Support Jessica's Journey to Pain-Free Life

I’m creating this GoFundMe to help my mother Jessica raise funds for 3 rounds of regenerative Stem Cell treatments - the first of which has already been completed and has shown very promising results!

If you know Jessica, you know she’s tough, full of energy, and has the biggest heart! She devoted the better part of her life to being an incredible mother to 4 boys, working 60+ hours weeks for 20+ years as a career waitress to provide health insurance, food, and necessities for her children - sacrificing many holidays and important dates in the process. In 2002 she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and has powered on with all her might. In 2015 she retired with a small savings due to disability progression making it too difficult to continue working. She has since gotten by on disability, the generosity of others, and working occasionally as a caregiver for the elderly and for children. Having had MS for 22 years most doctors are impressed with the strength and ability she’s retained, but her silent daily struggle behind closed doors takes it toll.

In early December 2023 Jessica received her 5th Covid Vaccine and within days developed a rare adverse reaction (confirmed via various tests and by multiple neurologists and NIH reports), triggering a severe and persistent episode of Trigeminal Neuralgia - described in medical texts as the most painful medical condition someone can experience. TN is an excruciating shooting nerve pain in the face that is unpredictably triggered by everyday activities such as talking, eating, drinking, and touching one’s face. At its most severe, these attacks would last several minutes, resulting in Jessica collapsing to the floor screaming in pain, at times begging to die.

As you can imagine, this episode has drastically affected her life since it began, requiring repeated ER visits. Doctors prescribed a handful of medications that thankfully managed to reduce the intensity of the pain, but for several months Jessica lived constantly on edge, some days experiencing over 50 TN attacks in a single day. The multiple drugs she was prescribed also came with their own slew of unpleasant side effects, making it nearly impossible to live a normal life… and a single mistimed dose would easily let the TN attacks snowball out of control.

After nearly 4 straight months without any hope of this episode passing, her doctors began to suggest procedures requiring either brain surgery or radiation to kill the nerve, leaving her face permanently numb. Unsatisfied with either option, I began researching alternative methods and landed on Umbilical Cord derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell treatments. Over several months I dug through PubMed compiling research reports proving the safety and efficacy of stem cell treatment. Despite this research, her doctors completely dismissed the viability of these procedures. However, after much consideration, we finally took a leap of faith and in Mid-March had her first stem cell procedure completed in Los Angeles. Amazingly, the very next morning the TN pain was gone and Jessica has now been completely pain free for 7 straight weeks! Over the past several weeks we’ve slowly weaned her off the strongest medications and she has finally been able to start getting her life back on track!

The doctors at the stem clinic recommended 3 treatments spaced 2-3 months apart to effectively tackle both the TN attacks and her 22 years of MS disability. Given how successful this first treatment was, we’re hoping to return for another 2 rounds of stem cell treatments.

Thankfully, her extensive hospital/doctor/medication bills have mostly been covered by Medicare - but unfortunately, these very expensive stem cell treatments aren’t yet accepted as an insurance covered procedure, and the first treatment alone cost us $16k. Proceeds will help us pay off the first round of treatment and 2 additional rounds.

Goals for additional stem cell treatments:

Any help at all is appreciated! Feel free to reach out with any questions!!