HOW OUR OWN CELLS CAN HEAL US

Breakthrough treatments in what's called regenerative medicine can be a lifesaver.

- Patricia Pearson

ANNISSA JOBB first limped into the office of Riam Shammaa, MD, a sports medicine doctor, and pain specialist in Toronto, in 2017. Jobb had been working as an aide in long-term care facilities when her back pain first appeared about a decade earlier. The cause: an undiagnosed herniated disc, which had pinched a nerve. As the pain worsened, Jobb gritted her teeth and tried to keep going. Now she was desperate for help.

“It's been my calling in life, taking care of people,” says Jobb, now 55. But working with frail seniors involves a lot of lifting, bending, and pulling. “I had a drawer full of pain medication. None of it was working. I'd snap," she says. “My husband and I came close to getting divorced.”

By November 2016, Jobb could scarcely walk even a short distance “My doctor finally said, 'You will end up in a wheelchair if you don't stop working there."

Jobb's internist referred her to Dr. Shammaa, who began by administering nerve-block injections, similar to an epidural, every few weeks. They held the pain at bay for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, but then it always returned.