Help Karen Bell Secure Life-Changing Treatment

Karen Bell is a wife and mother of 4 kids that lives in North Idaho. She loves to garden and be out in the sunshine. Along with living with a chronic autoimmune condition Type 1 Diabetes (t1d), she also suffers from Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

Karen was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes shortly after giving birth to her first child 14 years ago. However, she continued to have periodic, puzzling symptoms that were unrelated to Type 1 Diabetes that came and went without answers as to the source or cause. Five and a half years ago in December of 2019, Karen had a major flare of symptoms and after undergoing several MRIs found out that she had Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Due to the extensive amount of past and current damage from lesions, her neurologist estimated she had been suffering from MS for at least 10 years.

MS is a disease of the central nervous system where the immune system attacks the nerves of the spinal cord and brain, causing communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body. This can cause a multitude of symptoms and impairments. Even with the most advanced disease modifying medications Karen’s MS disease symptoms and impairments are continuing to progress.

Karen is so fortunate that she qualifies for a leading-edge treatment, HSCT (haematopoietic stem cell transplantation). Availability of receiving this treatment is very limited. Karen has been selected to receive this treatment starting June 2024 from the leading Doctor offering it in the US.

HSCT is an intense chemotherapy treatment for MS. It aims to reset the immune system by wiping it out and then regrowing it, using your stem cells. This is a long, intense, multi-stage procedure. She will need to go out of state and be away from her family for over two months, incurring hospital, out-patient treatment, housing, flight, transportation and caretaker expenses.

Karen is trying to get insurance to cover this medical expense but has been denied. While she is trying to appeal (which her insurance has indicated they have not approved this treatment to date), in order to not delay the rare opportunity of receiving this treatment and cover the expenses involved, this fundraiser has been started.

Our fundraising goal to cover her housing, flight, transportation and caretaker expenses is $25,000. The private pay medical costs for this treatment is approximately $175,000. It can be more depending on the person and all of the different factors of how long they need to stay and how they respond to the treatment.

If you are able to contribute in even a small way to helping Karen be healthy and functioning for her family, she would be immensely grateful!