Home › Blog › What I am Thankful For 2019 Edition…

It’s that time of the year again and once more I’m staffing our licensed, advanced cell culture facility in Grand Cayman.  What’s it like to be out of the country for Thanksgiving? So what am I thankful for?

Out of the US for a US Holiday?

I’ve been staffing our licensed advanced culture expansion site in Grand Cayman every Thanksgiving for many years now. When we first started coming here as a family, we were a bit disoriented, as what do you do on an island that’s a British Protectorate during a largely American Holiday? Meaning, in the grocery stores, while you can find some Turkeys, you’re not greeted by isle upon isle of Thanksgiving stuff. Eventually, we figured out that while some on Grand Cayman do celebrate Thanksgiving, most of the US-style celebrations happen in the hotels. Hence, we found a great Thanksgiving spread at the Westin on 7-mile beach and have never looked back. It’s become our Holiday tradition.

Thankful for Family

I have a wonderful family. I really give much of that credit to my amazing wife as I am often consumed with work. We have been married for 26 years and we’re going strong. I also have three amazing kids. They’re polite, level-headed, take school seriously, and even though they grew up in a different world than my wife and I, they have never gotten bogged down by many of the things that haunt their generation. They understand that their lives are what they make of them and I am so proud of each of them.

Thankful for Clinic Staff

Our staff here in Cayman and back in Colorado consistently earn high marks. I get email after email from thankful patients who rave about how they were treated at both clinics. So I am so very thankful that our staff is so great.

While patients often focus on finding the right doctor, that physician can’t do what he or she does at a high level without an amazingly complex choreographed team to support what’s happening. Take for example my patient yesterday morning. As can rarely happen, a construction crew hit a power cable and the electricity went off in the middle of a procedure. If you want to see if you have a great crew, stress test them by hitting the lights in the middle of a complex x-ray and ultrasound-guided injection. In addition, the battery back-up for the procedure suite malfunctioned and we had to break out flashlights and cell phones. Thankfully the c-arm has it’s own battery back up as do the ultrasound machines. Frankly, nobody missed a beat. In fact, the procedure was completed in about the same time as usual because of that support team. Right as we got done, the lights came back on.

In addition, there are countless people that you will never see in the clinic who support the entire operation. People who answer the phone, managers, web experts, marketing staff, billing, etc… All of those people have to function at a high-level to make it all work. So I am thankful for all of them as well.

Thankful for Regenexx

While I founded Regenexx in 2005, it has become so much bigger than just me. Not only do we have dozens of employees, but we also have about 100 physician partners all over the world. Holding all of that together takes an incredible team of hard-working people. So I am thankful for all of them.

Thankful for My Patients

Pretty much everyone here in Grand Cayman this and every trip is flying from somewhere to see me. That’s an amazing testament to those patients and their dedication to get better. Even in Colorado, more than half of my patients do the same thing. So I am so thankful that my patients honor me by placing their health in my hands.

The upshot? I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! I often tend to be too busy to count my blessings, so this is a great exercise for me personally. I am truly blessed.

Chris Centeno, MD is a specialist in regenerative medicine and the new field of Interventional Orthopedics. Centeno pioneered orthopedic stem cell procedures in 2005 and is responsible for a large amount of the published research on stem cell use for orthopedic applications. View Profile