Drew's Medical Fund
Donation protected
Drew is a 17 year old boy who has been an active and athletic kid his whole life. He loves lifting weights and pushing himself in the gym. When he was 14 years old, he started having knee problems. He saw close to a dozen different doctors to diagnose what was causing his knee issues. The majority of the doctors, even after multiple MRI's, Cat Scans, and X-rays, still could not pinpoint exactly what was wrong. The final conclusion was that his knee caps were genetically predisposed to a patella tracking disorder. Doctors believed that over time his condition progressively got worse and worse from being so active along with the natural growth of his bones. This genetic abnormality in both knees had caused severe cartilage damage overtime. In the right knee his cartilage was destroyed down to the bone causing bone on bone damage to his knee cap. The left knee was not as severe but still had significant cartilage damage. Now at the age of 17, Drew has now had a total of 10 different knee surgeries to realign his knee caps and try to heal and regenerate the cartilage in his knees. Three of those surgeries resulted from a very bad infection in his left knee that took more then 6 months recover from. He has also received multiple cortisone and synvisc injections to try to help him tolerate the pain. The doctors have tried every possible surgical and non surgical procedure that is covered by insurance to help his knees. It has been almost 3 years since the first surgery and still there has been no improvement. At this point, Drew feels like the 10 surgeries have been a waste and alot of tough times for nothing. Now at the age of 17, the doctors have now told him that his condition has now progressed into osteoarthritis. Typically the earliest age people develop osteoarthritis is in their late 40s and then they have a knee replacement. Drew has been told at this rate he will most likely need a knee replacement in both of his knees by his early 20's or sooner if no treatment is done. The doctors have surgically done everything they can do to prevent a knee replacement. A knee replacement at this age would mean he would be limited to almost everything for the rest of his life. This also would mean he would most likely have 3 knee replacements in his lifetime because they only last 15 years at the most for an active person. There is surgically nothing else that doctors can do to heal and stop the degeneration of cartilage in his knees. The best and only option left for Drew is to try a very prestigious and advanced treatment of Prolotherapy, PRP (platelet-rich plasma), and Stem Cells. This is the maximum treatment possible combined with 3 different procedures. Stem cells and PRP are the newest and most advanced option known for treating osteoarthritis and tons of various injuries and conditions. Sadly, being so new to the medical field, none of these are covered by insurance. The sooner Drew is able to get this procedure done the better chance there is of stopping the progression of the osteoarthritis. It also could help heal and regenerate new cartilage overtime making his knees closer to normal. Please help Drew reach his goal.
Organizer and beneficiary
Drew Bruns
Organizer
Springboro, OH
Terri Bruns
Beneficiary
