Dr. Huang's website: http://www.nrrfr.com

In September of 2003, I traveled to Beijing, China to undergo an experimental procedure in the hopes of restoring some of the function and sensation that I had lost because of my spinal cord injury. Dr. Hongyun Huang transplanted olfactory ensheathing glial cells (OECs) into my spinal cord.

OECs are cells cultured from the olfactory bulb, a portion of the central nervous system (CNS). They are the only known cells in the CNS that regenerate throughout one's lifetime.

On September 28, 2003, I became the third American to have Dr. Huang's revolutionary surgery. He injected 500,000 OECs into my spinal cord above the site of my injury and 500,000 below the site of my injury. Immediately after I awoke from the surgery, I noticed some increased sensation and function. I also could breathe easier and I began to sweat below my level of injury.

If you haven't already, I would strongly suggest reading the detailed descriptions of my injury before continuing on with my improvements. Before I list personal observations, I'll copy my motor and sensory scores as noted by Dr. Huang and his staff before and after my surgery.

MOTOR

SENSORY

If you would like to see the actual documents, you can click the following hyperlinks: Before and After. They are scanned images (best viewed at a high screen resolution) that may take a little while to load...and much of the language is Chinese.

Four days after my surgery, a news crew videotaped some footage of myself and the other Americans that were there. It's not a very flattering video - it was my first 10 minutes out of my bed and into my wheelchair in 4 days. I was very lightheaded at the time, and my objections against wearing the Burger Kingesque birthday crown went unheeded. The video appeared several times on the Beijing news. It's a rather large file, so it may take awhile to download.