This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

My husband Chris is undergoing a stem cell transplant in Ottawa, Canada. It is the same procedure that was performed as part of the clinical trial that was funded by the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.
You can see the initial results from the trial here: http://mssociety.ca/en/research/meddmmo ... -feb05.htm

They are currenly in the process of writing up the full study now.

We are writing a blog to keep family and friends updated and to help other people with MS that are considering doing this treatment.

For anyone that is interested our blog is: http://my-end-to-ms.blogspot.com/

My bestwishes to your husband, Chris for taking control of his MS disease and going through this procedure. I had a very similar (but not exactly the same) protocol for my own autologogous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (that I blogged about here):

http://themscure.blogspot.com/2010/06/s ... rence.html

I find it interesting that Dr. Freedman in Ottawa is relying heavily on a protocol of cyclophosphamide and ATG to strongly deplete plasma lymphocytes in addition to autograft stem cell isolation. And since they only use a single myelotoxic agent (Busulphan, which is substantially the same as carmustine, one of the drugs used in my own BEAM protocol), it appears that they are leaning more toward Dr. Richard Burt's (NWU Fienberg School of Medicine) lympoablative approach, rather than Dr. Richard Nash's (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Reasearch Center) completely myeloxic approach.

In the end so far both approaches have shown substantial and often fantastic clinical curative results with sevral points of EDSS improvement with early RRMS cases. So I look forward to your blog ultimately relaying the beneficial results of the treatment, much (or better) than what I have already positively experienced myself now at one year post-transplant that has completely stopped (and reversed) my own MS disease. My hat's off to you and Chris! My own opinion is that you have chosen the only way to improve his MS condition and that demonstrating as much is extremely likely to come to fruition. Stay strong through the (several months) of recovery. I would bet by six months post-transplant you'll start to notice the beneficial effects following recovery from the chemo!