Ski Bunny

I found this article about Chloe Sohl, and I would like to undergo further research about stem cell treatment for hearing loss. Has anyone been treated in Asia or here in the States with stem cells for hearing loss? I wonder if this is still experimental but safe? Currently, the doctors I am seeing are 99% sure that my SSHL was viral not autoimmune, but I will be getting a blood test in the next few weeks to rule it out for sure. Honestly, I’m a little worried because that would make things look worse at this point. With my history of autoimmune problems (I have Ulcerative colitis) I really hope my hearing loss is viral or at least…of an unknown cause.

“Chloe Sohl, an 18-year old college student who majors in music at University of Arizona was suffering from autoimmune hearing loss since the age of 15. Although there is no known cause of her diagnosis, it is a serious disease that slowly damages the organs. Chloe’s father, Dr. Bertram Sohl is a director of Obstetrics and Gynecology at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Long Beach, California and her mother, Dr. Veronique Jotterand is an ophthalmologist and Vice Chief of Staff at Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach, California. Even though Chloe’s parents are medical doctors, they felt helpless and devastated about their daughter’s progressive condition. They tried every possible medication, but Chloe’s condition got worse. The only options they had were for Chloe to use a hearing aid and for her to take medication to slow down her autoimmune system. Dr. Tai June Yoo, a professor from University of Tennessee and a medical advisor of RNL BIO explained as specialist in immune diseases, that if Chloe continues to take strong medication like Methotrexate and Humira, there will be high chances for further serious complications without guarantee of improvement. Her doctors even recommended Chloe to receive Cochlea implant that would enable Chloe to hear some sound, but would irreversibly destroy the middle ear, which scared her parents.

Ever since Dr. Sohl met Dr. Jeong Chan Ra, CEO of the firm, they began to see hope in Chloe’s hearing. Dr. Ra established RNL Life Science in California to promote stem cell banking and to introduce the benefit of stem cell therapy through medical tourism. He held a seminar on April 20, 2009 with 30 doctors from Southern California on the topic of adult stem cell therapy in San Pedro, California. Among the attendees was Dr. Sohl, who was stunned at RNL BIO’s achievements in stem cell therapeutics that was able to improve various conditions by stem cell treatment. The principle of adult stem cell therapy is actually simple because it utilizes the natural healing ability of our own body.

Dr. Sohl was very intrigued for his daughter to receive stem cell treatment, but his wife was skeptical about Chloe getting stem cell therapy at first. Chloe’s physicians even discouraged Chloe from receiving stem cell treatment. However, they were able to decide to try this treatment for Chloe from seeing RNL BIO’s successful outcomes. The great safety profile of RNL stem cell therapy made them comfortable. Chloe felt assured to accept the therapy.

Chloe said, “I felt very good about it. I felt very optimistic. I’ve had IV’s every month since I started to lose my hearing. It was good because I knew this could work unlike the other ones. I just felt very optimistic about the whole procedure.”

Currently, stem cell transplant is not allowed in some countries like the United States, some European countries, and South Korea unless it gets a market approval through clinical trials as new pharmaceutical drugs undergo. Chloe had to travel outside of the United States and to Japan or China where RNL established stem cell clinics. More than 2,000 patients with various diseases have been treated with stem cell therapeutics through RNL BIO since 2008.

Chloe visited Dr. Won, a plastic surgeon in Los Angeles to harvest her fat tissue around her belly button in last June. Then the tissue was sent to the laboratory RNL BIO in Germantown, Maryland, where they isolated stem cells, put them in liquid nitrogen shipper and transported them to RNL BIO in Seoul, Korea. It took them a month to expand her stem cells to a sufficient amount enough to treat her hearing loss. Chloe’s family planned a trip to Korea during their summer vacation. At last, on July 27, 2009, they visited Korea for two weeks. The stem cell treatment took place in Japan — 600 million cells were administered by three injections with 5 day intervals. The cells were injected into her veins and auditory system.

Chloe’s hearing was tested two months after the procedure was completed on October 16, 2009. The results were spectacular. The left side of her ear improved 50% from not being able to hear at all. The right side of her ear gained almost complete hearing.

Dr. Jotterand could not bear her excitement, “Now it’s just been a 180 degree turnaround. She’s just enjoying life and enjoying being a freshman at the university. She’s just having a great time and it’s just wonderful to see the joy in her own face and in her life.”



For questions regarding the press conference or receiving stem cell therapy, please contact Jin Han Hong, Ph.D., managing director at hongjh@rnl.co.kr.

It happened to be that I got one of those strange medical problems that you hear about but you think that it will never happen to you. I am in the ongoing process of having lost hearing in my left ear:

I will never forget the haunting day that it happened; I was standing in front of a classroom of about 35 Middle School students. I was giving a lecture to one of my AVID classes (I’m a teacher.) Suddenly, I heard a swoosh of what sounded like mucus block my left ear and everything went quiet. I could hear the students chatting to each other on my right side, but I could no longer hear on my left. 

I went to the doctor the next day due to pain that developed in my ear. He told me that I had “one of the worst ear infections he had ever seen,” and put me on antibiotics. The antibiotics worked, but my ear still felt like it needed to pop and my hearing remained super muffled. 

One week later, I woke up super dizzy. I had been dizzy for a few weeks (I had tripped over kid’s backpacks at school) but this was different. Stupidly, I didn’t want to call a sub, so I drove my car to school. I starting walking across the parking lot, but everything around me was spinning in such a violent manner that I couldn’t stand up and walk. I collapsed somewhere near the band room and started vomiting. The school nurse had to come get my in a wheelchair, and I was taken to Urgent care. 

The Asian doctor at Urgent care told me I had Labyrinthitis and assured me that this was very normal (even his mother had it last week!) He told me to take dramamine, and it would go away on it’s own. 

The next day, I still felt the earth spinning and was violently ill, so I went to my regular GP doctor. She said she agreed with the Urgent care doc. but gave me several more drugs to put me out for several days b/c my vertigo was so bad (I couldn’t even watch TV without throwing up). Sadly, she did not give me a hearing test and sent me on my way saying that “a ENT doctor will not want to see me for 2 months b/c this is so common and it will go away on its own”. This mis-information will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Of course, my whole family believed the two PAMF doctors and I just tried to wait it out without seeing an Ear doctor. Yes, the dizziness and vertigo went away in a few weeks, but my ear still felt plugged. I called both doctors who had treated me and told them that my hearing had not come back. My GP told me that I could see a ENT but it wouldn’t really matter. At this point, 4 weeks later, I was worried and made an appointment with an ENT anyway.

Five weeks later, I finally saw an ENT and expected that he would be able to drain or pop my ear somehow. However, after many hearing tests and an audiogram…I had made a big mistake listening to my GP and not coming in. I had a 30% chance of gaining back my hearing and I would be taking oral steroids to see what could be saved. I fainted right there in the chair. 

I was so upset and disturbed that the doctor recommended anti-anxiety meds and counseling at the clinic. I came home and cried and cried like I had never before. I sobbed into my husbands arms for hours. I had been dealing with this “stuffed ear” (now I know it’s hearing loss) for weeks. It affects my quality of life in such a negative way (balance/ringing that never stops/depression and other side effects…) I just couldn’t imagine life like this… forever.

This type of hearing loss is a “Medical EMERGENCY” and I should have seen an ENT right away. My ear was not “full” or “stuffy,” it just felt like that because my hearing my gone in the left ear. So, I started to get very proactive, took the predinsone and went to a new highly regarded private Ear doctor. 

At first, the oral steroids helped me a bit according to hearing tests, but the next office visit showed no improvement. Thus, I urged him myself to inject my middle ear with the steroids with a needle into the eardrum. I had read that this would feel like acid eating away at my ear, and would be one of the most painful things I’ve ever felt, but it really didn’t hurt very much. I was actually wishing it to be painful (no pain = no gain, right).

Five injections later, one every 4 or 5 days, the doctor and I are seeing small increases in hearing gain. The mid-level tones are gaining faster and the high pitches and low pitches are moving slightly. We do not know if it is the injections, the Hyperbaric treatment, the supplements, the prayer, or a combination. Likewise, it could just be that the passage of time has been bringing my hearing back; we’ll never know. If the latter is the case, we will have wasted thousands (insurance does not cover any of this, sadly).

Luckily,  I have seen maybe a 20 DB improvement overall thus far. I went from almost deaf in one ear to “severe,” to now a “serviceable” level. The high pitches are still down at 80 or 90. Likewise, the lows are at 80 or 70, a bit better.  Thankfully the mid-tones are creeping up into the 40 and 30 range. (20 is normal.)

Now, I can tell what direction to look when someone talks in a crowded room. The ringing is better as well. I no longer hear ‘Alien and Sci-Fi’ creepy loud  phantom sounds that would keep my up at night and awake me early in the morning and make me cry. However, the ringing is still there but it usually sounds like a computer fan. On good days, it sounds like the quiet hum of the fridge. It is certainly tied to stress and anxiety, so I have to keep my stress under control. Alas, it never goes away. It is always there. 

Overall, I am thankful for what I have gotten back and consider it a miracle and a blessing from God. 

The bright pop of bright green on the cover of my new SKI -Buyers Guide magazine really caught my eye. It’s wasn’t the new Nordica Fire Arrow ski boots that really excited me -it’s the new ski clothing! Jackets, ski pants, caps, gloves- you name it. I love to shop for it. As I turned the pages I was disappointed to find that there were not a single article about ski fashion- yet. But there were pictures. The new bright greens I’m seeing are really great and I hope that we continue to see green as a trendy color in 2011/2012 ski wear. 

Alongside the HBOT treatment, the accupuncture (I tried once) and of course, the steroid injections, I have been taking a full variety of suppliments. Honestly, we don’t know if they are responsible for any of the hearing loss decreases, but overall, I have been very healthy, have loads of energy, and I feel totally amazing. Plus, they COULD be contributing. There are several studies out there that show that these supplements do something for your hearing. For anyone with SSHL I would recommend:

• COQ10 

• Vitamin C

• Idobene (synthetic CoQ10)

• Vitamin B12 Complex

• ALA and ALC and NAC