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MIRACLE—Chuck Melber and his wife Betsy visit the Vatican to speak at a conference about how stem cell treatment saved Melber’s life. Chuck had more than 30 stents implanted in his heart before he was told there was no more medical intervention for him. The adult stem cell clinical trial was his last hope.
At the age of 48, Charles “Chuck” Melber of Agoura Hills had run out of hope.
His medical nightmare started in 2000 when he had his first heart attack at the age of 44. By 2004, more than 30 stents had been placed in Melber’s heart.
Doctors told him there was nothing else they could do to repair his heart short of a transplant.
Although the stents kept him alive, the quality of Melber’s life had been so diminished that he could barely perform simple daily tasks.
Dr. John Hess, Melber’s doctor at Los Robles Hospital, suggested that his patient participate in an adult stem-cell clinical trial.
Stem cells, adult or embryonic, have the potential to develop into a variety of cells as a person grows. Adult stem cells can renew themselves and repair or replace surrounding cells.
Since the clinical trial was a double blind study, Melber could have been given a placebo, which would have meant he would undergo invasive treatment with no guarantee that he was receiving potentially lifesaving stem cells.
In September 2006, Melber had adult stem cells injected into his heart muscle at the Scripps Green Hospital in San Diego.
However, before he received the injections, doctors had to collect his stem cells. The process made him feel like he had come down with the flu, Melber said.
“They give you injections for four days, pull out the stem cells and put them into your blood stream,” he said. “Each day it gets worse, but once the injections stop you feel better pretty quick. On the fourth day, I was put on dialysis and had my blood filtered for seven hours to pull out the stem cells.”
In the meantime, Melber’s heart had been completely mapped. Doctors knew exactly where in the heart muscle to inject the stem cells. The procedure was similar to an angiogram. Stem cells were transferred to his heart through the groin via the femoral artery.
Once the procedure was over, Melber felt better quickly. His wife, Betsy, said she was sure that meant her husband had been given the stem cells because he was not generally an optimistic person.
“I felt better within a week’s time,” Melber said. “Within six months, I was 200 percent better.”
Doctors ran tests and determined that Melber’s heart was indeed healing.
“New collateral arteries have grown to bring blood into my heart,” Melber said.
Proof that a new artery has developed remains elusive. Medical technology can’t prove that new arteries have grown, at least not yet, Melber said. But doctors say that the main artery to his heart is 100 percent blocked.
Melber says he has regained his ability to live life to the fullest. Since the clinical trial, he has newfound gusto. He can walk as much as he pleases, he takes fewer medications and is back at work building custom homes and commercial projects.
Melber is the contractor responsible for building the Gardens of the World in Thousand Oaks and custom homes in Lake Sherwood, Beverly Hills and Malibu.
In November, Melber, his wife and daughter went to Rome to participate in the Pontifical Council for Culture international conference at the Vatican.
The conference, “Adult Stem Cells: Science and the Future of Man and Culture,” brought together doctors, scientists, policymakers, ethicists, church leaders, educators and others to discuss and explore the future of adult stem cells in medicine.
Betsy Melber explained the Catholic Church’s stance on the use of stem cells for medical treatment.
The church doesn’t condone using embryonic cells to treat medical conditions because doing so would destroy an embryo. However, the church has no such prohibitions against using adult stem cells, which can be gleaned from most tissues in the body.
“(The Catholic Church) has been supportive of adult stem cell medical treatment all along,” Betsy Melber said. “The adult stem cell treatment is newer, more revolutionary. It will take away the controversy over (the treatment).”
Melber was thrilled to participate in the conference and share his story.
“It feels like a miracle,” Melber, now 55, said of his recovery. “I don’t have any chest pains, no shortness of breath. I am able to lead a normal life to the fullest capacity. I don’t have my heart holding me back. I can go full throttle forward.”