemet, used to increase dopamine levels in the brain, and amino acids five to six times a day "to remain strong and tremor-free." She also takes an herb known as macuna pruriens which makes dopamine naturally, and has found that curcumin (turmeric) is a great help. It acts as an anti-inflammatory for the nervous system, as well as other parts of the body, she said.

If she gets stressed out, it makes her feel weak, so she tries to live as stress-free as possible, she said. She achieves that "by spending time in nature horseback riding or listening to hemi-sync music, which engages both sides of the brain to function at the same time — like a dolphin's brain."

"I'm really happy with my life because I have a life now," she said. "I feel I can participate in life, and I'm grateful that I've replaced pretty much all the prescription drugs with herbs and amino acids, which I believe the body can handle much better."

She has not been back to China, although scientists from the Stem Cell Research Center at Beijing University have asked her to return, she said. "Financially it is not in my cards."

Thomas said she still has her home in Hawaii. "I just have my suitcase here," she said by telephone. She expects to return to the Big Island next month, then return to Colorado to ride her horses and ski.

———

This update was written by Helen Altonn. You can write us at What Ever Happened to ..., Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; e-mail cityeditors@starbulletin.com; or call 529-4747.

Question: What ever happened to the Big Island woman who was the first known American treated successfully with stem cell therapy for Parkinson's disease?


Answer: Penny Thomas of Captain Cook said people from all over the world have contacted her since the Star-Bulletin published reports of her stem cell surgery in Beijing two years ago.

"I've had people come to visit me here to see if I'm for real," said the Big Island woman, who has been living the past year with her daughter, Cheyenne, in Pagosa Springs, Colo.

After hearing about the successful treatment with 3 million stem cells — from a donor's retina — deposited in her brain in May 2006, others followed her to the Tiantan Puhua Neurosurgical Hospital, she said. "I don't know what the numbers are up to now."

She said she is "doing quite well" and is active backpacking, camping, gathering wood for winter and riding her two horses. She is looking forward to snow for cross-country skiing.

Thomas, 55, takes about one-fourth of a tablet of Sinemet, used to increase dopamine levels in the brain, and amino acids five to six times a day "to remain strong and tremor-free." She also takes an herb known as macuna pruriens which makes dopamine naturally, and has found that curcumin (turmeric) is a great help. It acts as an anti-inflammatory for the nervous system, as well as other parts of the body, she said.

If she gets stressed out, it makes her feel weak, so she tries to live as stress-free as possible, she said. She achieves that "by spending time in nature horseback riding or listening to hemi-sync music, which engages both sides of the brain to function at the same time — like a dolphin's brain."

"I'm really happy with my life because I have a life now," she said. "I feel I can participate in life, and I'm grateful that I've replaced pretty much all the prescription drugs with herbs and amino acids, which I believe the body can handle much better."

She has not been back to China, although scientists from the Stem Cell Research Center at Beijing University have asked her to return, she said. "Financially it is not in my cards."

Thomas said she still has her home in Hawaii. "I just have my suitcase here," she said by telephone. She expects to return to the Big Island next month, then return to Colorado to ride her horses and ski.

———

This update was written by Helen Altonn. You can write us at What Ever Happened to ..., Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; e-mail cityeditors@starbulletin.com; or call 529-4747.

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