Stems4Emms
Donation protected
I’m raising money to be able to have stem cell treatment in Russia to try to halt my Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
I have another site with details of my fundraising events. Please take a look in case you can come along: http://stems4emms.uk
(You can donate either using the link here, or direct to my fundraising account, a/c no: 70154175, sort code: 40-63-01).
I have been offered a place for treatment in Moscow in March 2017 under Dr Federenko who has been successfully treating people with MS for the past 10 years. The treatment is called AHSCT (Auto Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation). It involves harvesting some of my own stem cells, then “re-booting” my immune system by blasting it with chemo-therapy and then reintroducing my stem cells to let my immune system re-start (hence, stems4emms!) It takes around 30 to 35 days all in, and during the middle 10 days I will need to be in complete isolation as I will have no immune resistance. The treatment is not available on the NHS and, including travel and care, it costs around £45,000.
It’s a pretty extreme thing to go through, and the thought of it terrifies me. But the alternative is even more scary.
I was diagnosed with MS on the 9th December 2011. I will never forget that day, firstly because it was my Mum’s birthday and secondly it was the most devastating day of my life, being shown my brain scan that was full of lesions causing the vision and mobility problems I had started to experience.
MS is an auto-immune disease, which means it is a condition which attacks your own body. The disease thinks that the protective covering of your nerve fibres (myelin) shouldn’t be there, and so it starts stripping it from the nerve fibres, causing scarring which prevents those nerves from working properly. It can attack any nerves in the body, so it can cause just about any physical problem you can think of, not just mobility difficulties.
By the time I was diagnosed, the disease had already done irreparable damage to my body and, despite ongoing preventative treatment, that damage has continued. Each day that goes by I worry what it will do next.
Before my diagnosis I was a healthy and very active “wonder woman”, working in the Health Service in children’s mental health as well as looking after my own young family and also studying for my Masters in Family Therapy. Outside work and family my passions were walking, running and dancing. I was even a red belt in Kick Boxing!
Now, I can’t do any of that. I still love taking my dog out every day on my mobility scooter into the fresh air and the country-side, but it’s not the same. When you are just sitting on a mobility scooter you get really cold. That doesn’t happen when you are walking. I would love to stride up the hill and feel my heart pumping.
I was always running a little bit late but managed to get there on time if I ran! Now I am always late. I still haven’t adjusted to how long it will take me to get ready and get somewhere because it’s just ridiculous how much longer simple things take, like getting showered and dressed, getting down the stairs, and getting into the car.
Gone are the days when I could pop to the shops for something. Leaving the house is like a mammoth expedition, and doing a simple shop feels like you’ve climbed not just Mount Everest, but Kilimanjaro too! I am always exhausted, and always in pain.
The waiting list for treatment in Russia is normally 2 years, but the team have assessed my case as so urgent I am going to be treated in a matter of months.
I thank my lucky stars every night that I have a warm bed, food in my fridge, two children who are beautiful inside and out, and an amazing family and friend group who support and look after me. But my biggest fear is needing to permanently use a wheel chair for even the smallest distance, and losing my vision.
These are very real concerns and I don’t feel I have any choice but to try for this treatment. Please support me by donating whatever you can afford, or even just by “liking” and sharing my page, and sending me positive love and energy!
Thanks for listening, and I will be forever grateful to anyone able to help towards sending me for this amazing, scary, treatment.
#stems4emms
I have another site with details of my fundraising events. Please take a look in case you can come along: http://stems4emms.uk
(You can donate either using the link here, or direct to my fundraising account, a/c no: 70154175, sort code: 40-63-01).
I have been offered a place for treatment in Moscow in March 2017 under Dr Federenko who has been successfully treating people with MS for the past 10 years. The treatment is called AHSCT (Auto Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation). It involves harvesting some of my own stem cells, then “re-booting” my immune system by blasting it with chemo-therapy and then reintroducing my stem cells to let my immune system re-start (hence, stems4emms!) It takes around 30 to 35 days all in, and during the middle 10 days I will need to be in complete isolation as I will have no immune resistance. The treatment is not available on the NHS and, including travel and care, it costs around £45,000.
It’s a pretty extreme thing to go through, and the thought of it terrifies me. But the alternative is even more scary.
I was diagnosed with MS on the 9th December 2011. I will never forget that day, firstly because it was my Mum’s birthday and secondly it was the most devastating day of my life, being shown my brain scan that was full of lesions causing the vision and mobility problems I had started to experience.
MS is an auto-immune disease, which means it is a condition which attacks your own body. The disease thinks that the protective covering of your nerve fibres (myelin) shouldn’t be there, and so it starts stripping it from the nerve fibres, causing scarring which prevents those nerves from working properly. It can attack any nerves in the body, so it can cause just about any physical problem you can think of, not just mobility difficulties.
By the time I was diagnosed, the disease had already done irreparable damage to my body and, despite ongoing preventative treatment, that damage has continued. Each day that goes by I worry what it will do next.
Before my diagnosis I was a healthy and very active “wonder woman”, working in the Health Service in children’s mental health as well as looking after my own young family and also studying for my Masters in Family Therapy. Outside work and family my passions were walking, running and dancing. I was even a red belt in Kick Boxing!
Now, I can’t do any of that. I still love taking my dog out every day on my mobility scooter into the fresh air and the country-side, but it’s not the same. When you are just sitting on a mobility scooter you get really cold. That doesn’t happen when you are walking. I would love to stride up the hill and feel my heart pumping.
I was always running a little bit late but managed to get there on time if I ran! Now I am always late. I still haven’t adjusted to how long it will take me to get ready and get somewhere because it’s just ridiculous how much longer simple things take, like getting showered and dressed, getting down the stairs, and getting into the car.
Gone are the days when I could pop to the shops for something. Leaving the house is like a mammoth expedition, and doing a simple shop feels like you’ve climbed not just Mount Everest, but Kilimanjaro too! I am always exhausted, and always in pain.
The waiting list for treatment in Russia is normally 2 years, but the team have assessed my case as so urgent I am going to be treated in a matter of months.
I thank my lucky stars every night that I have a warm bed, food in my fridge, two children who are beautiful inside and out, and an amazing family and friend group who support and look after me. But my biggest fear is needing to permanently use a wheel chair for even the smallest distance, and losing my vision.
These are very real concerns and I don’t feel I have any choice but to try for this treatment. Please support me by donating whatever you can afford, or even just by “liking” and sharing my page, and sending me positive love and energy!
Thanks for listening, and I will be forever grateful to anyone able to help towards sending me for this amazing, scary, treatment.
#stems4emms
Organizer
Emma McAdam
Organizer