By: Barrie Quappé MPA, RN, BSN – Consultant/Director:
The UK’s Medical Research Council recently announced that ”Patients regain sight after receiving engineered retinal tissue.” [20th March 2018] Closer to home, a cancer patient who is a 4 year cancer survivor with breast cancer as well did a powerful keynote speech at the 35th Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference wherein she mentioned 
working with Perseus, a Cayman-based clinical research project, headed by Dr. George Peoples and local doctor Sook Yin. This project uses a patient’s own cancer cells to develop vaccines, specific for that individual. They can cryo-freeze your cancer cells as well, in case there is a recurrence and you want to do another vaccine.
Other projects in the Cayman Islands range from spinal devices that give eligible participants the option not to have the traditional spinal fusion procedure and preserve more movement, to a brand new trail approved to begin that uses a small device to ‘reset’ the Autonomic Nervous System or ANS and greatly improve symptoms of pain, anxiety and a list of other common chronic ailments. The hope in this trial is to reduce or eliminate medications frequently prescribed for these ailments.
I only hit the highlights deliberately to make this point; does your doctor research clinical trial options for you? A patient knows their body best and if you sense a physician is not taking your complaint/concerns seriously, please feel free to get a second opinion. Ladies, this is a heads up for you as we still are shown not to be taken seriously by caregivers more than men. People have saved their own lives by asking for this and so should you. It is an exciting time to be in medicine and for those healthcare professionals who are curious, contact me and I can tell you more.
We can all benefit by building solid patient-caregiver relationships that are true partnerships in finding the best care plan for that individual. In fact, the ‘partnership’ approach has shown that patients are more compliant with their treatment plan if they have been informed and understand why their care plan was chosen.
Hello Barrie – The FDA approved a procedure last year, Genicular Radiofrequency Ablation which is available at Cayman Neurology. Maybe you could speak to Dr Starkman on his visit next month or even get him on your program. Keep up the good work. Hard work does pay off