[annapurna]

We just returned from a stem cell harvest at Regenexx's office in Grand Cayman where they offer cultured stem cell reinjections. The whole discussion of what stem cells can and can't do has been covered elsewhere on this site so I thought I'd just confine this to the travel things we've learned.

Cayman Islands is pretty picky about bringing food onto the island. We were there over Christmas and Boxing Day and brought food for those days as grocery stores would be closed and few restaurants open. We were fortunate that all of the fresh veggies were eaten before we got off the plane or else those would have been barred.

We found a guest house, Eldemire's to stay at rather than a hotel. It was cheaper, the owner was willing to buy fresh food for us before the grocery stores closed, and they rented bikes for us. On the other hand, it was a somewhat run down house and had little hiccups like low flow in the shower and a toilet that needed the handle held down to flush. Nothing serious but little annoyances that could have added up for some people.

The swimming is the obvious attraction but we found that snorkeling was more than enough to get to see the reefs. Scuba wasn't needed. The bikes were helped getting around but there is a bus system to get up and down the island fairly easily. We learned about the buses as we were leaving so didn't get a chance to try them out. The particular bikes that Eldemires picked up for us to use were rather rusty and operated poorly, so the buses would seem to be a much better bet.

Regenexx offers stellar customer service. At no time did we wonder what was happening or feel out of contact. The harvest was handled very well and the discussions with the doctors were honest and informative without any feeling of being a sales pitch. The Cayman office COO is regularly in the office so even minor complaints get heard immediately by their upper management. We'll have to see how things go with the cell culturing and reinjection but the harvest was handled very well.

Pretty much the worst problem was the Cayman airport which was crowded, loud, slow, annoying, (pick your complaint). About the only minor annoyance they didn't have problems with was being late. Delta got us off right on time. Otherwise, don't expect your departure from the island to be a high point on the trip.