Fatigue for Lacey and me!
February 17, 2020
MonthStill??? This is the longest month EVER!
Today I am so so so damn tired. The trip to the neurologist takes it out of me. Lacey went to the kennel and has come back tired too. She has been under the table since she got up. I’m in my recliner. The photo is grainy because I don’t have the energy to get closer to her!!! She looks how I feel.
As you know, I have been to my neurologist. He is always open with his thoughts on various treatments in the pipeline, and he explains his thoughts on them very clearly.
The rest of this post is research…science-y stuff, but in my language. If you want to read it in more detail, you could start here: https://beta.mssociety.ca/research-news/stem-cells
Early in the month, I had mentioned stem cell treatment very briefly. I’m going to fill in some more details today based on the conversation with my neurologist.
Back in 2000, there was a major stem cell trial started in Canada, one of many around the world, into a type of stem cell treatment called HSCT. It was involved using bone marrow stem cells to reboot the immune system. It is extremely aggressive, and required such high levels of chemotherapy that there was a 1 to 2% death rate, and some people on the trial had severe side effects. However, the results for those it worked were excellent, so work continues.
The new work concentrates on reducing the amount of chemo needed, therefore making it safer, but that also made it less effective. And in the years that have gone by, range of different drugs have come that are doing a similar job, in a similar manner, more safely.
The new trial on the block, however, is MESCAMS. Here’s where my talk with the neurologist comes in. This is what he calls the game changer – if they can make it work. Instead of the wipe out and reboot approach, it’s trying something different. No chemo, but send in a type of stem cells that are repairers! They go in with their tool kits and fix the previous damage! Nowhere in anything I have posted have you heard me talk about things fixing the nerve damage.
If it happens, and it won’t be quick, it’ll be very exciting!
One word of warning. You can go to all kinds of places and pay all kinds of money for stem cell treatment. It’s all bogus. I read one the other week that said it would inject the stem cells from fat in your stomach (of which I have built up quite the supply from my chocolate research) wherever you have the problems… including your eyes!!! Don’t do it, people!!!
