Ryan’s Stem Cell Fund
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- MY STORY -
My name is Ryan and I'm 39 years old. I understand that many people suffer from back pain. However, the injuries to my body are many, chronic, and stem from a consolidation of physical jobs and an active lifestyle.
I shouldn't be so crippled at 39 years old....At least that's what I'm told by every doctor I see.
It started for me with firefighting. I was a wildland firefighter for almost six years in the Los Padres National Forest in Ojai, Ventura, and Santa Barbara and for the Fillmore City volunteer fire department. We trained hard, played hard and worked harder. We wore three inch heeled fire boots and fifty pound packs while cutting line on fires for sixteen-plus hour shifts for weeks at a time. We also lifted hurt and/or sick people in their most vulnerable moments and/or pulled them out of their mangled vehicles on the road. It was physically taxing and stressful, yet I loved my job and I love helping people. I wouldn't take any of it back!
In 2014, I decided to leave wildland firefighting to the young guys and started working as a sea kayak guide, ocean lifeguard, a wine tour guide, a substitute teacher, and a barman at a brewery; all in Carpinteria, California. Out of this transition, blossomed an idea to start a natural sunscreen company. I'm a ginger and was working all day everyday in the sun. To make my idea a reality, I donated all my belongings to Goodwill and sold my truck. I worked seven days a week, two jobs a day for three years putting my paychecks into the bank and slept on the beach and in the lifeguard tower to make my idea come to fruition.
Finally, Sea & Summit sunscreen was born in May of 2015. What does this have to do with my body? Well, all of those jobs and starting a company involve a ton of sitting, lifting people and other heavy things, and keeping in good physical shape to perform when You need help. However, the combination of all those experiences and the previous years of firefighting took a major toll on my body. At 37 years old in 2017, in a period of four months, I went from being healthy to not being able to sit, stand, move, sleep, be intimate, or work because of a major lower back disc herniation that had me in the ER consistently until I had emergency surgery on January 23rd, 2018. The pain was gone...for a short while. When the pain returned, I was where I had started; I couldn't work the jobs I had been doing anymore. They were just too much for my body.
About a year later in 2019, I ended up in the ER on Christmas Eve and a new MRI revealed the disc I had surgery on re-herniated and the one above it was bulging. I vowed not to have surgery again, and I started doing foundation core training, acupuncture, massage, changed my diet, used electrical stimulation, had multiple cortisone shots, and anything I could think of that I could afford on my own. All of those things helped me manage the pain but I was never able to get strong enough to return to work or live normally.
Then covid hit! I had a choice to make; save my business or pay rent. I chose to move into my van and save Sea & Summit sunscreen. Covid has been one of the hardest financial challenges to date. I think we all share that! Sea & Summit is a small business that doesn't qualify for any government aid, and because I made $5,000 last year at the brewery, I'm only eligible for $83/week unemployment. Because our former president's enacted law that states if your unemployment claim is below $100/wk you are not eligible to receive the extra stimulus, I don't receive that aid either. I am struggling to find work because of my body and the consistent shutdowns.
Then the combination of living in a van, running a business, and my history all caught up about 4 weeks ago.
I was surfing and one wave sent me all the way back to before my first surgery. It was like being in a car accident with no blunt trauma. Dislocated ribs and twists and pulls and compression that lit my spine up.
My ego for surfing big waves is finally depleted. I won't be doing that anymore.
As a result, my most recent MRI in December 2020 revealed I have two more disc bulges in addition to the original disc I had unsuccessful surgery on. Of course modern medicine prescribed cortisone shots which haven't helped and a handful of drugs to medicate. Surgery was already unsuccessful and after exhausting all avenues of care, stem cell treatment is the only procedure I have not tried. From my research and consultations with doctors, they and I feel very confident that stem cells will heal me. Problem is they aren't covered by insurance, there are no payment plans, and the cost is due upfront. It's a pay to play system and I'm at a loss.
- THE TREATMENT PLAN -
- I will use the $24k for a full treatment plan over the course of months where the doctors will monitor my progress with supplementation of vitamins, hormones, electromagnetic therapy, stem cell and platelet rich plasma injections in all the areas of my spine that have been chronically injured and are degenerating. This plan will help me heal and get back to what a normal 39 year old man should feel like so I can work and live pain-free.
- I need to start treatment as soon as possible! It's one thing to live in pain, but not being able to work and house or feed myself, or be active is another. I am not able to work physical jobs or desk jobs anymore. Whether I’m sitting, standing or sleeping, it never stops. Getting up out of a chair is painful and difficult.
My situation is urgent! I can't work or sleep or anything other than walk around. I'm not eligible for disability or unemployment and the treatments are not covered by health insurance.
All that being said, I know I am not a victim. I have to take responsibility for my circumstances and I have. It is really hard to ask for help, but I have exhausted my own resources and financial ability to heal my body. I need your help!
Thank you for reading this far and considering helping. If this campaign is successful, I will be. I will keep all of you updated weekly once I am able to start the plan of treatment. Please donate below and share this campaign with your family, friends and co-workers.
Ryan
- MY STORY -
My name is Ryan and I'm 39 years old. I understand that many people suffer from back pain. However, the injuries to my body are many, chronic, and stem from a consolidation of physical jobs and an active lifestyle.
I shouldn't be so crippled at 39 years old....At least that's what I'm told by every doctor I see.
It started for me with firefighting. I was a wildland firefighter for almost six years in the Los Padres National Forest in Ojai, Ventura, and Santa Barbara and for the Fillmore City volunteer fire department. We trained hard, played hard and worked harder. We wore three inch heeled fire boots and fifty pound packs while cutting line on fires for sixteen-plus hour shifts for weeks at a time. We also lifted hurt and/or sick people in their most vulnerable moments and/or pulled them out of their mangled vehicles on the road. It was physically taxing and stressful, yet I loved my job and I love helping people. I wouldn't take any of it back!
In 2014, I decided to leave wildland firefighting to the young guys and started working as a sea kayak guide, ocean lifeguard, a wine tour guide, a substitute teacher, and a barman at a brewery; all in Carpinteria, California. Out of this transition, blossomed an idea to start a natural sunscreen company. I'm a ginger and was working all day everyday in the sun. To make my idea a reality, I donated all my belongings to Goodwill and sold my truck. I worked seven days a week, two jobs a day for three years putting my paychecks into the bank and slept on the beach and in the lifeguard tower to make my idea come to fruition.
Finally, Sea & Summit sunscreen was born in May of 2015. What does this have to do with my body? Well, all of those jobs and starting a company involve a ton of sitting, lifting people and other heavy things, and keeping in good physical shape to perform when You need help. However, the combination of all those experiences and the previous years of firefighting took a major toll on my body. At 37 years old in 2017, in a period of four months, I went from being healthy to not being able to sit, stand, move, sleep, be intimate, or work because of a major lower back disc herniation that had me in the ER consistently until I had emergency surgery on January 23rd, 2018. The pain was gone...for a short while. When the pain returned, I was where I had started; I couldn't work the jobs I had been doing anymore. They were just too much for my body.
About a year later in 2019, I ended up in the ER on Christmas Eve and a new MRI revealed the disc I had surgery on re-herniated and the one above it was bulging. I vowed not to have surgery again, and I started doing foundation core training, acupuncture, massage, changed my diet, used electrical stimulation, had multiple cortisone shots, and anything I could think of that I could afford on my own. All of those things helped me manage the pain but I was never able to get strong enough to return to work or live normally.
Then covid hit! I had a choice to make; save my business or pay rent. I chose to move into my van and save Sea & Summit sunscreen. Covid has been one of the hardest financial challenges to date. I think we all share that! Sea & Summit is a small business that doesn't qualify for any government aid, and because I made $5,000 last year at the brewery, I'm only eligible for $83/week unemployment. Because our former president's enacted law that states if your unemployment claim is below $100/wk you are not eligible to receive the extra stimulus, I don't receive that aid either. I am struggling to find work because of my body and the consistent shutdowns.
Then the combination of living in a van, running a business, and my history all caught up about 4 weeks ago.
I was surfing and one wave sent me all the way back to before my first surgery. It was like being in a car accident with no blunt trauma. Dislocated ribs and twists and pulls and compression that lit my spine up.
My ego for surfing big waves is finally depleted. I won't be doing that anymore.
As a result, my most recent MRI in December 2020 revealed I have two more disc bulges in addition to the original disc I had unsuccessful surgery on. Of course modern medicine prescribed cortisone shots which haven't helped and a handful of drugs to medicate. Surgery was already unsuccessful and after exhausting all avenues of care, stem cell treatment is the only procedure I have not tried. From my research and consultations with doctors, they and I feel very confident that stem cells will heal me. Problem is they aren't covered by insurance, there are no payment plans, and the cost is due upfront. It's a pay to play system and I'm at a loss.
- THE TREATMENT PLAN -
- I will use the $24k for a full treatment plan over the course of months where the doctors will monitor my progress with supplementation of vitamins, hormones, electromagnetic therapy, stem cell and platelet rich plasma injections in all the areas of my spine that have been chronically injured and are degenerating. This plan will help me heal and get back to what a normal 39 year old man should feel like so I can work and live pain-free.
- I need to start treatment as soon as possible! It's one thing to live in pain, but not being able to work and house or feed myself, or be active is another. I am not able to work physical jobs or desk jobs anymore. Whether I’m sitting, standing or sleeping, it never stops. Getting up out of a chair is painful and difficult.
My situation is urgent! I can't work or sleep or anything other than walk around. I'm not eligible for disability or unemployment and the treatments are not covered by health insurance.
All that being said, I know I am not a victim. I have to take responsibility for my circumstances and I have. It is really hard to ask for help, but I have exhausted my own resources and financial ability to heal my body. I need your help!
Thank you for reading this far and considering helping. If this campaign is successful, I will be. I will keep all of you updated weekly once I am able to start the plan of treatment. Please donate below and share this campaign with your family, friends and co-workers.
Ryan
Organizer
Ryan Kell
Organizer
Carpinteria, CA