Now, this is a story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I avoided the Wheelchair!

So now that you are warmed up, let me take you through my story and how I have avoided the Wheelchair.

Hello, world!

My name is Frank, I'm a 31-year-old guy from Norway who recently got diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

It all started with some numbness in my left leg in November 2018, which over a couple of days spread to my upper body, both arms, and legs. Even half my face was numb from the nose down. I also had the classic Lhermitte's sign and MS hug symptoms.

While waiting for an appointment with my general practitioner, I obviously "diagnosed myself" with the help of Google. I was convinced I had MS, I just needed the GP to confirm my suspicion.

(I know we shouldn't diagnose ourselves, but we all do, right?)

My general practitioner agreed with my suspicion and immediately wrote me a recommendation to get an MRI of my brain and spinal cord, to see what was going on.

The radiologist found lesions in my brain and neck/spine. They said the lesion on my neck was probably the cause of my physical symptoms. The size of the lesion in the neck was, and still is, 22 millimeters.


The type of lesion I have in the neck gives me a "high chance of disability" as the Doctor said. Which means that if I'm not able to stop the progression of the disease, I will end up disabled. It's just a matter of time.

This motivated me to dig deep in the medical research in the field of MS, and I rather quickly found out about a treatment called aHSCT - Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. Which in clinical trials have shown great results for being able to stop disease progression in multiple sclerosis patients.

Unfortunately, the aHSCT treatment is defined as "experimental" in Norway, meaning that our health care system won´t provide it - and my private health insurance won´t cover the costs either. Hence I'm left with the choice of accepting my fate in Norway or trying to do something about it by traveling to another country and get proper treatment. This was an easy choice.

One of the most renowned hospitals in the world for doing this type of treatment is the Pirogov National Medical Surgical Center A.A. Maximov, Department of Hematology and Cellular Therapy in Moscow, Russia.

I contacted them to ask about their statistics of success and to ask if they could treat me. They sent me the data I needed, and it matched the statistics from the clinical trials I had read. The answer was now clear, aHSCT is the best treatment for MS, especially RRMS (relapsing, remitting).

The chances of stopping disease progression with aHSCT for RRMS patients is 85-95%. That's a mind-blowingly good number. Especially if you compare it to the disease-modifying drugs that are standard treatment today, which has a 0% chance of stopping progression.

Don't get me wrong, the medications are better than nothing, but all it does is slow down progression.  Besides, I have read that the side effects of some of the MS medications seem to be worse than the disease itself. No thanks!

Dr. F in Moscow did say yes to treat me, and I got an appointment rather quickly. I was able to get an appointment so early because they had some available spots in March after cancellations. And to be able to undergo this treatment you need to be off your MS medication for 3-6 months prior. So I guess you could say there wasn't a long waiting list in such a short timeframe, I got lucky!

I obviously accepted the appointment. I would make this work somehow.

By the time I had my consultation with my neurologist through the public health care system in Norway, to explain test results and give me a diagnosis. I had already booked the treatment in Russia. So I was mainly there to get an official diagnosis in my journal and get an EDSS score.

When it comes to MS, you don't have time to waste. Time is brain!

So here comes the financial part of the story
The price of the treatment is 45,000 Euro's, which is about 51,000 USD.

Like any other normal 30 years old, I didn't have 45,000 euro's laying around.

In fact, the timing couldn't be worse for me, as I had sunken all my savings into starting my own business in 2017/2018. I tried to combine this new venture with my day job as an IT consultant. I didn't think much about this at the time, because my normal self would easily handle the workload. I usually thrive when I have many projects going on at the same time, as I love being productive.

Something was different this time around, because of the MS, and it turned into a living nightmare where I wasn't able to fulfill any of my roles like I wanted to. Which made me depressed. I had to neglect my personal business venture in favor of my fulltime job. I  really did not want to disappoint my employer,  as they are the best employer I've ever had!
I hope to regain strength with this treatment and come back to them and make up for my absence.

My personal business has basically gone bust because I didn't have time/energy to deal with it, and with it, all my savings.

To be able to pay for the aHSCT treatment I have taken on loans with rather high-interest rates, which has put me in a pretty bad spot financially. I don't think I will ever be able to get rid of the loans by myself.

So this is why I'm creating this Go Fund Me campaign to see if it's possible to get donations from generous people to help me offset these unforeseen medical bills and help me get back on track in life!

Every penny you donate would be highly appreciated and would help me pay back my medical bill loans.

I'm currently in Moscow, undergoing this aHSCT treatment, my admission date was 12th of March, and on the 9th of April, I will be leaving this hospital. Hopefully 100% MS free!

I have created a blog to spread awareness about multiple sclerosis and possible treatments. It's still a work in progress but you could follow my aHSCT journey there if you are interested.

You can find the blog here https://fighting.ms/
You can read the full story of How my MS journey began here
You can follow my aHSCT journey from here 

If this fundraiser is successful, I promise I will be learning "The Carlton dance" from the Fresh Prince of Belair. Record it, and put it on YouTube!


For the crypto enthusiast, please feel free to donate to the following addresses:
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BTC : 38AS33gWYKDieNfhEp7L4b8kVrFtPBjZNC
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ETH : 0x0732DBEeC471CE0743F184Fbd2e80a9403178ae8
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LTC : 3Ho58KsBN6jc2miTx1U2mpkHN8yvE6BCrN
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BCH : qp2ejx9p9zgy4lnekj8qug9pcvy09rpgpu72pvz86e
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DOGE : DJ9t6qLEHLtskaA6m5699Ui62cZ7WBJztE
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With appreciation,
Frank