Hi, I’m Jenny. I was diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis in January 2014. There had been a massive decline in my body, mobility, pain and brain in the days/months leading up to the diagnosis. I knew something was horribly wrong with my body, but it took a long time for doctors & specialists to confirm. 

Eventually, I was told I had a very aggressive, rare type of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). MS is an extremely debilitating, progressive, autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune cells attack the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). In a matter of weeks, I lost most of myself and my life. I felt emotionally shattered.

There is no cure for MS.

I was fast tracked for the most aggressive form of chemotherapy for MS by September, 2014 and the following year as well, but continued to relapse and decline. I went on to a different kind of chemotherapy after that. It didn’t work either. 

In a state of deep desperation, my friends held a fundraiser for me two years ago for hyperbaric oxygen treatments. It was very successful. It gave me most of my brain ‘back’, helping me to think more clearly. With the relief it provided a lot of my personality returned.

I have HUGE appreciation to all the friends, family and donors that helped me with this. While this was successful in ‘strengthening’ a crucial part of me, unfortunately, it didn’t do anything to control the disease.

The challenge with MS is that it is hideously unrelenting.  

The disease continues to attack my brain and spinal cord which causes relapses. It hits hard and there is a major spike in existing or new symptoms, causing further decline/pain/loss of more functionality. It takes months of struggle to try and recover. It’s extremely terrifying living through it, and the fear of what else the future will bring hangs by a precipice.

I’ve done everything possible that I could to try and get better on a personal level. I’ve exhausted all possible drug therapies available in Canada, as well as alternative treatments.  I have been told over and over again, “there is nothing more we can do for you, Jenny”.  I’ve cried and cried, wishing, and praying for a miracle that never comes.  

There is only one thing I haven’t done. That’s HSCT.

Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (aHSCT) is known for two decades to treat aggressive Multiple Sclerosis, but it's not an approved therapy in Canada. It’s the strongest possible treatment on the globe to eradicate the disease. 

Read more about it here.

There are a handful of centers around the world offering it privately (for pay). Clinica Ruiz in Mexico is one of them. 

That’s what I’m fundraising for – to pay for the HSCT. It is very risky as it completely obliterates your immune system and uses your own stem cells to ‘reboot’ your immune system. With a reboot, the hope is it functions normally. The treatment is arduous and the recovery is long. This is my last hope or my Hail Mary as I call it.

I have researched the science, this treatment, and facility extensively. 

Clinica Ruiz has successfully treated over 1,100 patients International Multiple Sclerosis patients since 2015. Some of whom have had unbelievable improvements. Some of them not, and some of them have seen their disease stabilize. I have full confidence in their high level of medical care for the treatment.

It's critical to do it as soon as possible as once damage is done, it is permanent. So the sooner that you get it done, the better off your chances are at it being successful. Perhaps even achieve a bit of improvement. It could potentially halt my relapses for years. The possibility of this sends me over the moon with hope!

I want to get better. I don't want to live like this. Nobody should live like this. The severity of what has hit me has been immensely undignified, beyond any indignity a healthy person could imagine. Quite frankly, it’s level of h**l that no human should live in. The smile on my face never reflects what is going on behind closed doors.

This is my last hope. There's a chance it could work. It's worth that chance. 

My plan is to do HSCT at the end of January 2022. My family and a few close friends have generously stepped up, loaned and donated $65,000 so far because they believe in it so much. But they are tapped out now.

I’m hoping for an additional $25,000 to cover additional costs while I’m there. I’ll be hiring a professional caregiver to help me throughout the stay as I won’t be able to do anything for myself during the treatment, as well, for the long recovery at home.

For people interested in knowing specific details and costs, I will be creating a blog to outline the details. I’ll post an update for a link to that when I’ve got it live.

If you are in a position to help me proceed with this last, hopeful thing I can do, I would be grateful beyond words. Thank you.  ❤️