Gail,
I just got back from seeing my ongoing pain management doctor that had done a cervical epidural a few weeks ago. It's called Orange County Pain Management, they are in Hoag hospital's Neurosciences building. These docs are the top docs in Orange County.

The epidural I had worked for a few weeks and then started to wear off. I have a lot of side effects of Cortisone, which I don't want to continue. I then asked them about the stem cell therapy for my cervical area. They told me the same thing you were told, they use donated cord blood/placental blood from c-section deliveries. They are non-differentiated cells, not dangerous, not embryonic, and you don't have to go through the bone marrow procedure. Also use PRP. I asked them if I could use the stem cell for the cervical area that I am dealing with, and they said yes they been doing it with success, although she couldn't give me a percentage of the chance it would repair things. So it looks like I'm going to try this in a couple of weeks. This is a doctors group I totally trust and the best part, the treatment is $2800 +500 co-pay for the surgery center. I figure if I'm looking towards surgery as the last alternative, I might as well try this first. If you're in Orange County Ca, this may be a good place to also get an opinion from. Can't say the doctor is Mr. personable, but extremely competent, very quiet. Love his staff, his PA and nurse practitioner. I will post the results once I know them. They did say it takes a few weeks before you start to feel the effects, it's not usually instant.

Everybody say some prayers it works for me. Jennifer