Help Jill Halt MS!
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This page has been created to help my best friend fight a disease(MS) that has completely changed the way her future unfolds. It has been devastating to watch someone I love lose the abilities that I take for granted everyday. She is an amazing friend, mother and wife who deserves a chance at some normalcy in her every day life. Her story is best told from her perspective as she battles with this relentless disease day in, and day out...
Her Story
Hello, my name is Jill. I was diagnosed at 27 with the degenerative immune-mediated disease Multiple Sclerosis. I’ve spent the past 10 years battling and fighting to overcome the struggles it afflicts on me daily. Unfortunately, over the past few years my MS has progressed rapidly to the point where I cannot walk unaided. I require the support of a walker in my home full time, relying on it for stability, balance, and strength. I also need to use a wheelchair for any extended outings.
I have fought MS as best I can with the resources that are currently available to me. I have tried 3 separate drug therapies that are simply not working. It is becoming clear to me that a more aggressive treatment is required. And I need your help.
A Possible Life-changing Opportunity
Through research and the desire to never give up, I have found a treatment that will potentially help me regain control over my life. I desperately need this treatment as the simple daily tasks like cooking, cleaning, and buying groceries are everyday struggles for me. I am no longer able to use the stairs and have had to install a stair lift to make it to the second floor of my home. I can’t be as actively involved in my young childrens’ lives as I wish I could be, and miss out on a lot of their activities. My nine year-old son and seven year-old daughter have only ever known me to be sick. They dream of the day they don’t have to push me around in my wheelchair, and I can be involved in their daily life activities as many other moms are.
I used to live in New Zealand, where my husband is from and my children were born. As hard as it was to leave such a wonderful place, my family and I moved back to Edmonton, Canada, as we knew it was best for me. I had to try the therapies that were only offered here in Canada. My incredibly supportive, caring husband has had to take on all the responsibilities a parent has, as I simply can’t anymore. He does everything from buying the groceries, to the bedtime routine, to taking the kids to sports, to cleaning the house and that's on top of working full time and supporting me when I need him.
I’m looking to this therapy, since this is the only option left for me, to halt my MS (MS has taken so much from my life already). The treatment has proven to be successful for many MS patients worldwide. I am fundraising so that I can undergo this same treatment as soon as possible in the new year and restore my quality of life. This life changing therapy has a high cost, plus there will be added expenses for flights and child care for the month long commitment the treatment will take.
About the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transfusion (HSCT)
The HSCT is a chemotherapy based treatment. The entire course of treatment is 28 days, broken down in two segments. The first two weeks are the treatment itself, and the last two weeks are isolation while I grow a brand new immune system with no memory of MS!
My stems cells will be harvested by means of apheresis; a non-surgical procedure similar to dialysis where a patient’s blood is passed through a filtering machine by IV. After my stem cells have been collected, chemotherapy is administered to further eliminate immune cells responsible for the underlying autoimmune disease.
When the cleaning of my immune cells is completed, they will be infused back into my bloodstream. Stem cells have the ability to naturally “home” into bone marrow and start dividing again in a healthy manner to repopulate my system with new immune cells. This is known as engraftment.
After a period of time my immune system will be restored with healthy cells, and devoid of auto-toxic cells. The aim of the entire HSCT treatment process is to stop the immune system from causing damage of self. HSCT is the only treatment that can halt progression of MS. The aim of the entire HSCT treatment process is to stop the immune system from causing damage to itself.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read my story. Any amount that you can contribute is deeply appreciated.
** Please note, tipping GoFundMe is automatically added, you will need to unselect it if you do not wish to do so.
Her Story
Hello, my name is Jill. I was diagnosed at 27 with the degenerative immune-mediated disease Multiple Sclerosis. I’ve spent the past 10 years battling and fighting to overcome the struggles it afflicts on me daily. Unfortunately, over the past few years my MS has progressed rapidly to the point where I cannot walk unaided. I require the support of a walker in my home full time, relying on it for stability, balance, and strength. I also need to use a wheelchair for any extended outings.
I have fought MS as best I can with the resources that are currently available to me. I have tried 3 separate drug therapies that are simply not working. It is becoming clear to me that a more aggressive treatment is required. And I need your help.
A Possible Life-changing Opportunity
Through research and the desire to never give up, I have found a treatment that will potentially help me regain control over my life. I desperately need this treatment as the simple daily tasks like cooking, cleaning, and buying groceries are everyday struggles for me. I am no longer able to use the stairs and have had to install a stair lift to make it to the second floor of my home. I can’t be as actively involved in my young childrens’ lives as I wish I could be, and miss out on a lot of their activities. My nine year-old son and seven year-old daughter have only ever known me to be sick. They dream of the day they don’t have to push me around in my wheelchair, and I can be involved in their daily life activities as many other moms are.
I used to live in New Zealand, where my husband is from and my children were born. As hard as it was to leave such a wonderful place, my family and I moved back to Edmonton, Canada, as we knew it was best for me. I had to try the therapies that were only offered here in Canada. My incredibly supportive, caring husband has had to take on all the responsibilities a parent has, as I simply can’t anymore. He does everything from buying the groceries, to the bedtime routine, to taking the kids to sports, to cleaning the house and that's on top of working full time and supporting me when I need him.
I’m looking to this therapy, since this is the only option left for me, to halt my MS (MS has taken so much from my life already). The treatment has proven to be successful for many MS patients worldwide. I am fundraising so that I can undergo this same treatment as soon as possible in the new year and restore my quality of life. This life changing therapy has a high cost, plus there will be added expenses for flights and child care for the month long commitment the treatment will take.
About the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transfusion (HSCT)
The HSCT is a chemotherapy based treatment. The entire course of treatment is 28 days, broken down in two segments. The first two weeks are the treatment itself, and the last two weeks are isolation while I grow a brand new immune system with no memory of MS!
My stems cells will be harvested by means of apheresis; a non-surgical procedure similar to dialysis where a patient’s blood is passed through a filtering machine by IV. After my stem cells have been collected, chemotherapy is administered to further eliminate immune cells responsible for the underlying autoimmune disease.
When the cleaning of my immune cells is completed, they will be infused back into my bloodstream. Stem cells have the ability to naturally “home” into bone marrow and start dividing again in a healthy manner to repopulate my system with new immune cells. This is known as engraftment.
After a period of time my immune system will be restored with healthy cells, and devoid of auto-toxic cells. The aim of the entire HSCT treatment process is to stop the immune system from causing damage of self. HSCT is the only treatment that can halt progression of MS. The aim of the entire HSCT treatment process is to stop the immune system from causing damage to itself.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read my story. Any amount that you can contribute is deeply appreciated.
** Please note, tipping GoFundMe is automatically added, you will need to unselect it if you do not wish to do so.
Fundraising team (2)
Melissa Knezacek
Organizer
jill Steiner
Beneficiary
Jill Steiner
Team member
