As I reflect on my past weeks at this hospital where I underwent these procedures, I am asking myself exactly what I expected to come of this venture and whether my expectations were met.
I was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS two years ago. It was rapidly progressing to Secondary Progressive and my neurologist gave me two to five years until I would be in a wheelchair. It was really just a matter of time until I deteriorated to the same level of disability as the amazing ladies who have shared this incredible journey with me. That was just not an option for me. I am a fighter and started looking at various options in December when I had my third relapse in one year.
I have always been an active person, and I still am someone who takes pride in my fitness. But MS had slowly taken that from me over the past few years. Despite an underlying level of fitness, before I came to the hospital my energy levels were low and I fatigued easily. I could walk slowly but I could no longer work out in the gym, or run. My legs and feet had become numb and my vision was getting worse. Bladder and bowel control had become an embarrassing issue that I was struggling to control. I did not want to think about getting any worse and I was sure not going to allow someone to be looking after and cleaning up after me in the future.
I honestly didn't know what I would feel after my stem cell infusions. I was nervous, but keeping an open mind going in. It was fate that led me to Dr. Doug, as I met him by accident. Having him explain this treatment to me, and discussing it with patients who had been before me, there was no choice; I simply had to do it to give me any chance of a quality life again.
I know that the liberation therapies that I heard about were not working for very many people over time, so that was something I had considered but not for long. I had heard of stem cell therapies in Mexico for MS but I had never heard of anyone who got better from them. If I was going to spend good money, it had to be more effective than a few weeks or months of relief. And although I am a positive person, I am not without a healthy level of skepticism.
So with the trepidation of having medical procedures performed in a developing country and the fears of getting injected with stem cells now behind me, here I am on the last day at the hospital and I am actually starting to feel the changes. They didn't happen for me as quickly as with the others, but I've always been different! It took a few days (which feels like a lifetime for one as impatient as me), but gradually over the past week there have been some amazing improvements. Specifically, my energy level has increased significantly. I am sleeping better. Sensations in my legs have partially returned and there are more each day. My balance has improved. And now I am feeling tingling in my numb feet. But more than anything else, besides worrying about my slow deterioration, I was worried about a ruptured nerve in my thigh that came about because of a needle puncture last November. I have been in constant pain since then. The last time I remember any pain in my thigh was an odd feeling when I was inverted. In fact it took my husband to ask about it to remind me that there had once been pain!
I look forward to more improvements because in the scheme of things it has only been days since my stem cells, and what could I really expect? Patients, who had the treatment done in Mexico months ago, have told me that they are still waiting for something to happen. I thought that maybe this too would take weeks or months to feel any different but it's happening now!
And now I'm considering this against all other known therapies for MS. According to others who have had this done here in India many months, and even years ago, they have returned to good health and maintained it without a second round of treatments. And here I am following those patients who went before me. So I am asking myself... with the new improvements I am experiencing, have I stopped deteriorating? Will I get health back and how much of it? Will I be able to keep it? Will I be able to run and go to the gym again? How long will my new found health last? Will my diagnosis still be MS if I don't have any active symptoms? Will I need a second treatment, and when?
These are good questions that keep going on in my mind, but I need to get back to something basic here that I am missing. I have to admit something important. With everything in perspective, even now just a few days on, I am experiencing more recovery than any drug could ever give me. And more recovery than any neurologist would say was possible… and only 5 days on! My MS symptoms are getting so much better in the reduction of pain and return of sensation, balance, and increase in energy. It feels like the start of a complete return to health to me. I can't wait for the next week or two, or how I'll feel in a few months! To have our youngest son be able to sit on my lap again, to be able to run, swim and play with our boys … things that were dreams in the past, that will now become reality once more.
So maybe it's best to ask another question, and maybe it's the only question that needs to be asked. How come we haven't been researching stem cells for the treatment of MS for years in this way, and why are there so few trials going on that we have to go to the ends of the earth to find one? Don't get me wrong. India has been great. Yes, there have been some minor challenges, but I came here for the procedure and to be healed. I will definitely be returning as a tourist. I am appreciative of how privileged I am to be able to have this therapy, to be part of this study. I thank my family for everything they gave up to get me here, and to back me in my belief that this was the answer I had been looking for. I have also been truly blessed to be surrounded by such caring staff at the hospital.
Lastly, I think Dr. Doug is brilliant for coming up with the therapy. For giving me my life back. But if this is working for me, and the others, this should be available to everyone with MS! Why are the doctors, the FDA and governments trying to push stem cell therapies into third world countries where they can separate them into the category of medical tourism and medical scams? Why aren't there more stem cell research projects going on around the world like this one, and why aren't there more researchers like Dr. Doug?
I wouldn't have dared to have even thought this a few days ago, but with the changes in my body that I'm experiencing, as of now, I believe I'm going to recover. I don't believe that I'm going to have my MS diagnosis a year from now. Of course this is hope, but not false hope. It is based on the evidence that I am personally feeling and seeing. All of the other patients who have been here with me are experiencing it too. So if this is happening for me, my “cellmates”, and the numerous others who have gone before, what would happen if that number was 600? Or 6,000? Or 600,000 patients? Could we do any worse than the drugs they have been shoving down our throats for years while we just get sicker? This therapy should be available to everyone with MS at any level of disability. We all need to advocate for this miraculous therapy that seems to be returning everyone with MS back to health. Thanks Dr. Doug. Keep up the brilliant work!
I was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS two years ago. It was rapidly progressing to Secondary Progressive and my neurologist gave me two to five years until I would be in a wheelchair. It was really just a matter of time until I deteriorated to the same level of disability as the amazing ladies who have shared this incredible journey with me. That was just not an option for me. I am a fighter and started looking at various options in December when I had my third relapse in one year.
I have always been an active person, and I still am someone who takes pride in my fitness. But MS had slowly taken that from me over the past few years. Despite an underlying level of fitness, before I came to the hospital my energy levels were low and I fatigued easily. I could walk slowly but I could no longer work out in the gym, or run. My legs and feet had become numb and my vision was getting worse. Bladder and bowel control had become an embarrassing issue that I was struggling to control. I did not want to think about getting any worse and I was sure not going to allow someone to be looking after and cleaning up after me in the future.
I honestly didn't know what I would feel after my stem cell infusions. I was nervous, but keeping an open mind going in. It was fate that led me to Dr. Doug, as I met him by accident. Having him explain this treatment to me, and discussing it with patients who had been before me, there was no choice; I simply had to do it to give me any chance of a quality life again.
I know that the liberation therapies that I heard about were not working for very many people over time, so that was something I had considered but not for long. I had heard of stem cell therapies in Mexico for MS but I had never heard of anyone who got better from them. If I was going to spend good money, it had to be more effective than a few weeks or months of relief. And although I am a positive person, I am not without a healthy level of skepticism.
So with the trepidation of having medical procedures performed in a developing country and the fears of getting injected with stem cells now behind me, here I am on the last day at the hospital and I am actually starting to feel the changes. They didn't happen for me as quickly as with the others, but I've always been different! It took a few days (which feels like a lifetime for one as impatient as me), but gradually over the past week there have been some amazing improvements. Specifically, my energy level has increased significantly. I am sleeping better. Sensations in my legs have partially returned and there are more each day. My balance has improved. And now I am feeling tingling in my numb feet. But more than anything else, besides worrying about my slow deterioration, I was worried about a ruptured nerve in my thigh that came about because of a needle puncture last November. I have been in constant pain since then. The last time I remember any pain in my thigh was an odd feeling when I was inverted. In fact it took my husband to ask about it to remind me that there had once been pain!
I look forward to more improvements because in the scheme of things it has only been days since my stem cells, and what could I really expect? Patients, who had the treatment done in Mexico months ago, have told me that they are still waiting for something to happen. I thought that maybe this too would take weeks or months to feel any different but it's happening now!
And now I'm considering this against all other known therapies for MS. According to others who have had this done here in India many months, and even years ago, they have returned to good health and maintained it without a second round of treatments. And here I am following those patients who went before me. So I am asking myself... with the new improvements I am experiencing, have I stopped deteriorating? Will I get health back and how much of it? Will I be able to keep it? Will I be able to run and go to the gym again? How long will my new found health last? Will my diagnosis still be MS if I don't have any active symptoms? Will I need a second treatment, and when?
These are good questions that keep going on in my mind, but I need to get back to something basic here that I am missing. I have to admit something important. With everything in perspective, even now just a few days on, I am experiencing more recovery than any drug could ever give me. And more recovery than any neurologist would say was possible… and only 5 days on! My MS symptoms are getting so much better in the reduction of pain and return of sensation, balance, and increase in energy. It feels like the start of a complete return to health to me. I can't wait for the next week or two, or how I'll feel in a few months! To have our youngest son be able to sit on my lap again, to be able to run, swim and play with our boys … things that were dreams in the past, that will now become reality once more.
So maybe it's best to ask another question, and maybe it's the only question that needs to be asked. How come we haven't been researching stem cells for the treatment of MS for years in this way, and why are there so few trials going on that we have to go to the ends of the earth to find one? Don't get me wrong. India has been great. Yes, there have been some minor challenges, but I came here for the procedure and to be healed. I will definitely be returning as a tourist. I am appreciative of how privileged I am to be able to have this therapy, to be part of this study. I thank my family for everything they gave up to get me here, and to back me in my belief that this was the answer I had been looking for. I have also been truly blessed to be surrounded by such caring staff at the hospital.
Lastly, I think Dr. Doug is brilliant for coming up with the therapy. For giving me my life back. But if this is working for me, and the others, this should be available to everyone with MS! Why are the doctors, the FDA and governments trying to push stem cell therapies into third world countries where they can separate them into the category of medical tourism and medical scams? Why aren't there more stem cell research projects going on around the world like this one, and why aren't there more researchers like Dr. Doug?
I wouldn't have dared to have even thought this a few days ago, but with the changes in my body that I'm experiencing, as of now, I believe I'm going to recover. I don't believe that I'm going to have my MS diagnosis a year from now. Of course this is hope, but not false hope. It is based on the evidence that I am personally feeling and seeing. All of the other patients who have been here with me are experiencing it too. So if this is happening for me, my “cellmates”, and the numerous others who have gone before, what would happen if that number was 600? Or 6,000? Or 600,000 patients? Could we do any worse than the drugs they have been shoving down our throats for years while we just get sicker? This therapy should be available to everyone with MS at any level of disability. We all need to advocate for this miraculous therapy that seems to be returning everyone with MS back to health. Thanks Dr. Doug. Keep up the brilliant work!