Medicine Dog: The Miraculous Cure That Healed My Best Friend And Saved My Life - Hardcover

Julia Szabo was the New York Post's "Pets" columnist for eleven years. She is the Health Editor for Dogster.com and writes for Cesar's Way. The author of six books, she has been published in the New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Bark. She lives in New York.

Pet journalist Szabo describes her harrowing struggle with a perirectal fistula and her fight to get a controversial treatment already widely available to animals. When her pit bull Sam collapsed due to arthritis, Szabo learned of stem cell regeneration therapy in which the patient is injected with cells from their own tissue. The effects on Sam were miraculous, but the treatment was not yet FDA-approved for humans. . . .Szabo also differentiates adult stem cell treatment from embryonic in order to combat the former being 'unfairly represented by the mainstream media.' She also provides examples of stem cell therapy success, including that of Texas Governor Rick Perry and New York Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon. . . .Szabo alerts readers to a cutting-edge medical procedure as well as the healing powers present in our canine friends. (Publishers Weekly)

“Our connectedness to all that is, is so beautifully reflected in Medicine Dog. Though the details portray a wonderfully moving journey, the story as a whole is a beautiful metaphor for the oneness that is awakening in our human evolution.”
—Lindsay Wagner, actress, advocate of human potential, and author of The High Road to Health

“Julia Szabo is a pioneer who takes the reader on a heartfelt, well-researched journey into the frontiers of regenerative medicine. Her honesty and fighting spirit hooked me from the first page. Whether writing about her dogs, herself, or the complex world of stem cell therapy, Julia grabs you by the heart and walks you through a labyrinth of self-discovery and healing. A beautiful and courageous book!”
— Laurie Nadel, PhD, best-selling author of Sixth Sense: Unlocking Your Ultimate Mind Power

“Julia Szabo’s book Medicine Dog is her newest and the best so far. Combining her investigative reporting skills and her animal welfare beliefs, she uncovered what we all have felt in our hearts but haven’t put into words—the amazing idea that our pets and our bodies have remarkable healing powers.”
— William Berloni, author of Broadway Tails

“Julia Szabo has written a provocative book that reveals new discoveries that might actually provide a form of ‘saving grace’ for animals in labs, as well as humans diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. In this inspiring look at the medicine of the future, we find a thought-provoking, if not life-changing transformation in how our most unevolved medical practices can actually evolve to save not only the lives of the animals we love, but even save our own. This book is a triumph. Read it and be amazed!”
—Amelia Kinkade, author of Straight From the Horses Mouth: How to Talk to Animals and Get Answers, and The Language of Miracles: A Celebrated Psychic Teaches You to Talk to Animals

“Julia Szabo has taken a complicated subject—the amazing transformational power of adult stem cells—and woven it into the fascinating, witty, and heartfelt saga of her own compelling health journey. I honestly couldn’t put it down. It’s also so beautifully written that I would hate her if I didn’t absolutely adore her and her writing!”
— Mary Shomon, internationally known patient advocate and New York Times best-selling author of The Thyroid Diet

“Pet journalist Szabo describes her harrowing struggle with a perirectal fistula and her fight to get a controversial treatment already widely available to animals. When her pit bull Sam collapsed due to arthritis, Szabo learned of stem cell regeneration therapy in which the patient is injected with cells from their own tissue. The effects on Sam were miraculous, but the treatment was not yet FDA-approved for humans. Szabo details her self-education about her condition, and her unsuccessful trips to Panama and Madrid before finally receiving the treatment from the California Stem Cell Treatment Center. During this time, she also suffered romantically; an ever-growing pack of rescue dogs provided the unconditional love where humans failed. She tried alternative remedies and took some ‘health cues’ from her dogs--the grain-free diet she fed her dogs led to her own ‘food-combining regimen,’ which provided gastrointestinal relief. Szabo also differentiates adult stem cell treatment from embryonic in order to combat the former being ‘unfairly represented by the mainstream media.’ She also provides examples of stem cell therapy success, including that of Texas Governor Rick Perry and New York Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon. While prone to narrative tangents, Szabo alerts readers to a cutting-edge medical procedure as well as the healing powers present in our canine friends.”
—Publishers Weekly

"One woman's frank medical memoir about saving her dogs and herself. As the New York Post's 'Pets' columnist for many years, Szabo (Pretty Pet-Friendly: Easy Ways to Keep Spot's Digs Stylish and Spotless, 2008, etc.) is well-known for her deep compassion toward animals, dogs in particular. Over the years, she has spared no expense or veterinary procedure to ensure the longevity of her many canine companions. Szabo filled her life with dogs that provided the love and support she needed while she dealt with an embarrassing and lifestyle-hampering medical problem, a perianal fistula, and an abusive husband with whom she was regrettably deeply in love. Little did she realize, though, that when she had dog stem cells injected into her beloved pit bull, Sam, to cure his osteoarthritis, this would lead her on a global journey to find a cure for her own debilitating health issue. When Sam rebounded after his Vet-Stem injections, Szabo began an intensive study into the whole concept of stem cell research and discovered that the United States was far behind other countries when it came to the use of this breakthrough technology in humans. For a dog, cat or horse, stem cell injections were an expensive but available procedure, but for a human, the options were limited. In honest, sometimes-graphic prose, the author describes her crippling bouts of inflammation from her fistula, the way she used a healthy diet to limit flare-ups and the endless joy she received from her many dogs while searching for a cure. Szabo persevered and discovered the California Stem Cell Treatment Center, where she had her own stem cells (found in her body fat) injected into her fistula and bloodstream and rediscovered the joy of a normal life. A gutsy, consciousness-raising book about fistulas, dogs and stem cell therapy."
—Kirkus Reviews

"Szabo (The Underdog) describes her book as a medical memoir, and it is--of both human and veterinary medicine. She takes up the cause of adult stem cell research, a field in which veterinary medicine has surpassed human medicine in research and treatment. Szabo first learned of adult stem cell therapy for dogs when she was looking for an arthritis treatment for her pit bull, Sam. Adult stem cell therapy uses cells drawn from the fat of the animal or person being treated. There is no risk of rejection and none of the ethical dilemmas surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells. Within hours of treatment, Sam was able to walk, climb stairs, and lift his leg again. After that success, Szabo began researching the possibility of treating her chronic gastrointestinal fistula with her own stem cells. Along the way she learned firsthand about the healing power of dog ownership and the frustration of being unable to access a treatment for herself that was widely available for her dogs. VERDICT Of interest to those looking for an alternative to standard surgical and/or pharmaceutical healing of chronic conditions, both human and canine."
—Library Journal