Chemotherapy for MS
Gambling with new procedures
Cathy was officially diagnosed in 2001, although she had symptoms of MS for a year. Before the experimental therapy last year, Cathy had suffered a prolonged attack that left her extremely fatigued, dizzy, in pain and limping badly. "I collapsed on the street even with the cane. I couldn't function with my five-year-old son," she says. Then, an MRI showed a very large new lesion on her spinal cord and the doctor said, "If that becomes active, you could lose the function of your legs."
By June 2008, it was evident that Cathy's high-stakes gamble had paid off. Since the cell transplant, Cathy hasn't had attacks or new lesions. She has more energy and stamina, and much greater mobility. "The other day I walked two kilometres along the Rideau Canal before I found any signs of limping," she says. "I just spent two hours with my kids at the playground and never sat down. I couldn't have done that before. If I can stay the way I am now, I'll be very happy."
Helping with research for future MS patients
As one of 17 MS patients in Canada successfully treated in an experimental study, Cathy has good reason to be optimistic about the future. "Since the study began seven years ago, not a single patient has ever had a relapse. There's no evidence of disease recurrence, and no one is on an MS drug," says Dr. Mark Freedman, a neurologist and the coleader of the clinical trial with Dr. Harold Atkins, a bone-marrow transplant specialist at The Ottawa Hospital.
Tough decisions
When a diagnosis of MS changed her life five years ago, Rachael made some critical choices. Not only did she decide to go on the expensive disease-modifying drug Rebif, not knowing if it would slow the progression of the disease, but she also started eating healthier and became passionate about physical fitness for the first time in her life.
She also put her teaching career on hold so she could spend the early years with her two young boys while she was still physically capable. "I wanted to start skiing with my kids," says Rachael. "I help out on their sports teams. Those will be the memories they know, rather than that their mom is wheelchair-bound."
Rachael's progress and relapses
Since her diagnosis, Rachael has had only two major relapses -- one affecting her vision and one affecting her legs -- and she sometimes struggles with fatigue. "I didn't think I'd be this healthy five years down the road and be able to play sports with my kids and have a normal lifestyle. It's horrible to learn you have MS, but it's been a wake-up call to live each day and enjoy it," says Rachael.
She recently encountered a woman she'd met five years earlier in an MS orientation group. Rachael was shocked to see how much this woman's condition had worsened. "We were diagnosed at exactly the same time. She chose not to do the drug, and she didn't work out." She wonders whether she would be as healthy today if she had made different choices. "I still don't know if it's the exercise, the drug or both that helped me. I'm scared to give up either."
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