Setting the scene

I was a bit unsure whether to write a blog about this as it’s not really my thing but after encouragement from family and friends, I thought I would give it a go (I’m not sure how long it will last but will try). 

As some of you may or may not know I was diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2010 at the age of 19 and this year, on 11th November 2019, I will be starting a treatment called Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

HSCT is an intense chemotherapy treatment for MS. It aims to stop the damage MS causes by wiping out and then regrowing your immune system, using your own stem cells.

HSCT aims to ‘reset’ the immune system to stop it attacking the central nervous system. It uses chemotherapy to remove the harmful immune cells and then rebuilds the immune system using a type of stem cell found in your bone marrow, called haematopoietic stem cells.  The aim is to holt disease progression. 

A little diagram to explain the process.

My aim is to document throughout the process (which is quite long) to show you what is involved and how it has affected me (good and bad).

Steph x