My god, asking for help is terrifying.

You may or may not know that I was diagnosed in October 2020 with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Its where the immune system attacks your own central nervous system (brain and spine), more specifically the myelin coating that protects the nerves which sends the signals to the rest of your body. Symptoms from this vary massively from person to person, but can include (but by no means limited to) numbness, loss of coordination or balance, fatigue, sight problems and bladder problems.

The good news for me is I was diagnosed VERY early on, and after a tough 2021 I am now on Cladribine which is working, my MS is stable and under control. Other than a few adjustments to life and work, my life has carried on as normal. The not so great news is that Cladribine is currently only approved for 3 years, so after this we’re back to the drawing board of trying to find a new treatment, which from our experience isn’t straight forward and can mean time without treatment which leads to relapses. There is a sad inevitability that one day I will be in a wheelchair. For this reason, and many more, we’ve decided to start fundraising so that (hopefully!) I can go to Mexico for life changing HSCT treatment.

HSCT aims to stop the damage MS causes by wiping out and then regrowing your immune system, using your stem cells.

It is not a guaranteed treatment, and it is not a cure, but it has been shown to halt the progression of MS symptoms in the majority of people who have had it.

The treatment has been on my radar since being diagnosed, but because of the costs and the time away from Paige we’ve never considered it an option. But the reality is this could be the best chance we have at putting a stop to this diseases progression, and that is worth fighting for. They have found that the sooner the procedure is done, the more effective it is, so it’s time to hold onto the hope that we can get to Mexico and our life can continue without MS at the forefront of our minds.

We are hoping to do this either late 2022 or late 2023 so that it doesn’t impact my work, and will be finding out more information on the best time to do it with my current treatment in the next few weeks when we see my neurologist.

I’m a problem solver, a silver lining hunter, and this time I need help to try and solve this.

If you have ANY ideas for fundraising, please do let me know, and please share this far and wide. Any contribution towards my treatment will be so so so appreciated, and any help to raise funds too. If you’ve got this far, thank you from the bottom of my heart ❤️

Hana x

For more information regarding HSCT click here: https://www.mssociety.org.uk/about-ms/treatments-and-therapies/disease-modifying-therapies/hsct