Pamela's story
Donation protected
Just a bit about me;
I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 26 years ago, after my daughter's 2nd birthday. I have been fortunate to have enjoyed more than two decades of mobility, allowing me to raise my daughter as a single mother, run a successful brick and mortar travel agency, and explore the world. All the while, I knew those active days may someday be compromised by MS.
I now walk with a knee brace, a forearm crutch and often, a kind person's arm. Because MS also affects one's energy level daily, I frequently would need to choose between walking from the parking lot into the office or going to the grocery store. (The office always won.) It is great that one can have groceries now delivered!
Anticipating physical limitations to come, I sold my home and moved to a condo. Now, I am selling my condo as I no longer can walk between the parking garage and the condo.
Brain Fog: this affects my acuity making it difficult to concentrate which then exhausts me. I can lose the ability to pronounce or retrieve words needing to find other words to make the sentence complete but never with the same syntax. My recent favorite miss was calling the Court House the Court Office.
Literally, my only chance to maintain my independence and to continue operating my small business is a procedure called Hematopoietic Stem Cell Treatment (HSCT).
More about the procedure;
HSCT reboots the immune system. The immune system in my case, is responsible for damaging the brain's myelin and spinal cord. Stem cells will be removed from my bone marrow then, after my immune system/cells are aggressively depleted through chemotherapy, cleaned stem cells are reintroduced by infusion back into my body.
The new stem cells migrate to the bone marrow and over time, produce new white blood cells. Eventually the new cells will repopulate the body with cells that hopefully, have no memory of MS. As the USA 'studies' HSCT, the procedure is currently only performed internationally.
The procedure is 28 days in Mexico involving intense chemotherapy and a second month to recover. Six months to rebuild the new stem cells with a Rituxan protocal.
The cost is $54,000 in Mexico.
I am excited that HSCT has proven a positive option for MS patients who before could only watch their body lose functions.
Importantly, the more time that passes before I have the procedure, the more permanent damage MS causes.
I am thrilled that I have been accepted for HSCT in November.
I am immeasurably appreciative of your good wishes!
Oh, by the way: I am really not on a toilet in the photo but in Mykonos, Greece with my daughter enjoying a Foot Fish Massage at a local salon.
I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 26 years ago, after my daughter's 2nd birthday. I have been fortunate to have enjoyed more than two decades of mobility, allowing me to raise my daughter as a single mother, run a successful brick and mortar travel agency, and explore the world. All the while, I knew those active days may someday be compromised by MS.
I now walk with a knee brace, a forearm crutch and often, a kind person's arm. Because MS also affects one's energy level daily, I frequently would need to choose between walking from the parking lot into the office or going to the grocery store. (The office always won.) It is great that one can have groceries now delivered!
Anticipating physical limitations to come, I sold my home and moved to a condo. Now, I am selling my condo as I no longer can walk between the parking garage and the condo.
Brain Fog: this affects my acuity making it difficult to concentrate which then exhausts me. I can lose the ability to pronounce or retrieve words needing to find other words to make the sentence complete but never with the same syntax. My recent favorite miss was calling the Court House the Court Office.
Literally, my only chance to maintain my independence and to continue operating my small business is a procedure called Hematopoietic Stem Cell Treatment (HSCT).
More about the procedure;
HSCT reboots the immune system. The immune system in my case, is responsible for damaging the brain's myelin and spinal cord. Stem cells will be removed from my bone marrow then, after my immune system/cells are aggressively depleted through chemotherapy, cleaned stem cells are reintroduced by infusion back into my body.
The new stem cells migrate to the bone marrow and over time, produce new white blood cells. Eventually the new cells will repopulate the body with cells that hopefully, have no memory of MS. As the USA 'studies' HSCT, the procedure is currently only performed internationally.
The procedure is 28 days in Mexico involving intense chemotherapy and a second month to recover. Six months to rebuild the new stem cells with a Rituxan protocal.
The cost is $54,000 in Mexico.
I am excited that HSCT has proven a positive option for MS patients who before could only watch their body lose functions.
Importantly, the more time that passes before I have the procedure, the more permanent damage MS causes.
I am thrilled that I have been accepted for HSCT in November.
I am immeasurably appreciative of your good wishes!
Oh, by the way: I am really not on a toilet in the photo but in Mykonos, Greece with my daughter enjoying a Foot Fish Massage at a local salon.
Organizer
Pamela Wilson
Organizer
Denver, CO