Stem Cell Transplant for Matthew
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About this Campaign:
I started this campaign page for my best friend in the world. Not only is he the most caring soul I have ever met, but he is also the most generous. I have been fortunate enough to witness Matthew doing so many good deeds for others on a daily basis. Now, Matthew needs your help.
Matthew was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) last year after battling this horrible disease since June of 2015. He has tried numerous medical treatments, all of which have made him suffer even worse in hopes of finding something that will relieve him of his symptoms. He has been disqualified from pursuing his career dreams due to this diagnosis. Matthew is well known for his generous spirit, love for helping others, undying work ethic, and positive attitude. He puts on his game face everyday and lives life to the best of his ability, even when on the inside, he is suffering with the pain and symptoms of MS. On February 3rd, 2017, Matthew was given hope.
Matthew went through a rigorous selection process and was approved for a stem cell transplant. This procedure is very hopeful and the closest thing to a "cure" for MS out there at this time. Many others have gone through this treatment and had a complete remission in symptoms. This procedure could be a miracle for Matthew, but it comes at a high cost. We are trying to raise enough money to pay for the costs of treatment and hospital stay. In order for Matthew to remain a candidate for the transplant, we need to raise enough money in four weeks to pay for the procedure out of pocket in total. This transplant is not covered by insurance and he must pay for the entire cost prior to recieving the transplant. We have only four weeks to raise the money. If we cannot raise enough money, the transplant would have to be cancelled, and Matthew would have to start the application process all over again at the risk of being denied in the future due to changes in medical status, etc.
***Please continue to Matthew's story below. Under his story, you will find information about MS and the stem cell transplant therapy he has qualified for.
Matthew's Story:
In June 2015, I woke up to go to work. It was a normal evening as I started to get ready. As I walked from the bedroom to the bathroom (for those of you who haven't seen the apartment I live in, it's only about ten feet) I started drifting to the right and the next thing I knew I was walking with my shoulder on the wall. My vision went blurry in my left eye. I began to feel like I was on a small boat in very rough seas. Hoping I was just dehydrated I made it to the kitchen (crawling on my hands and knees because standing was out of the question) and started drinking as much water as I could. So here I was, sitting on the kitchen floor, fridge door open and pouring glass after glass of water in the hope I would start to feel better. After an hour, I felt worse.
I called out of work, crawled back to bed and took melatonin to fall asleep. The next morning I couldn't sit up in the bed. I made the decision to come to the ER where I work and get this checked out. After an interesting drive and stumbling through the parking lot, I checked in and was seen by the physician. The CT was negative for any bleeds or large masses but my symptoms continued. I was discharged with a diagnosis of vertigo and given meclizine to curb the dizziness. The next few days were terrible. All I did was sleep because meclizine made me very sleepy. Any time I sat up, I could not move because the room would start spinning. So I made the best of it, crawling between the bathroom and the kitchen and the bedroom. Sleep was my only escape.
About three days after my vertigo symptoms started, the vision disturbances began. My eyes would not work together and the only way to describe it would be: looking at an object and having one eye immediately focus on that object, and the other eye took about 5-10 seconds to catch up. I lived with these symptoms for about three weeks before I was at a family graduation party and couldn't handle it anymore. I went back to the hospital and this time had an MRI. The look on the physicians face was terrifying to me to say the least. She explained to me that she was going to refer me to the neurology team. She told me there may be something on the scan, but I would need another MRI with contrast.
So, I had another MRI with contrast. The neurologist told me there may be some lesions on the scan (3 to be exact) and he believed he could see lesions on my spine. Before I left his office he explained that I was going to follow up with a Multiple Sclerosis Specialist. As he said the words, I tuned out everything after that. My grandmother had MS and seeing her deteriorate sent chills down my spine.
I am very close with my parents. My first call was to my mom. I held it together for all of two minutes then broke down on the phone. I told her the neurologist believed it was MS and I was being referred to a specialist. My parents have always been caring and supportive in anything I've done and now was not any different. She calmed me down and reassured me that my grandmother's condition was bad, but she had never followed through with treatment. She insisted we would tackle this before it got any worse.
I went about my days trying the best I could to deal with my vision problems and vertigo like symptoms until I could meet with the specialist. My first meeting with the MS Specialist sent another shock to my system. He pulled up the last MRI with contrast and told me that he reviewed it and didn’t find 3 lesions, but had in fact found 9. All 9 were small, but scattered around my brain. He then moved on to tell me that he had also found 7 lesions on the vertebrae that make up my spine. He scheduled me for another MRI with contrast, this time to include my spine to see if there should be any more cause for concern.
At this point, we began talking about treatment. There is NO CURE for MS. He advised me to start taking vitamin D as soon as possible. I take ten-thousand units a day now and have since my diagnosis. We discussed a medication that I would have to inject everyday to help stop the growth of the 9 lesions I already had and prevent any new lesions from forming. I began taking the new medication and that’s when the fun really started.
The medication had three main side effects. The first was possible infection at the injection site. The second being flu like symptoms. And the third was liver failure. Thankfully I was never exposed to infection at any of my injection sites. Which is pretty good, considering I had to find 30 places a month to inject. The worst of my symptoms came in the form of what I called "insta-flu." No sooner did I inject myself, that I began to have full body aches, fever, and other flu-like symptoms.
I thought these would pass with time as my body became used to the medication, but it never did. It got worse. The feeling of being sick and being in pain because of the body aches made me very fatigued. I began having to call out of work because I couldn’t make it through a shift without being so tired. Even the smallest tasks became the hardest to complete. I stopped going out with friends because I did not feel strong enough on my feet. Sometimes I even had trouble staying awake. My episodes of dizziness and vertigo-like symptoms have been triggered by two things: heat and stress. In the middle of all of this, I was applying and interviewing with a police agency. Those who know me best will tell you that I love to help people, and this was the way I wanted to do it. I tested and passed. I interviewed and didn’t pass for a very specific reason, my MS diagnosis. I spoke with an officer from this agency, and he told me that being in a stressful situation in the middle of summer while fighting or chasing a suspect was not a good idea. I began to realize that I wouldn’t be able to follow this career path with this disease. This was another blow to what was to be a long line of disappointments and realizations.
I injected myself from the beginning of November 2015 to the beginning of August 2016.
In October of 2015, I went to my neurologist for a lumbar puncture. If you never have to get one of these, consider yourself lucky. He took a needle about 6 inches long and put it between the vertebrae in my back, not once but twice. He couldn’t obtain a sample of spinal fluid which was needed for my diagnosis. I was sent to interventional radiology so they could be guided by Xray to the correct spot. Two days later, I was back in the hospital with the worst headache of my life. The emergency physician called in an anesthesiologist to take blood from my vein and inject it into my spinal cord to replace the fluid that had been taken out for my lumbar punture. I felt immediate relief from the headache.
In November of 2015, I was with my family in Hawaii when I received the call. It was my specialist and he told me that I have MS. Up until this point, it was speculation. But between the symptoms, MRI’s and the spinal fluid results he was 90% sure. I had kind of braced myself for this. I hung up the phone, grabbed a beer from the 6 pack I had sitting in the sand and watched the waves roll in. I didn’t think of anything for a while. Time stood still.
Between the time I found out, and the time I had my next MRI and follow-up, I injected the meds every other day. My memory got better as did my vision but now began the constant pain in my legs and the numbness in my feet. I’d had enough and at that next appointment, I told the specialist that I needed a change. Before we discussed any medication changes he went over the latest MRI and the good news was the 9 lesions in my brain and the 7 on my spine had not gotten any bigger. Then came the bad news. I had a new lesion in my brain that was bigger than all of the other 9 combined. So, the medication I had been injecting for 9 months was and wasn’t working. We decided it was time for a change.
I began a new medication. The good news was, no more flu like symptoms. The bad news was, I had to inject every single day, and this new medication would take longer to slow the progression. It has been 3 months since the medication changes. No more flu, but the pain has gotten much worse. There hasn’t been a day since November that my legs don’t hurt/burn. And most days I have no feeling in my feet. This makes for an interesting time walking up and down stairs at my apartment. The scary part is, a lot of people lose feeling in their feet and then their legs which usually progresses into having to be in a wheelchair permanently. The pain has slowly started to make its way up my back.
I live in pain everyday. I try the best I can to deal with it but most days it is a struggle to hide it. It’s getting harder and harder to get through the days without wanting to sleep through them because sleeping is the only time I have respite.
About Multiple Sclerosis (MS):
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is widely believed to be an autoimmune condition – the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks, and subsequently damages, the ‘myelin sheath’ protecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. This damage causes messages to and from the brain to be slowed, distorted or stopped altogether. This is what leads to the symptoms of MS.
Damage to the myelin sheath is believed to cause ‘relapses’, or MS attacks. In these attacks, symptoms flare up and last for anything from 24 hours to several months. Over time, if nerve fibers themselves become damaged, or destroyed completely, this can lead to ‘progression’ of the MS and an increase in disability.
About the Stem Cell Transplant:
Multiple sclerosis stem cell treatment is being studied for efficacy in improving the complications in patients with MS, through the use of their own stem cells. These procedures may help patients who don’t respond to typical drug treatment, want to reduce their reliance on medication, or are looking to try stem cell therapy before starting drug treatment.
This treatment for multiple sclerosis is designed to target the myelin sheath by introducing adult mesenchymal stem cells past the blood brain barrier so they may differentiate into and repair the myelin sheath nerve cells. This process is called remyelination. Further, being that Multiple Sclerosis is an auto-immune condition, adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells have the ability to repair the immune system; keeping it from attacking itself. This process is referred to as immunomodulation. Through remyelination and immunomodulation, we hope to work toward improving the quality of lives of patients dealing with Multiple Sclerosis.
Matthew's Family:
Matthew has a lot to live for.
Matthew found out he is going to be a Daddy.
Our goal for Matthew is to live a long, happy, healthy, and pain free life. Matthew is very excited and hopeful about his future and the possibility of being free from the horrible and dibillitating symptoms caused by MS. This stem cell treatment could be the answer. He has been granted this wonderful opportunity recieve this treatment with your help. Every donation is appreciated and any amount will help. Please help if you can. Thank you for taking the time to read about Matthew and for your contributions.
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
― Winston S. Churchill
“No one has ever become poor by giving.”
― Anne Frank
“It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”
― Mother Teresa
“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”
― Maya Angelou

I started this campaign page for my best friend in the world. Not only is he the most caring soul I have ever met, but he is also the most generous. I have been fortunate enough to witness Matthew doing so many good deeds for others on a daily basis. Now, Matthew needs your help.
Matthew was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) last year after battling this horrible disease since June of 2015. He has tried numerous medical treatments, all of which have made him suffer even worse in hopes of finding something that will relieve him of his symptoms. He has been disqualified from pursuing his career dreams due to this diagnosis. Matthew is well known for his generous spirit, love for helping others, undying work ethic, and positive attitude. He puts on his game face everyday and lives life to the best of his ability, even when on the inside, he is suffering with the pain and symptoms of MS. On February 3rd, 2017, Matthew was given hope.
Matthew went through a rigorous selection process and was approved for a stem cell transplant. This procedure is very hopeful and the closest thing to a "cure" for MS out there at this time. Many others have gone through this treatment and had a complete remission in symptoms. This procedure could be a miracle for Matthew, but it comes at a high cost. We are trying to raise enough money to pay for the costs of treatment and hospital stay. In order for Matthew to remain a candidate for the transplant, we need to raise enough money in four weeks to pay for the procedure out of pocket in total. This transplant is not covered by insurance and he must pay for the entire cost prior to recieving the transplant. We have only four weeks to raise the money. If we cannot raise enough money, the transplant would have to be cancelled, and Matthew would have to start the application process all over again at the risk of being denied in the future due to changes in medical status, etc.
***Please continue to Matthew's story below. Under his story, you will find information about MS and the stem cell transplant therapy he has qualified for.
Matthew's Story:
In June 2015, I woke up to go to work. It was a normal evening as I started to get ready. As I walked from the bedroom to the bathroom (for those of you who haven't seen the apartment I live in, it's only about ten feet) I started drifting to the right and the next thing I knew I was walking with my shoulder on the wall. My vision went blurry in my left eye. I began to feel like I was on a small boat in very rough seas. Hoping I was just dehydrated I made it to the kitchen (crawling on my hands and knees because standing was out of the question) and started drinking as much water as I could. So here I was, sitting on the kitchen floor, fridge door open and pouring glass after glass of water in the hope I would start to feel better. After an hour, I felt worse.
I called out of work, crawled back to bed and took melatonin to fall asleep. The next morning I couldn't sit up in the bed. I made the decision to come to the ER where I work and get this checked out. After an interesting drive and stumbling through the parking lot, I checked in and was seen by the physician. The CT was negative for any bleeds or large masses but my symptoms continued. I was discharged with a diagnosis of vertigo and given meclizine to curb the dizziness. The next few days were terrible. All I did was sleep because meclizine made me very sleepy. Any time I sat up, I could not move because the room would start spinning. So I made the best of it, crawling between the bathroom and the kitchen and the bedroom. Sleep was my only escape.
About three days after my vertigo symptoms started, the vision disturbances began. My eyes would not work together and the only way to describe it would be: looking at an object and having one eye immediately focus on that object, and the other eye took about 5-10 seconds to catch up. I lived with these symptoms for about three weeks before I was at a family graduation party and couldn't handle it anymore. I went back to the hospital and this time had an MRI. The look on the physicians face was terrifying to me to say the least. She explained to me that she was going to refer me to the neurology team. She told me there may be something on the scan, but I would need another MRI with contrast.
So, I had another MRI with contrast. The neurologist told me there may be some lesions on the scan (3 to be exact) and he believed he could see lesions on my spine. Before I left his office he explained that I was going to follow up with a Multiple Sclerosis Specialist. As he said the words, I tuned out everything after that. My grandmother had MS and seeing her deteriorate sent chills down my spine.
I am very close with my parents. My first call was to my mom. I held it together for all of two minutes then broke down on the phone. I told her the neurologist believed it was MS and I was being referred to a specialist. My parents have always been caring and supportive in anything I've done and now was not any different. She calmed me down and reassured me that my grandmother's condition was bad, but she had never followed through with treatment. She insisted we would tackle this before it got any worse.
I went about my days trying the best I could to deal with my vision problems and vertigo like symptoms until I could meet with the specialist. My first meeting with the MS Specialist sent another shock to my system. He pulled up the last MRI with contrast and told me that he reviewed it and didn’t find 3 lesions, but had in fact found 9. All 9 were small, but scattered around my brain. He then moved on to tell me that he had also found 7 lesions on the vertebrae that make up my spine. He scheduled me for another MRI with contrast, this time to include my spine to see if there should be any more cause for concern.
At this point, we began talking about treatment. There is NO CURE for MS. He advised me to start taking vitamin D as soon as possible. I take ten-thousand units a day now and have since my diagnosis. We discussed a medication that I would have to inject everyday to help stop the growth of the 9 lesions I already had and prevent any new lesions from forming. I began taking the new medication and that’s when the fun really started.
The medication had three main side effects. The first was possible infection at the injection site. The second being flu like symptoms. And the third was liver failure. Thankfully I was never exposed to infection at any of my injection sites. Which is pretty good, considering I had to find 30 places a month to inject. The worst of my symptoms came in the form of what I called "insta-flu." No sooner did I inject myself, that I began to have full body aches, fever, and other flu-like symptoms.
I thought these would pass with time as my body became used to the medication, but it never did. It got worse. The feeling of being sick and being in pain because of the body aches made me very fatigued. I began having to call out of work because I couldn’t make it through a shift without being so tired. Even the smallest tasks became the hardest to complete. I stopped going out with friends because I did not feel strong enough on my feet. Sometimes I even had trouble staying awake. My episodes of dizziness and vertigo-like symptoms have been triggered by two things: heat and stress. In the middle of all of this, I was applying and interviewing with a police agency. Those who know me best will tell you that I love to help people, and this was the way I wanted to do it. I tested and passed. I interviewed and didn’t pass for a very specific reason, my MS diagnosis. I spoke with an officer from this agency, and he told me that being in a stressful situation in the middle of summer while fighting or chasing a suspect was not a good idea. I began to realize that I wouldn’t be able to follow this career path with this disease. This was another blow to what was to be a long line of disappointments and realizations.
I injected myself from the beginning of November 2015 to the beginning of August 2016.
In October of 2015, I went to my neurologist for a lumbar puncture. If you never have to get one of these, consider yourself lucky. He took a needle about 6 inches long and put it between the vertebrae in my back, not once but twice. He couldn’t obtain a sample of spinal fluid which was needed for my diagnosis. I was sent to interventional radiology so they could be guided by Xray to the correct spot. Two days later, I was back in the hospital with the worst headache of my life. The emergency physician called in an anesthesiologist to take blood from my vein and inject it into my spinal cord to replace the fluid that had been taken out for my lumbar punture. I felt immediate relief from the headache.
In November of 2015, I was with my family in Hawaii when I received the call. It was my specialist and he told me that I have MS. Up until this point, it was speculation. But between the symptoms, MRI’s and the spinal fluid results he was 90% sure. I had kind of braced myself for this. I hung up the phone, grabbed a beer from the 6 pack I had sitting in the sand and watched the waves roll in. I didn’t think of anything for a while. Time stood still.
Between the time I found out, and the time I had my next MRI and follow-up, I injected the meds every other day. My memory got better as did my vision but now began the constant pain in my legs and the numbness in my feet. I’d had enough and at that next appointment, I told the specialist that I needed a change. Before we discussed any medication changes he went over the latest MRI and the good news was the 9 lesions in my brain and the 7 on my spine had not gotten any bigger. Then came the bad news. I had a new lesion in my brain that was bigger than all of the other 9 combined. So, the medication I had been injecting for 9 months was and wasn’t working. We decided it was time for a change.
I began a new medication. The good news was, no more flu like symptoms. The bad news was, I had to inject every single day, and this new medication would take longer to slow the progression. It has been 3 months since the medication changes. No more flu, but the pain has gotten much worse. There hasn’t been a day since November that my legs don’t hurt/burn. And most days I have no feeling in my feet. This makes for an interesting time walking up and down stairs at my apartment. The scary part is, a lot of people lose feeling in their feet and then their legs which usually progresses into having to be in a wheelchair permanently. The pain has slowly started to make its way up my back.
I live in pain everyday. I try the best I can to deal with it but most days it is a struggle to hide it. It’s getting harder and harder to get through the days without wanting to sleep through them because sleeping is the only time I have respite.
About Multiple Sclerosis (MS):
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is widely believed to be an autoimmune condition – the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks, and subsequently damages, the ‘myelin sheath’ protecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. This damage causes messages to and from the brain to be slowed, distorted or stopped altogether. This is what leads to the symptoms of MS.
Damage to the myelin sheath is believed to cause ‘relapses’, or MS attacks. In these attacks, symptoms flare up and last for anything from 24 hours to several months. Over time, if nerve fibers themselves become damaged, or destroyed completely, this can lead to ‘progression’ of the MS and an increase in disability.
About the Stem Cell Transplant:
Multiple sclerosis stem cell treatment is being studied for efficacy in improving the complications in patients with MS, through the use of their own stem cells. These procedures may help patients who don’t respond to typical drug treatment, want to reduce their reliance on medication, or are looking to try stem cell therapy before starting drug treatment.
This treatment for multiple sclerosis is designed to target the myelin sheath by introducing adult mesenchymal stem cells past the blood brain barrier so they may differentiate into and repair the myelin sheath nerve cells. This process is called remyelination. Further, being that Multiple Sclerosis is an auto-immune condition, adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells have the ability to repair the immune system; keeping it from attacking itself. This process is referred to as immunomodulation. Through remyelination and immunomodulation, we hope to work toward improving the quality of lives of patients dealing with Multiple Sclerosis.
Matthew's Family:
Matthew has a lot to live for. Matthew found out he is going to be a Daddy.
Our goal for Matthew is to live a long, happy, healthy, and pain free life. Matthew is very excited and hopeful about his future and the possibility of being free from the horrible and dibillitating symptoms caused by MS. This stem cell treatment could be the answer. He has been granted this wonderful opportunity recieve this treatment with your help. Every donation is appreciated and any amount will help. Please help if you can. Thank you for taking the time to read about Matthew and for your contributions.
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
― Winston S. Churchill
“No one has ever become poor by giving.”
― Anne Frank
“It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”
― Mother Teresa
“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”
― Maya Angelou
Organizer and beneficiary
Julie Newton
Organizer
Fontana, CA
Matthew Harris
Beneficiary