I’m 38 and have a degenerative joint disease that affects most of the joints in my body.
The “standard of care” treatments that insurance and government programs cover are worthless.
The only viable treatments are part of a novel discipline called orthobiologics. This includes stem cells and platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Both are cash only. Stem cells are more powerful, but exorbitantly expensive. PRP is less powerful, but less expensive. It’s unknown which provides better “bang for the buck.”
I have had several treatments with both over time with mixed results. They can work, sometimes spectacularly well, but there is always a risk of failure. It’s also possible to damage the joints again after treatment. In the six years since my first treatment, I’ve had a net decline, thanks largely to an incident in 2019 that badly aggravated things. I’m now teetering on disabled, where I can only do very conservative exercise and the pain significantly impacts my ability to work.
I have to make a hard treatment decision now: what portion of my net worth to invest in further treatment. I could invest a "small" (i.e. 1/3 portion of my net worth) on treating the worst areas of my spine and hands, which are the most crucial areas, with stem cells, or to invest a much larger (i.e. 2/3 or more) portion to treat everything as aggressively as possible, in the hope of getting whole-body improvement and increasing my exercise level.
I could ask my dad for money, and there is a good chance he would oblige. However, I feel pretty bad about it, because although he has some finite amount of money, he’s been pretty irresponsible, and needs all the money he has for his own future. He’s already helped me a lot, and I feel pretty bad asking or accepting anything more.
There was a time when I would have gone for broke on these treatments. The love of my life is exercise, and I was desperately trying to save it. But because of the limits of the treatments, and how expensive they are, I consider it pretty unrealistic at this point.
I'm basically sandwiched between getting wiped out physically and wiped out financially. Still, I have to make a decision here.
Thoughts?
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[deleted] 2y ago
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mattyanon Admin 2y ago
I don't think anyone else can help you with this decision.
Do try to find as many options as you can though, talk to your dad, doctors, etc. Get as many options as you can think of before deciding.
Good luck
whytehorse2021 2y ago
Look into getting financing. If it works you can pay it off, if not you can get out of the debt with disability.
thedonuts352 2y ago
Nobody is going to give me money for that shit, nor could I pay it off.
whytehorse2021 2y ago
I've been offered financing for my orthodontics($5k) and dental ($1.2k). I was recently looking at PRP and stem cells and the price has come way down in the US and Mexico so you might look at other countries.
Vermillion-Rx Admin 2y ago
How much would it cost you to get a few different opinions from some different doctors to see what the likely outcome will be?
Also, would trying the treatment now have a higher success rate vs later if the degenerative disease progressing further?
Would possibly being treated for this mean you could more comfortably live and work going forward, thus making it easier to build a financial future? Versus being in pain a lot?