Keep Mike Movin'

Hi Everyone,

We are the Mike Boehmker Keep Mike Movin' fundraising team – and we have a goal!  We know it is a lofty one – but there is no one more deserving or who needs this support more right now… We would like to raise funds to send Mike and one carer (his wife Juli) to the Ruiz Clinic in Peubla, Mexico for MS stem cell treatment.

In 2011 Mike was diagnosed with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PPMS) - this type of MS is not common, occurring in about 10% of people with MS. This disease has been devastating for Mike and his family, his friends and his livelihood.  Mike has been a carpenter and contractor his entire working life.  Unfortunately, there are no drugs to help slow down the progression of this devastating disease and there is no medication to help alleviate the symptoms. 

On a “good day”, if you were able to see Mike walking, you may think to yourself “What’s up with this guy?”  You would know something was off simply by watching him walk – which is not something that always comes easily!

On a “not so good day” (which are usually 4-5 days per week) Mike has difficulty walking… period.  His legs just won’t do what his brain is telling them to.  He has leg braces, crutches, canes, and even with the use of these aides, on a bad day, Mike has been known to trip, fall (one time down a flight of stairs – breaking his arm and subsequently requiring surgery), stumble, lose his balance… the list goes on.  Mike has a lot of discomfort and pain and our goal is to raise funds to send him on the journey of a lifetime. 

For anyone that knows Mike, you will know him as a hardworking, loving, family-man with a great sense of humour.  For those of you reading this who don’t know Mike personally – there is no one better in this word.  He is the first person to help, to give, to listen, to lend, to welcome, to support, and to love.   Now we want to return all of this kindness to him in the only way that we know will change his life. 

In 2017 a group of Mike’s friends discovered that there is a treatment option available for certain kinds of MS – and Primary Progressive is one of them!  The treatment is available in a number of countries, but, sadly, Canada is not one of them… yet.  The JACIE accredited La Clinica Ruiz in Peubla, Mexico offers HSCT (Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant) and has had great results.  Mike applied, met the criteria for the month long treatment, and has a tentative start date of February 5th, 2018.  He will undergo an Autologous Transfusion by Dr. Guillermo J. Ruiz (an award winning and distinguished Mayo Clinic Alumnus). 

Dr. Ruiz will begin by harvesting Mike’s Stem Cells, and then his immune system will be totally knocked out through rapid, high doses of chemotherapy.  Once Mike’s immune system is down, the clinic will transfuse Mike’s stem cells back into his blood stream to “reboot” his immune system.  The ultimate goal is to reverse the damage already done by MS and prevent any more progression.  Without treatment we know that Mike will eventually be bedridden, unable to speak, eat, drink or breathe on his own. 

Mike has an amazing wife, Juli, and four wonderful children.  We want Mike be able to enjoy life with Juli (who puts up with so much from him J) and to have an opportunity to be healthy and to be here to love and enjoy his children as they all grow into adults.  We want him to be able to one day see his children get married, have families and we want him to be able hold his grandchildren (one day -  but not too soon!). 

Because Mike’s treatment start date is this coming February 2018 we do not have a lot of time to raise the $100 000.00 CA funds required for the treatment.  We are asking for support from anyone who knows Mike, Juli, his children, his friends, and anyone who has ever been affected by this horrendous disease.  It is stealing Mike’s life – but he perseveres and continues to take on all that life is handing him - humbly, courageously and with dignity.  Any amount that you are able to contribute will bring us that much closer to giving Mike a chance to beat this thing.

Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.

The “Keep Mike Moving” fundraising team.

 



A little bit about MS: MS is a chronic, typically progressive disease involving damage to the sheaths of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, whose symptoms may include numbness, impairment of speech and of muscular coordination, blurred vision, and severe fatigue.  The name ‘multiple sclerosis’ describes multiple scars or lesions, as seen on the brain and spinal cord. MS works by causing the patient’s own immune system to attack and destroy myelin, an insulating substance in the body that sheathes axons, which are the fibers the body’s nervous system commands travel through. When the myelin is lost, the brain cannot effectively communicate with the body. 

 

The Mexican Method of Treatment.  Source: A. Arthur Fisher

MS Society of Canada: https://mssociety.ca/managing-ms/living-with-ms/progressive-ms

Johns Hopkins Medicine: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/conditions/nervous_system_disorders/primary_progressive_multiple_sclerosis_134,55/

Link to the Ruiz Clinic website: http://www.hsctmexico.com/contenido/HSCT.html

 

About the Doctor: Guillermo JoséRuiz-Argüelles MD, FCRP (Glasg), MACP

•2017 CIBMTR Distinguished Service Award-Recognized as an individual who has made outstanding contributions to HCT and cellular therapy worldwide.
•Training in Internal Medicine (1980) and Hematology (1982) at the Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición Salvador Zubirán/ Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
•Post-doctoral research fellow in Hematology by the Fogarty Foundation in the Department of Hematology of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, U.S.A (1983).
•Director General, Centro de Hematologia y Medicina Interna de Puebla, Clinica RUIZ. Director of the Teaching and Research Division of Laboratorios Clínicos de Puebla, Clinica RUIZ.
•Professor of Hematology in the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla and the Universidad de las Americas Puebla. Board-certified in Internal Medicine and Hematology.
•Member of the National Academy of Medicine - National Research System, level III (highest) - National Academy of Sciences- and of the Mexican Health Research Committee.
•Past-president, Mexican College of Physicians - (1989).
•Past-president, Mexican Society of Hematology - (1993-1995).
•President of the Mexican Chapter of the Mayo Alumni Association (2008-2013).
•Member of the Board of Directors of the Mayo Alumni Association (2009-2015).
•Secretary General of the Interamerican Division of the International Society of Hematology (1996-2005). •Chair of Council of the International Society of Hematology (2005-2009).
•President of the International Society of Hematology (2010-2012).
•Member of the Committee on Educational Affairs (1999-2002) and of the ad hoc Committee on International Outreach of the American Society of Hematology (1998-2001).
•Fellow of the American College of Physicians, of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and of the American Society of Hematology. 

Awards: "International Fogarty Fellowship 1982", "Luis Sánchez Medal” 1986,1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010,2012, 2013 and 2014, the "Jorge Rosenkranz 1987", "EstacioGonzaga 1987", "Aida Weiss 1987, 1989 and 1995", "Everardo Landa1988", "Héctor Labastida 1992", "México Region LaureateAward 1996", of the American College of Physicians, "Premio enCiencias Médicas 1997", of the V Festival Palafoxiano de Puebla, of the"Premio Carso-Funsalud” 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2007 in the area of organtransplantation, the “Ruy PérezTamayo 2000”,the “Premio Nacional de Oncología 2004”, the “Duc in altum” 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,2010, 2011 and 2012 by the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, the “Eduardo Liceaga2006” by the Academia Nacional de Medicina, the “Miguel Otero Arce 2007”, delivered by the president of Mexico in the name of the Consejo General de Salud – General Health Council, the Ignacio Zaragoza Medal, by the Puebla City Major and the.Premio “Roberto Kretschmer Schmidt 2012” by the Academia Nacional de Medicina 

Elected Mayo Clinic Distinguished Alumnus in October 2011 and elected Master of the American College of Physicians in April 2013.

Author of 683 papers in international and domestic peer-reviewed journals: 352 papers in full, 75 letters to the editor and 337 abstracts.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=%Ruiz-Arguelles%20G%%20[au]&dispmax=50


Author of 48 chapters in books, editor of seven books and co-editor of four. Editor–in–chief of the Revista deHematologia (México), member of the editorial board of peer-reviewed journals, both domestic (Revista deInvestigación Clínica,Medicina Interna de México, Medicina Universitaria, Revista Médica del IMSS, Gaceta Médica de México and De Medicinis Expertis) and foreign (The Lancet Haematology-England, HemOnc Today - USA, International Journal of Hematology - Japan, Acta Haematologica – Switzerland, Biología & Clínica Hematológica - Spain, Revista Brasileira de Hematologia e Hemoterapia - Brasil, Revista de Oncología - Spain,Hematology / Oncology Stem Cell Therapy - Saudi Arabia and Hematology - England)