If you’re new to the term “Regenerative Medicine,” you won’t be for long.
Regenerative Medicine (RM) treatments (with stem cell therapy as perhaps the most well-known) are used to regenerate or replace injured, diseased, or defective cells, tissues or organs. Using the body’s own self-repair to heal from within, RM offers exciting promise for positive outcomes on a wide range of conditions, from birth defects to degenerative diseases.
Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) established its Center for Regenerative Medicine in 2011, believing that RM will be vital in the coming years to create new models of healthcare and transform medicine.
At Regenerative Treatment Centers of Leawood, stimulating the healing from within has been the goal since the clinic opened at Town Center in 2019.
“Regenerative treatments work on a cellular level, optimizing the potential of your body to heal, correct injuries, replenish deficiencies, and regain vitality,” says Co-founder Adam Boender, Doctor of Chiropractic.
Boender’s vision and passion for RM stems from a personal journey with his wife, Jennifer, and her near-fatal battle with Lyme Disease. [Watch the remarkable video at regenerativetreatmentcenters.com.]
When their first son, Ryder, was 5, he started having intermittent bouts of diarrhea and vomiting. After seeking medical answers, the Boenders were finally tested for Lyme Disease and were surprised that all three had tested positive. During this time, Jennifer also became pregnant with their second child, India. As a precaution, Jennifer delayed antibiotic treatment throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding and then through another pregnancy with their third child, Tristan.
It was a joyful time of welcoming children, but Jennifer’s body was going through chronic stress. In 2015, three months after Tristan was born, Jennifer’s health took a sudden downturn.
“I’ll never forget the day she collapsed in front of me,” Boender recalls. “I picked her up and drove her to the doctor. We aggressively started treatment, expecting her to improve in a few weeks. But a few weeks later, she still couldn’t walk and now was having seizures literally all day long. The doctor said to give it another two weeks, so we did, but nothing was changing. We were praying for any answer and any hope during what was the darkest and scariest moment of our lives.”
During that difficult time, they discovered they were pregnant with their fourth child, a son, Blaise. For the next three years, they sought treatment and answers, researching, and praying.
“We were in desperate need, so I’m grateful for those natural forms and medical care that saved her life. Each step kept her going to the next step, but the high-dosage antibiotics were destroying her gut from the inside.”
That’s when Boender started daily researching stem cell therapy for Lyme Disease. He found only two research articles online with no clinical trials and only a faint promise of success. It was enough.
“Even though I’m a huge optimist at heart, I had no idea if it would work,” he says, “but we just went for it. No medical procedure is ever guaranteed, but there are moments we have to put our faith in that step. After one month of high-dosage stem cells, Jenn went from bedridden seizures to rollerblading down the hill with our kids.”
Boender calls this his AHA moment when he knew he needed to provide this hope for others. As a chiropractor, he understood he couldn’t legally administer treatment, so he built a medical team who could. Together with Medical Director Cristyn Watkins, MD; Nurse Practitioner Michaela Kolarik, APRN; and Clinic Manager and Practice Administrator Summer Wenger; Regenerative Treatment Centers of Leawood became the first of what is hoped to be several centers in a network.
“I’m extremely proud of our team, and I consider our patients part of it. We do proprietary combinations of different modalities and therapies to bring lasting results for the patient.”
Boender says every patient receives a complete medical history evaluation, but many have already been diagnosed. “They often bring in their labs, X-Rays, and MRIs but aren’t getting results they want or they’re backsliding.”
All procedures at the clinic are non-surgical, varying from plasma and ozone injections to vitamin infusions, immune-boosting packages and even aesthetics such as microneedling for scarring or other cosmetic procedures. The most common procedure is stem cell injections for osteoarthritis, especially knees, hips and shoulders.
“The safety of regenerative procedures in clinical trials is extraordinary,” he adds.
Boender would like to see a paradigm shift in the term “alternative” medicine. “It sounds against mainstream, but I consider drugs and surgery alternative. Why wouldn’t we want to do something natural for our bodies that works with little to no side effects? RM is also preventative and helps build stronger immune systems in healthy individuals because let’s face it, health is a never-ending journey.”
Boender believes RM is changing lives, with many patients professing that their health was regained, including Jennifer.
“Lyme disease nearly killed me...several times,” Jenn says. “After trying every treatment under the sun with little or no success, it was Regenerative Medicine that changed everything. Finally, all I had fought for for so many years was worth it. I could be a mom, wife, friend and myself again. I can’t credit any other form of treatment we tried—not western medicine, alternative medicine, or natural medicine—with results this life changing, this life giving.”
Boender adds that in a world of chronic illness, people often mask their suffering for those around them. “At first glance you wouldn’t know there is pain, but many are suffering and hurting, knowing their answer is only the next pill or surgery. I hope those people will take that first step to meet with us. It can bring them back to their life.”
www.regenerativetreatmentcenters.com
[pulled optional quote] “It’s time to have hope, break through the bonds of pain and inflammation, and start living the life you deserve.”— Dr. Adam Boender, D.C., Regenerative Treatment Centers of Leawood