"You Don't Need Me. What Did You Do?"

How One 80-Year-Old Cancelled Knee Surgery After Stem Cell Therapy

A Conversation with Michael Horwat  |  Nashville, Tennessee

Michael is NOT a reimbursed or scripted spokesperson. He is an actual Evergreen patient who wanted to share his story with you. We did not discuss his interview with him prior to this call. His un-edited call is beneath. Remember, MSC (mesenchymal stem cell infusion) is not FDA approved. Results may vary. Your physician will counsel you about the risks versus benefits of the infusion to help you determine if it's right for you.

Click for our conversation with Michael:

An Interview With Patient Michael Horwat

At The Evergreen Institute, we hear extraordinary stories every day—but some stop you in your tracks. Michael Horwat is 80 years old. He’s a former semi-professional football player, a world traveler who’s visited nearly 50 countries, and a man who maintains an acre of property by hand. When both of his knees started failing him, his orthopedic surgeon scheduled bilateral knee replacement surgery. Michael had already been through more than ten major operations in his lifetime—including open-heart bypass and multiple broken bones—and he was done with the operating room.

So he started researching alternatives. What he found—and what happened next—is the kind of story we believe more people need to hear. Below is our conversation with Michael, lightly edited for clarity.

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The Diagnosis: Surgery on Both Knees

Jessica: Michael, tell us a little about what brought you to The Evergreen Institute.

Michael: Well, my name is Michael Horwat. I live near Nashville, Tennessee, and I’m a little over 80 years old now. About eight months ago, my knees were starting to hurt pretty bad. I’ve always been very active—I’ve been to close to 50 countries, I’ve been all over the United States. I’ve done a lot of walking. But my knees were really starting to hurt.

Michael: So I went to a local hospital here that specializes entirely in orthopedic work—fabulous facility. My doctor, Dr. Rooney, checked me out with X-rays and everything, and he said immediately that I needed knee surgery. On both knees. One at a time. He told me to come back in the winter and we’d schedule it.

Looking for Another Way

Michael: I went away and put up with the knee issue—I’m pretty good with pain. But I thought to myself, “I really don’t want to go through another surgery.” I’ve been through a whole bunch of them. I’ve had a couple of heart bypass surgeries. I’ve broken my collarbone three different times, both bones. I’ve broken my tibia and fibula. I have steel plates in my leg. I played semi-professional football—that’s where I got my legs broken. And now I’ve got a pacemaker. But I’m still very active.

Michael: Plus, I talked with a number of people who’d had knee surgery, and it didn’t always go well. A good friend of mine—a woman—had a miserable time. She suffered for more than a year.

Michael: So I started looking into stem cell therapy. I researched it quite a bit, and I found that the best option seemed to be something called umbilical cord stem cell therapy. And fortunately, it’s all over the internet and YouTube. Having been a professional athlete to some extent, I looked into it, and athletes are doing it all the time. It’s unbelievable how many athletes—every kind of athlete imaginable, famous athletes—have had stem cell therapy and are still doing it regularly.

Why Evergreen

Michael: I went to a couple of presentations here in Nashville—you know, the kind where you get a free meal and listen to the dialogue about stem cells. The second one I went to was Evergreen Institute. And Evergreen was clearly, clearly on top.

Taking into consideration all the research I had done, I was most impressed with Evergreen’s stem cell therapy. Dr. Kashmer is an orthopedic doctor [note from our staff: Dr. Kashmer is a trauma & acute care surgeon]—he’s a surgeon. He’s not just some nurse or somebody that comes in and does it. I wanted it done by a professional, and that was the only company I found that would do it with a professional surgeon.

Jessica: That’s something I really love about Evergreen too. In my experience, surgeons—their answer is always surgery, right? But Dr. Kashmer has done trauma surgery, transplant surgery, and his first option isn’t necessarily surgery. I listen a little more carefully to someone like that.

The Results: “You Don’t Need Me”

Michael: The first three months after having it done, I was working in the yard and I had about an eighth of an acre of woodland I’d cleared. It was all mud. I slipped and fell, and I hurt my left knee really bad. I was already starting to show signs of improvement, but that set me back. The first month or so after the fall was really bad, but it just generally got better and better and better.

Michael: By the six-month point, I went back to the doctor. That was recently—about a month, month and a half ago. And it was quite interesting, because he thought I was coming back to schedule surgery.

Michael: They took a lot of X-rays—way more than the first time. I was in the waiting room, and he came in, and the first thing out of his mouth was: “You don’t need me. What did you do?”

Michael: I started telling him about the stem cell therapy I’d had. At first, he thought I was talking about stem cells from my own body. I said, “No—I did something called umbilical cord stem cells.” And it was amazing to me how little he knew about it.

Michael: Finally he said, “Well, you don’t need me. If you want to come in for a cortisone shot every once in a while, I’ll be glad to do that. But we don’t need to do the surgery.”

Beyond the Knees: The Whole-Body Effect

Jessica: Did you have just the knee injection, or did you also have the IV infusion?

Michael: I had the IV infusion also. And I’ll tell you something. Based on what I’ve seen on different internet sites, when you have that intravenous shot and it gets into your bloodstream, the stem cells seem to know where to go. They actually find where they’re needed. And I would highly recommend getting that IV.

Michael: I’m 81 in another two months. Just the other day, we got that ice storm—it was all over the country. I have the most powerful backpack blower you can buy. It weighs 45 pounds. I go outside with that blower and work for hours on end—blowing snow, blowing leaves, blowing everything. I’m doing things that an 81-year-old person has no business doing physically, but I can do it. I feel like I’m in my 50s.

Michael: My neighbors are amazed. One of them told me, “The whole neighborhood talks about you because you do things they can’t even do.”

Michael: I honestly believe it’s that intravenous shot that has put me in this position. I don’t think that if I didn’t have that shot, I would feel as good as I feel.

Jessica: What about other changes—anything beyond the knees?

Michael: Oh, absolutely. When you get old and get into your 80s, things happen. Your digestive system doesn’t work the way it used to. You become a slave to the bathroom. You don’t sleep all the way through the night. Well, guess what? All of that changed. I believe the intravenous had something to do with it. In fact, I’m wondering if I should have an intravenous shot every couple of years just to maintain it.

Jessica: You’re not the first person who’s said that. A lot of patients mention improvements in digestion and sleep. Sometimes the changes happen so gradually that you don’t realize how big they are until you stop and think about it.

The Bigger Picture

Michael: Not having to go through surgery at 80 years old is a blessing if ever there was a blessing. I’ve had at least ten major surgeries. And I’m very thankful. I would recommend that people look into this. I would definitely call Evergreen.

Michael: One of the things I love most is traveling to different countries—I’m a history guy. Before I die, I want to spend time in Israel. I’ve got plans to go to Istanbul. And I wouldn’t be making those plans if it wasn’t for the success of this therapy on my knees.

Michael: This is the medicine of the future. They can’t keep this hidden forever. It’s going to change medicine as we know it.

Jessica: I think what makes your story so powerful is that you’re someone’s neighbor. People hear Joe Rogan or Tony Robbins talk about stem cells and there’s always a little skepticism—like, do they have access to something different? But when it’s someone from everyday life who had this done and had it work, that’s much easier to relate to.

Michael: I feel this is actually a blessing. I think it’s tragic that the medical industry isn’t taking a harder look at this, because this is the medicine of the future.

•  •  •

Your Story Could Be Next

Michael walked into his surgeon’s office expecting to schedule a double knee replacement. He walked out with five words he never expected to hear: “You don’t need me.”

At 80, he’s carrying a 45-pound blower through ice storms, planning trips to Israel and Istanbul, and sleeping through the night for the first time in years. No scalpel. No recovery ward. No walker.

He didn’t get a miracle. He got science—delivered by a comprehensive team.

If you’re facing surgery, living with chronic pain, or just tired of being told there’s nothing left to try—there is. The Evergreen Institute offers stem cell infusion and IV infusion to select patients delivered by staff who believe surgery should be the last option, not the first.

Schedule your free consultation today.

The Evergreen Institute  |  Regenerative Medicine & Anti-Aging

Disclaimer: This interview transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length. Individual results may vary. Stem cell therapy is not FDA-approved for all conditions. The Evergreen Institute encourages all patients to consult with their physicians before beginning any new treatment.