After being trapped in a body racked by multiple sclerosis (MS) for more than seven years, a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman has received a life-changing stem cell treatment.
Wife and mother of one, Brooke Slick suffered from severe symptoms, beginning with decreased vision in one eye in 2001. Although doctors detected “enhanced” lesions in her brain, it wasn’t until 2005 that she was diagnosed with MS. Additional symptoms included:
- Landing of the right foot that made her feel as if she had a concrete block or a dead bear tied to her foot
- Profound hearing loss in the right ear.
- Loss of strength, sensation, and dexterity in the right arm and both hands
- Numbness in the fingers, toes, and feet, and numbness around the waist
- Severe but sporadic spasticity in the form of muscle spasm in the rib cage
- Constant lack of balance resulting in numerous falls at home and in public
His body was bombarded with numerous therapeutic drugs, but the symptoms continued to worsen. By July 2012, all of his options had been exhausted. It was then that she began to investigate possibilities and discovered that people all over the world were undergoing stem cell transplants to stop MS.
Brooke took the initiative and was accepted for treatment in Moscow, Russia. It is not yet available in the United States of America because it is considered an “experimental treatment,” and she did not qualify for any trials in the United States. Her admission date was April 28, 2013.
Stem cell treatment for MS
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for multiple sclerosis is a highly specialized treatment that is designed to stop the progression of the disease and restore the immune system.
Brooke’s own stem cells were collected and frozen in preparation for treatment following intense chemotherapy over four days. The plan was that the stem cells would be returned to her body intravenously after chemotherapy, to restore her immune system which contained the T cells where MS was present, and which was deliberately destroyed during the chemotherapy process.
As Brooke explains on her website, Hi Russia! Goodbye MStheir “new” immune system would have no “memory” of MS once the old immune system was eliminated.
“MS held me captive long enough. Now it’s my turn.”
Explaining to me in a bit more detail, she said that the reinjected stem cells were meant to act as “a rescue team” to help her recover from treatment more quickly.
“Stem cells don’t help stop MS. Chemotherapy is the real hero in this treatment, because that’s what depletes T cells.”
But of course, without her re-injected stem cells, her immune system wouldn’t work.
Brooke knows that it will take 12 to 18 months for the full benefits of treatment to be apparent. Although the results of a stem cell transplant are uncertain, in general the results show that the process is successful in stopping both the progression and the activity of MS. More up to 80 percent of patients reported that 45 to 80 percent of their previous symptoms were reversed.
HSCT results for MS
When Brooke left for Russia she knew she had dangerous active brain lesions; but what neither she nor her doctors realized about her is that she had ten of them. So even though her treatment went as planned, in the US she would need follow-up chemotherapy: four doses every three months until May 2014. So, at the time of this writing, Brooke is still unsure of the grade of success your HSCT will have. . However, in early November 2013, she wrote:
“I have fought the battle and won the war against MS!”
After undergoing a brain scan, her first since Moscow, she was relieved to find that all the lesions had shrunk in size and only one (the largest of all) was still “improving”, and only very slightly. From being the size of a dime, she is now the size of a “shriveled pea” and, according to her, should be destroyed by the upcoming chemotherapy treatments.
In addition to chemotherapy, Brooke is receiving intense physical therapy several times a week that is helping her use muscles she couldn’t use before. Core strengthening, she says, has helped her posture and balance, which helps her walk better, longer, and without her cane.
Brooke Slick fans
Meanwhile, people from more than 70 countries follow Brooke’s blog, many of them hoping for a chance at a stem cell transplant. And it is his mission “to tell as many people with MS as he can that there is hope”.
Certainly, the more people who learn about stem cell technology, the more likely it is that the treatment will be available in this country.