LaMerle Lee, 64, got knee pain relief from PRP and BMAC injections, then lost 50 pounds over two years through Pinnacle's wellness program. She's back to bowling and says she feels 20 years younger.
All right, I've got somebody amazing here. Um, this is LaMerle Lee. She's been with us for— how long have you been with Pinnacle, LaMerle?
Since you started. Was it 3 years now?
Yeah.
Going on 3 years.
Yeah, she's one of our star patients. She's done so amazingly well, very committed to her health, right?
Yes.
Um, so would you be comfortable giving me your age?
Yes, I'm 65— well, I'm 64. I'll be 65 in December.
All right, fantastic. So tell me, we're going to talk a little bit about the wellness. Now, LaMerle's been both a regenerative therapy patient and a wellness patient, so she's done the whole Pinnacle Method. And what was your life like before you started here at Pinnacle?
I had a lot of pain, especially in the knee. You've been treating our family since you've been here. Met you in an emergency room. My son broke his leg when you first got here.
Yeah.
And you've treated 4 generations of my family so far.
Wow.
So, yeah, I was in a lot of pain, had a knee problem, and so I went to another doctor here in town because I couldn't get in to see you because you were in your transition period.
Mm-hmm.
And so then finally when you opened up your office, I said, I'm going to see Dr. Schacter. So I came to you, we did the PRP and the BMAC treatments. And I'm a bowler, so I was never out of my bowling except for maybe 2 weeks after each injection. And knee has been great ever since. And when he started your wellness program, I said, well, I can't— I got to come to the best. So, and it's been a great journey.
Oh, that's beautiful. So what's your life like now? What are you able— what do you feel that's different?
I've lost 50 pounds being on the wellness program. I feel great. I have more energy. I feel good about myself. I'm able to move around more, be more successful with my bowling. It's improved anything in life. I'm just more energetic and I feel like I'm 20 years younger now.
That's great. What can you do now that you had really struggled with in the past?
Just, I have more energy now than what I had before. I didn't have a lot of energy before to be able to do things because of the weight, and getting the weight off has given me more energy. I'm able to get on and off the floor better. I've got twin grandbabies now that are 19 months old. I'm able to get on the floor and play with them, chase them around the house and do things when I wasn't able to do before whenever I had so much weight on me.
That's beautiful. And what did you try before you came to Pinnacle Integrative Orthopedics?
I tried all the different fad diets that you could go on. I'd lose maybe 10 pounds and then I'd gain 20 back. And since I've been on this program, I lost it slow, but that's great because every month I saw progress. And it took me 2 years to lose the weight, the 50 pounds, but that's okay because I feel like I'm going to keep it off. It just made a big difference.
Wonderful. What made you finally decide to get help?
I got— well, first of all, I needed to get help because all of my blood work charts were going out of the sky. They just were out of range, and I knew that if I kept going on the journey I was going on, I wouldn't be here for very long. My family has longevity. My mother passed away at 99, my grandmother at 100, and her sister at 103. And I said, so I wanted to be around for that long to be able to enjoy life with my family. And I knew I had to change things.
That's great. That's the best reason, right? To be around for the people that we love.
Yes, yes.
How long did it take you to see improvement when you were following our protocols?
Instant improvements. I mean, from the knee procedure all the way up to losing the weight. Instantly, I was seeing them. Every month I saw more improvement, more improvement every month staying on the programs.
And what made the biggest difference in making progress in your wellness journey?
The guidance of Pinnacle, because I was lost with all the other different things I tried, and they provided me the encouragement to keep going and the support I needed. Accountability, basically, to stay on track.
What was your favorite part of the program? What's your favorite part of what we do?
You make us feel like a family when we come in here, and we matter, and the patient care is just excellent here. And it's— I've always felt like that my interest has been your goal, is to make sure I get what I need to be healthy in life.
What's been the most challenging part of your wellness journey?
Diet change has been the most challenging. Trying to make sure I eat healthier, incorporate more proteins in my meals, more exercise, things like that. Is what's been more challenging.
What's the most surprising thing that you've learned about yourself and your health over the past 30 months that we've worked together?
It can be done, and it can be maintained, and you can stay focused.
That's great. So what would you tell somebody considering our wellness programs, our Pinnacle Method, Here at Pinnacle Integrative Orthopaedics?
Oh, you don't know how many people I've told about y'all. I've had so many bowlers, whenever I had my procedure with my knee, they were just amazed at what I was doing. A lot of them were really skeptical about it, and so they just were kind of like, you know, oh no, no, no, this is just, you know, witch doctor stuff or whatever. And when they saw my progress, you've Acquired a few of our bowlers that I have talked to over the past few years. And then my husband has a partial tear rotator cuff, and this was, you know, we're not going to do anything else but see Dr. Schacter, use his procedures.
Well, thank you. Anything else that you want to share about us or the program, your feelings, anything?
I know a lot of people think it's expensive because, you know, insurance doesn't recognize it today. But it's worth every penny you spend. Even if you have to do it out of pocket, it is worth every penny you spend because it's a better program to go through and just the support and everybody that's here. So you can't go wrong going with Pinnacle.
Thank you, Emma.
That was awesome!
She Traveled from Colorado for a Different Approach to Knee Pain | Lois’ Story
