Richard's MS Fight Fund

Like many people on this website, I never dreamed I would be forced to ask for financial assistance from family, friends, and people who have never met me. Of course, I also never dreamed I would be struck with a Multiple Sclerosis, a progressively debilitating disease, either. Because all of the "normal" treatments have thus far been unsuccessful in even slowing the disease, I have been forced to look at alternative remedies, many of which are not authorized in the United States, and therefore not covered under my health insurance.

I now have the chance to halt this disease with a treatment call Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transfusion (HSCT).  My wife who is a nursing student, started researching Stem Cell treatment for neurological diseases such as MS, and found it offered in Puebla, Mexico at Clinica Ruiz. The proceedure is a 28 day treatment consisting of a combonation of aggressive Chemotherapy and a transplant of my own stem cells (rebooted), that basically reboots and rebuilds my entire immune system.  It is projected to be covered by  insurance in 2023, BUT I CAN NOT WAIT THAT LONG!

My MS has progressed so fast in the last three years, if it keeps going at this rate I could honestly be dependent on full time care by 2023, or even pass away due to respriatory failure. HSCT  has shown tremendous progress in people like me who have aggressive MS. The treatment is not, however, cheap. I honestly feel like this is my last real hope of actually turning back this disease and regaining a little bit of what I've lost. I know it's selfish, but I desperately want to be able to watch my daughter grow up. I want to grow old with my wife. In short, I want to live as normal a life as I possibly can. Right now, that's impossible.

My disease has affected literally every aspect of my life, from my job to my marriage to my relationship with my daughter. But I still have hope. Hope is what motivates me to get out of bed each morning.  Without going into too personal of details, I struggle with such things as even getting my pants on without help from my wife, and I am only 46 years young.

A little history about me and my journey with MS.....
Prior to my diagnoses, I was an extremely active individual, I worked out every day, ran around the neighborhood with our dogs, snowboarded, surfed, mountian biked, you name it. I had it all. Through it all, I find everday blessings in my life, such as my beautiful wife and my amazing daughter, a great job helping troubled youth, and my close freinds, all of whom have supported me and my MS. 

Seemingly out of the blue, I started feeling... off. I became clumsier. I sometimes felt like I had too much to drink, even though I might not have had a sip of alcohol. My legs began to feel weaker, and I started skipping workouts, something I hadn't done in decades.

Sensing that something was definitely wrong, I eventually started seeing doctors and undergoing more tests than I care to remember. Finally, on 9/22/2008, the diagnosis came: I had MS. Honestly, I was shocked. While I knew something wasn't right, I hoped that I had just had a budged spinal disc, something benign. I immediately looked up MS, and quickly learned that there is no cure. I then learned that the best treatments merely lessened the symptoms. Most of them simply delayed the progressive deterioration.

My closest friends have asked me to describe what it feels like to have MS. The best way I can describe it is to imagine you have sat too long on the toilet and your legs have fallen asleep. My legs are so spastic I cannot bend my leg at my knee joint. When I try to walk, it's as if the signal from my brain doesn't get to my feet. I have fallen down more times than I could possibly recall. So first came a cane, then a motorized scooter I could use to go grocery shopping or to walk the dog and join my wife and daughter while they ride their bikes. Then came progressively more advanced walkers. These days, I have trouble making it to work, and on my worse days I am confined to a wheelchair.

As I said earlier, I have tried every conventional treatment available in the United States. The most recent one actually made me feel worse and has a deadly brain cancer called PML as a side effect. I do not want to be in the position where the treatment is worse than the disease.

As I often tell my wife in my moments of despair, I am not wishing to run again or mountain bike, I simply want to continue my life on this earth without being wheelchair bound or bedridden. I don’t want to end up 50 years’ young in an assisted living facility waiting to die.  

But, like I said, I have hope. I am desperate to have this treatment ASAP, before I am bed-bound….this disease is very progressive and moves very fast. In just 8 short years I have gone from running on the beach to not being able to walk more than 20 feet, even with a walker.

I would be deeply honored if you could donate to help me meet my goal of paying for the procedure. Anything helps, no amount is to small!!! If I thought there was any way I could afford it myself, I would not be here. If I am able to raise the sufficient funds, I will post regular updates on this page. My stomach gets butterflies every time I imagine that  this time next year I'll be able to enjoy watching my daughter open her Christmas presents from the couch, as opposed to the wheelchair.

Thank you so much for your consideration.