Mattapoisett native rides cross country for stem cell awareness and money

• By Auditi Guha
  aguha@s-t.com

  southcoasttoday.com

  By Auditi Guha
  aguha@s-t.com

  Posted Jul. 23, 2015 at 2:01 AM

• 

   

  After 52 days of biking, Konnie Yankopolus finished his amazing cross country ride in Portsmouth on July 21. This photo was taken on Day 51 when he reached New Hampshire. COURTESY PHOTO
  

  

  
•  
  By Auditi Guha
  aguha@s-t.com

  
  Posted Jul. 23, 2015 at 2:01 AM
   

  After 52 days of biking across the country and some narrow escapes, Konnie Yankopolus said he is “exhilarated and humbled” to be back safe.

  Originally from Mattapoisett, 68-year-old Yankopolus finished the cross-country ride Tuesday in New Hampshire where his family met him at the finish line in Portsmouth and helped to ceremoniously dip the front wheel of his trusty steed in the Atlantic Ocean to mark a mission if not accomplished, at least begun.

  A doctor in Florida, Yankopolus said he embarked on the trip to raise awareness about a certain type of stem cell therapy that the FDA does not yet allow in the United States.

  “Medicine will be revolutionized by adult stem cell therapy,” said Yankopolus. “Life altering cures are now possible.”

  Using stem cells cultivated from their own bodies, patients with heart problems, for instance, can be helped to repair the damage and lead much better lives. Activated stem cell therapy helps cystic fibrosis patients breathe again without oxygen and help quadriplegics regain bowel control. But this is only the beginning.

  A unique mission

  “Ultimately this is a game changer in medicine,” Yankopolus said. “It is something that will give people a new lease on life and make the hopeless cases potentially solvable.”

  Patients who can benefit from this type of therapy have to currently go to the Dominican Republic, Mexico or England to improve their chances and their lives. Yankopolus began the journey with the goal of raising 200,000 to help such patients. The GoFundMe account has raised almost $3,000 with 28 donations over three months but the doctor said he hopes to continue it

  “As a physician who is intimately involved with adult stem cell miracles, I am undertaking a cross-country bicycle ride to raise awareness and funds that will deeply impact patient's lives,” he announced Feb. 20 in on his blog titled ‘Cycle for Stem Cells’ where he has recorded each day of the ride with America by Bicycle.

  The money will benefit The Stem Cell Alliance in Florida that aims to educate the public on the process and benefits of adult stem cell therapy, promote its use in the research and treatment of life-altering diseases, and provide financial assistance to those who medically qualify but cannot afford treatment, according to the website.

  “Although adult stem cell regeneration therapy has been proven over and over again it is not approved  by the FDA. Therefore it is not covered by insurance. Consequently the cost of the treatment must be  covered out of pocket,” said Kelly Drouin, assistant director, in a news release. “We have turned back death and restored the quality of life many times over. Simply put we need your help. We are asking  for your help financially.”

  According to the Alliance,  there are more than 70 diseases and disorders that are either cured or ameliorated by the  use of stem cell therapy or transplants. These include osteoporosis, Hodgkin's disease, sickle cell disease, plasma cell disorders and several types of leukemia and anemia.

  Cost and benefit

  The cost of treatment is in excess of $50,000, said Yankopolus. It requires at least two rounds of anesthesia — once when harvesting the stem cells and and again when injecting them, he said. Once drawn, the cells also need a lot of technical preparation.

  But for patients who otherwise lead a confined or painful life, the therapy has helped them not just to heal or lead more normal lives but to avoid multiple hospital visits.

  “We can't wait any longer. Even the great Gordy Howe got up and walked after what seemed to be a hopeless stroke in Mexico,” he said in the blog.

  Moreover, there isn’t a lot of economical gain for pharmaceutical companies because the product comes from the patients, he said.

  Already in use in other countries around the world, this regenerative treatment will help patients and the government save thousands of dollars in hospital costs and Medicare/Medicaid. “We are all going to need them in some capacity to stave off illness and regenerate our vital organs,” he said.

  Prepping for the ride

  To get the conversation started and rolling, Yankopolus left from San Francisco on May 31. But he started blogging about it earlier in the year, since he made the decision.

  Six days before the ride, he wrote that he was “doing 150 miles a week and getting stronger.”

  On May 1, he shared that two of his friends died recently from conditions that “could have been slowed and maybe even cured” if they had access to stem cell therapy.

  “Stem cell therapy is on the verge of the miraculous,” he said. “I am humbled and thankful that I am able to advance the conversation for patients who have no alternative therapy.”

  A day before he took the plunge, the doctor wrote a letter to his Andover classmates on the eve of their 50th reunion asking them to donate to his cause.

  “Your ‘activated’ educated adult stem cells, even though they came from you, are considered by the FDA as a drug, and consequently must undergo years of scrutiny at a cost of many millions of dollars. How long shall we wait? What if a loved one needed them now?” he penned.

  A long journey

  The journey began in California in cold fog.  The hills of San Francisco were a challenge involving a 1.2 mile climb with a 6 percent to 10 percent grade. “It was extremely difficult and so cold my fingers turned numb,” Yankopolus documented in the blog.

  With 73 miles down and 3,800 more to go, he said he was glad to hit the hay before 9 p.m.

  Montrose was a “a gem in the Rockies” on Day 17, said Yankopolus who found the mesas in Colorado beautiful and “beyond description.”

  On Day 28 in St. Joseph, Missouri, he recorded he was hurting with a lesion on his butt and was ordered to rest. But he celebrated the new people he was meeting and the friendships they inspired along the way.

  “Doctors, lawyers, truck driver from England, Norwegians, Germans and just neat people from everywhere,” he wrote.

  The ride from Youngstown to Erie was 100 miles on Day 43. He documented riding strong through “fabulous farmland,” encountering Amish people in horse-drawn buggies.

  Day 50 was “another glorious riding day,” across the Hudson and into Vermont marking “the beginning of the end of this great adventure.”

  When he reached the summit, he had a chocolate shake and “soaked in the beauty of the 100 mile view.”

  Finally, he touched Portsmouth, N.H. on Tuesday, exhilarated.

  A lofty goal

  Friends and family watched his progress and commented on his brave adventure online. One of them was his childhood friend Henry Laferriere in Westport.

  “We are all very proud of Konnie,” he said. “He is very courageous and dedicated to promoting  stem cell therapy and research. He has always been on the cusp of what's next and it sounds fantastic.”

  Yankopolus said it was a challenge, especially as he had never done a cross-country ride before, but said it was a unique experience. He even had a couple of narrow escapes. In Kansas, for example, a passing truck’s mirror hit him. Luckily, there was no serious damage. 

  After almost two months of being on a bike, Yankopolus was happy to be home visiting his mother in Mattapoisett Wednesday.

  With 40 years of caring for patients, Yankopolus said he sees adult stem cell therapy as “the next big breakthrough.”

  To explain why he has pushed himself so far to promote it, he quoted a popular proverb: “A man has made at least a start in discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.”