Repairing Jack

Jack Muth is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Update:

We couldn't gather enough to make it to India for the HSCT procedure and had to give his spot to another patient, so the goal's been drastically reduced. There is a short-term version, Rituxan, that's also used to boost HSCT when you get back. He's getting the big, 6-hour infusion March 6 and a reinforcement two weeks later and 5 months after. If it helps, he'll get it every 6 months for a while. We're trying to raise some of what our insurance won't cover for a year of treatment.

Thank you all!

Hello, everyone! I'm Kathy Muth and we're trying to treat my husband's medical condition which isn't currently covered by insurance.

After a great first semester at Middle Tennessee State University for video and TV production, Jack awoke January 20th, 1990 and his left leg and arm curled in when he yawned. Repeated a few more times and found he had trouble with his knee buckling backwards when he walked across campus. A roommate gave him an old knee brace and he pushed on. It didn't go away.

After a visit to the local hospital, he was brought home to Memphis to be checked out. Several tests and a spinal tap brought no conclusions. They suggested Brown Syndrome, Deer Tick, Lyme's or Multiple Sclerosis, but first episodes aren't always defined. Three weeks worth of steroids cleared it up until six years when he experienced torso numbness that went away in a few weeks.

We met in 1998. He said he probably had MS, an immune system disorder, but nothing was really happening with it. 5 years later it was obvious.

This realization brought us to the topic of children. He felt that there was a possibility of passing his condition on to his kid/s and just couldn't do that to another, so we got another type of type of baby: a furbaby! We adopted Floyd.

And needed a friend. We got him a big sister, Pinkie.

While working on a hot roof, he developed double vision which cleared after steroids for three weeks. Things started to change soon after. Put on Copaxone for a year as the first serious Multiple Sclerosis drug, it failed and he tried three more, but they did nothing to stop his progression and the reason we're here today: a drop foot due to a weakened left leg. After ten years in the video profession, he started doing home repairs and make-overs for friends and family. He's long had a knack for it and went on to make a lot of people happy. But in time, the weakness of his leg proved an unsafe condition. Drop foot is where your toes tip down after much fatigue and catch on breaks in the concrete, rocks, crawling roots ... or nothing at all. This causes injury from head to toe from falling. Climbing ladders is sketchy. After numerous ankle braces and medicines to reduce tightness, the issue remains. As the effects of the condition, he noticed it reduced the quality of his work and thought it safer to step back from the danger.

There's one unusual facet of his condition. After a solid day of stumbling, he discovered that after a shower and rest, during the last 30 minutes of almost every day he walks almost completely normally! This tells us his deficit is not permanent and can be improved if caught in time.

There's a promising procedure that can help him beyond the harmful limitations of traditional MS drugs: Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Dr. Burt of Chicago's Northwestern University has focused HSCT on MS for 20 years. The treatment withdraws the necessary quantity of the patient's own stem cells. The body is dosed with chemotherapy more minimal than that of a cancer patient. The chemo kills the active MS disease. Days later the stem cells are re-introduced and the body begins to be reprogrammed. In essence, it's a rebirth. Jack will re-start his immune system similar to that of an infant and must be heavily protected from germs to prevent infection during this fragile time. The problem is that while Dr. Burt's facility is still in an FDA-approved trial with a wait time of several years. Time is a SERIOUS factor with MS. The longer one waits with MS, the less is corrected.

There are 23 locations in at least 16 countries that have patterned their procedure after Dr. Burt's protocol and MS is being shut down!

His cool Granny, 95, lives with us and may be able to cook for him, but if it becomes too much, it may have to be hired out, as I'm immersed in nursing school.

Family is helping where they can. His father-in-law, Bob, will accompany as required caregiver, saving thousands for the month-long procedure and his parents are covering the flights. Bob's pictured behind Floyd.

Jack has saved for this but is nowhere near an all-cash payment of $60,000 or less for the treatment alone. And the entire process is far more than that. Our goal of $25,000 would be a welcomed amount to get him closer to his treatment. gofundme deducts about 8%. If you're unsure of this form of fundraising, we have a P.O. box for friends, family, and others to donate. And we have a tax-exempt location coming soon.

Repairing Jack
P.O.Box 770483
Memphis, TN 38177-0483