{"id":30,"date":"2017-01-05T13:58:47","date_gmt":"2017-01-05T18:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/?p=30"},"modified":"2017-01-05T14:05:38","modified_gmt":"2017-01-05T19:05:38","slug":"northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/","title":{"rendered":"Northwestern University Medical Center & Dr. Burt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"After spending an inordinate amount of time online learning more about both lung transplant and stem cell transplant, I found that a Dr. Richard Burt in Chicago was having a great deal of success with autologous non-myeloablative hematopoetic stem cell transplant for patients with scleroderma, along with other autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis. \u00a0Moreover, he was adamant that the limiting factor to a successful transplant depended on the condition of the heart, not the lungs. \u00a0Stem cell transplant overall experiences about a 10-12% mortality rate during treatment, making it a rather risky undertaking for those electing to go through with it. \u00a0Dr. Burt found that those that died were dying of heart failure. \u00a0They were not suffocating as a result of poor lung function. \u00a0Moreover, he found that the heart failure is related to the radiation treatments (myeloablative) patients were subjected to along with the chemotherapy. \u00a0By eliminating the full body radiation from the treatment protocol (non-myeloablative) Dr. Burt’s treatment related mortality rate dropped to 5-6%, basically half of what everyone else was experiencing.<\/p>\n

Based on this information, I decided to apply for hematopoetic stem cell transplant (or HSCT as it is more commonly known) with Dr. Burt at Northwestern. \u00a0On October 24-27 I was in Chicago undergoing a week of testing to determine if I was a viable candidate for HSCT. \u00a0Easily some of the most comprehensive testing I have been through. \u00a0A two hour CT scan that generated over 5,000 images of my torso. \u00a0Pity the radiologist that had to review those files! \u00a0A right and left heart catheterization that was pretty miserable to undergo, but it yielded some new information on my heart. \u00a0Even though the right heart catheterization at U. of M. ten months earlier had found nothing wrong with my heart, by this time scleroderma had begun hardening my heart, or more specifically hardening the pericardium surrounding my heart. \u00a0Not good news. \u00a0This is the condition at the root of the 10-12% mortality rate among HSCT patients.<\/p>\n

Not to be deterred, Dr. Burt had developed what he refers to as the “heart friendly” protocol to allow HSCT to go forward for patients with heart involvement. \u00a0Basically less cytoxan chemotherapy and more fludarabine, another chemo drug that is easier on the heart. \u00a0I would be approved for HSCT based upon using the new heart friendly protocol. \u00a0All that was left was to convince my health insurance to pay for the $175,000 procedure that was so new that only 15 patients have gone through it as a part of a clinical trial. \u00a0No problem there, right?!? \u00a0Northwestern has a nurse coordinator for the HSCT program, Carol Burns, who knows insurance companies. \u00a0Carol worked her magic and in a little over a week I was good to go. \u00a0Onward…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After spending an inordinate amount of time online learning more about both lung transplant and stem cell transplant, I found that a Dr. Richard Burt in Chicago was having a great deal of success with autologous non-myeloablative hematopoetic stem cell … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nNorthwestern University Medical Center & Dr. Burt - Sailing SV Celtic Cross - Dave Kurtz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Northwestern University Medical Center & Dr. Burt - Sailing SV Celtic Cross - Dave Kurtz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After spending an inordinate amount of time online learning more about both lung transplant and stem cell transplant, I found that a Dr. Richard Burt in Chicago was having a great deal of success with autologous non-myeloablative hematopoetic stem cell … Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sailing SV Celtic Cross - Dave Kurtz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-05T18:58:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-05T19:05:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/chicago-il-251-e-huron-northwestern-medicine-300x169.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dave\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/ff2177fa1c122c9142de327e9245b98e\"},\"headline\":\"Northwestern University Medical Center & Dr. Burt\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-05T18:58:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-05T19:05:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/\"},\"wordCount\":468,\"commentCount\":3,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/10c4d53fa59940241254824d520dc622\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Scleroderma - a Journey\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/\",\"name\":\"Northwestern University Medical Center & Dr. Burt - Sailing SV Celtic Cross - Dave Kurtz\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-05T18:58:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-05T19:05:38+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Northwestern University Medical Center & Dr. Burt\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"A Journal by Dave Kurtz\",\"description\":\"And a Star to Steer Her By\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/10c4d53fa59940241254824d520dc622\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/10c4d53fa59940241254824d520dc622\",\"name\":\"Dave Kurtz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/04377c1b4286b5ed15d90e5cb9ab6653?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/04377c1b4286b5ed15d90e5cb9ab6653?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dave Kurtz\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.davidwkurtz.Com\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/ff2177fa1c122c9142de327e9245b98e\",\"name\":\"Dave\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/894c6dfd1d570fec06201505a3d965ae?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/894c6dfd1d570fec06201505a3d965ae?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dave\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.davidwkurtz.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Northwestern University Medical Center & Dr. Burt - Sailing SV Celtic Cross - Dave Kurtz","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Northwestern University Medical Center & Dr. Burt - Sailing SV Celtic Cross - Dave Kurtz","og_description":"After spending an inordinate amount of time online learning more about both lung transplant and stem cell transplant, I found that a Dr. Richard Burt in Chicago was having a great deal of success with autologous non-myeloablative hematopoetic stem cell … Continue reading →","og_url":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/","og_site_name":"Sailing SV Celtic Cross - Dave Kurtz","article_published_time":"2017-01-05T18:58:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-01-05T19:05:38+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/chicago-il-251-e-huron-northwestern-medicine-300x169.jpg"}],"author":"Dave","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/"},"author":{"name":"Dave","@id":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/ff2177fa1c122c9142de327e9245b98e"},"headline":"Northwestern University Medical Center & Dr. Burt","datePublished":"2017-01-05T18:58:47+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-05T19:05:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/"},"wordCount":468,"commentCount":3,"publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/10c4d53fa59940241254824d520dc622"},"articleSection":["Scleroderma - a Journey"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/","url":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/","name":"Northwestern University Medical Center & Dr. Burt - Sailing SV Celtic Cross - Dave Kurtz","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-01-05T18:58:47+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-05T19:05:38+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/2017\/01\/05\/northwestern-university-medical-center-dr-burt\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Northwestern University Medical Center & Dr. Burt"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#website","url":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/","name":"A Journal by Dave Kurtz","description":"And a Star to Steer Her By","publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/10c4d53fa59940241254824d520dc622"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/10c4d53fa59940241254824d520dc622","name":"Dave Kurtz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/04377c1b4286b5ed15d90e5cb9ab6653?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/04377c1b4286b5ed15d90e5cb9ab6653?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dave Kurtz"},"logo":{"@id":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.davidwkurtz.Com"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/ff2177fa1c122c9142de327e9245b98e","name":"Dave","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/894c6dfd1d570fec06201505a3d965ae?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/894c6dfd1d570fec06201505a3d965ae?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dave"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.davidwkurtz.com"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32,"href":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions\/32"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidwkurtz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}