Revisit the journey of Chris and relate to challenges of CIDP diagnosis by exclusion (S2 replay)

May 12, 2021 — Leave a comment

Warrior: Chris Masters
Snowflake: CIDP (chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy)
HSCT: August 14, 2018
Superpower: ability to walk again

Have you ever lingered on the brink of life? Or wondered why diagnosis by exclusion takes so long? How much energy would you have to spin your wheels?

Meet Chris, a physical therapist familiar with physical movement, injury, and the understanding that when numbness, tingling, and pain consumed his abilities to move, he needed to fast-track some answers. Despite the shuffle from doctor to doctor without diagnosis, once his body completely shut down while driving to work, Chris and his wife knew they had to find their own answers and fully adorn the role of advocacy.

Tune in to learn more about the back-and-forth Chris experienced along his path to HSCT, the concern for others struggling to find the right diagnosis, the importance of self-advocacy, and the spirit of hope in sharing awareness.

Be sure to visit our website, HSCTWarriorsPodcast.com where you can find notes from today’s episode, submit ideas or feedback, and access the latest HSCT research and resources. Special thanks to musical genius Billy Alletzhauser for sharing his superpowers to create the soundtrack, edit, and produce the audio to make this podcast possible. You can find us both when you subscribe on SoundCloud, iTunes or wherever you find your podcasts.

Take a moment to leave a review because your feedback will help to develop even better episodes, and your ratings will help other people find the show. Tune in next Wednesday for a brand new episode, highlighting another HSCT Warrior. Until then, be a snowflake and embrace your superpowers. Be kind. Be well.

Resources noted:
GBS/CIDP Foundation: https://www.gbs-cidp.org/

Revisit Alison’s insights for caregivers traveling abroad for HSCT (replay from S2)

May 5, 2021 — Leave a comment

Warrior: Alison Coates
Snowflake: AIMS Charity
HSCT: Caregiver
Superpower: Dedication

Have you considered the possibilities of traveling abroad to pursue HSCT to halt your autoimmune disease? Are you striving to overcome obstacles like funding or researching HSCT?

Meet Alison, a caregiver for her warrior husband who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2010 and experienced significant declines in a short time. Once they determined HSCT would be the best avenue for treatment, they struggled to be accepted to their local clinic in the United Kingdom. After fundraising to pursue HSCT at Clinica Ruiz in Puebla Mexico, they were finally accepted for treatment in the UK and allocated the dollars already raised to begin AIMS; the world’s first charity to support individuals in their pursuit of HSCT.

Tune in to learn more about how Alison came to co-found AIMS, the world’s first registered charity to support UK residents with Autoimmune Disease and Multiple Sclerosis, with an emphasis on HSCT.

Be sure to visit our website, HSCTWarriorsPodcast.com where you can find notes from today’s episode, submit ideas or feedback, or connect with HSCT Warriors, Inc. and schedule time to “Talk with a Warrior”, find the latest research and resources, or explore the world map. Special thanks to musical genius Billy Alletzhauser for sharing his superpowers to produce the soundtrack, and engineer the audio to make this podcast possible. You can find us both when you subscribe on SoundCloud, iTunes or wherever you find your podcasts.

It has been great to connect with Warriors worldwide, so please reach out if you’re interested in sharing your story. We would love to learn how the podcast has helped your journey with autoimmune disease so if you could take a moment, leave us a comment on instagram or share feedback on our website. We hope you’ll tune in next Wednesday for another episode, highlighting another HSCT Warrior. Until then, be a snowflake and embrace your superpowers. Be kind. Be well.

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Jen Stansbury Koenig and the producers disclaim medical influence and responsibility for any possible adverse effects from the use of information contained herein. If you think you have a medical problem, please contact a licensed physician.

Resources noted:

AIMS Charity AIMS Symptom Checker
Clinica Ruiz, Puebla, Mexico
Aa Maximov Hospital, Moscow Russia

Revisit all the hopeful curiosities of Katie’s Hope Journey pre-HSCT (replay from S2)

April 28, 2021 — Leave a comment

Warrior: Katie Hominsky
Snowflake: RRMS
HSCT: Chicago, March 2019
Superpower: walk with God

Where do you find confidence to move forward? How do you take the reins and find the right mindset? Who do you consider to be family?

Join us along Katie’s Hope Journey and learn from this interview with our first HSCT Hopeful. After spending 9 years battling multiple sclerosis, Katie found the mindset and the communal support to tackle HSCT head on. Despite her roller coaster of seeking insurance approval, the denial that led to fundraising and efforts of advocacy, Katie is now scheduled for pretesting and if all goes well, to undergo HSCT in March, 2019.

Tune in and learn strategies for fundraising, answers to lingering questions, and how connecting with other HSCT veterans helped Katie build genuine excitement for HSCT.

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Resources:
Personal blog: Katie’s Hope Journey to end her MS
End my MS blog: by Anna Wise

Meet Cassidy along her journey of over-achieving before and after HSCT* (Ep. 67)

April 21, 2021 — Leave a comment

*This episode contains content that may be alarming to some listeners, including mentions of suicidal ideation. Please check the show notes for more detailed descriptions and take care of yourself*

Warrior: Cassidy V. Chapman
AI: Multiple Sclerosis
HSCT: July 15, 2019
Superpower: Passion for bringing awareness to HSCT

To what extent are you an over-achiever? How open are you to receiving support from others? Where do you find family?

After being diagnosed with MS her first year of law school, Cassidy was initially able to manage her disease with a variety of disease-modifying therapies. Though building a successful career as an attorney came with compounding stress that caused significant relapses which left Cassidy fighting optic neuritis and blindness, it was the fatigue and cognitive impairments that ultimately led her doctor to recommend she stop working. After waiting 33 months to be approved for social security disability, Cassidy found creative ways to stay afloat while managing her relapses and steroid psychosis. Thanks to the guidance of an eleven-year HSCT veteran, once Cassidy decided it was time to pursue HSCT, she surrounded herself with caregivers.

With frank conversation about Cassidy’s experience seeking disability about the side effects of multiple sclerosis and its’ medical treatments, including steroid psychosis that led to homicidal and suicidal ideation (skip 40:00-42:30 and 1:02:00-1:05:05 if you want to avoid these parts of the conversation), this episode offers helpful insights about MS symptoms to look out for both pre- and post-HSCT. Tune in to learn more about Cassidy’s scare at 14 months post-HSCT and how her experience with HSCT has shifted her perspective and her priorities.

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Learn how Rachel managed CIDP before myeloablative HSCT at the CBCI in Denver (Ep. 66)

April 14, 2021 — Leave a comment

Warrior: Rachel Gallery
AI: Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy
HSCT: Oct 19, 2020
Superpower: Empathy

Do you consider yourself a lucky person? How often do you receive treatment for autoimmune disease? How layered is your circle of support?

After spending nearly a year with strange symptom progression, a neurologist was finally able to diagnose Rachel when IVIG helped to offset some of her most problematic symptoms. After five years of managing her disease with IVIG infusions every two weeks, she found herself facing rapid decline, trying a variety of aggressive treatments including cytoxan and rituxan that failed to help.

Tune in to learn more about the clinical trial at the Colorado Blood Cancer Institute (CBCI) in Denver, and the confidence to get through the myeloablative protocol despite significant complications (namely, graft v. host disease) amid the COVID pandemic. With so many helpful tips for mindset to accept support through the tough times, illuminate invisibilities, and adjust to life with chronic illness, this conversation with Rachel offers practical strategies to make it through some really tough moments along the HSCT path.

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Resources:
Colorado Blood Cancer Institute
HSCT Warriors Podcast

Meet Erin and be inspired to find empathy and connection despite feelings of isolation (Ep. 65)

April 7, 2021 — Leave a comment

Warrior: Erin Schoenlein
AI: Multiple Sclerosis
HSCT: March 15, 2020
Superpower: energy to help other people

How wide is your view? Do you know what it feels like to be well? For how long have you been distanced?

Having been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in high school, Erin is no stranger to advocacy for well-being and the importance of spinning challenges into positive opportunities. Although she did not qualify for the clinical trials in the United States, Erin researched her options and found herself at Clinica Ruiz just prior to the start of the global pandemic. Erin distracted herself from the chaotic stress of COVID by surrounding herself in a bubble of staying focused on positivity and gratitude expressed by others around her. During this conversation with Erin, hear more about how her experiences in Mexico and her quarantine upon returning home helped motivate her to find inclusive ways to empower others.

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Resources:
Sail MS
Paavitforward.org
HSCTWarriors.org

Continue learning from DeWayne’s experience with myeloablative HSCT despite COVID (Ep. 64 part 2)

March 31, 2021 — Leave a comment

Warrior: DeWayne Durr
AI: Multiple Sclerosis
HSCT: Oct 29, 2020
Superpower: Confidence

How supported do you feel? To what extent do you think about each step that lies ahead? Do you wait to share your gratitude?

Continuing from where we left off in this two part episode, tune in to learn from DeWayne as he shares more about his experience navigating his return to work, changes with his diet, and considerations for health and wellness while in the early stages of recovery from the myeloablative protocol at Cleveland Clinic.

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Resources:
www.rooftopprayerwarrior.com

www.hsctwarriors.org

Learn from DeWayne’s experience as the first HSCT patient for MS at Cleveland Clinic (Ep. 64 part 1)

March 24, 2021 — Leave a comment

Warrior: DeWayne Durr

AI: Multiple Sclerosis

HSCT: Oct 29, 2020

Superpower: Confidence

How often in life have you been first? How do you find confidence along your path?

Check-in with DeWayne to hear more about his experience as the first patient to receive HSCT for Multiple Sclerosis at the Cleveland Clinic. With so many details about his experiences with the myeloablative protocol of the BEAT-MS clinical trial, including securing insurance coverage, the staff and his in-patient experiences, as well as logistics and details about the time spent after discharge in a nearby hotel, DeWayne shares so many valuable insights, this interview will air as a two-part episode.

Tune in this week to hear the details about being in-patient at Cleveland Clinic and logistics for after-care in Cleveland, and next week, join us to hear more about DeWayne’s experience with recovery so far.

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Resources:
www.rooftopprayerwarrior.com

www.beat-ms.org

Be inspired by Vic’s resolve, despite the naysayers and positive COVID tests (Ep. 63)

March 17, 2021 — Leave a comment

Warrior: Vic Bonilla
AI: Multiple Sclerosis
HSCT: Oct 2020
Superpower: unbreakable resolve

Have you ever felt like an observer of your own life? Have you stared down the barrel of mortality? Is the patience you have with others, the same, greater, or less than the patience you have with yourself?

Within a few months of being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Vic was connected with someone who was transplanted in Russia ten years ago and immediately began researching HSCT. Once he made his way to Clinica Ruiz for his treatment, he and his brother tested positive for COVID and opted to quarantine in Mexico before returning to Clinica Ruiz for HSCT. By this time, Vic’s brother needed to return to the US, and thankfully Vic was able to hire a caregiver.

Tune in to learn more about Vic’s experience with his caregiver in Puebla, his journey with the MS symptoms that caught him by surprise, his extensive research into HSCT, how things are faring nearly six-months post-HSCT, and the unexpected outcomes he continues to enjoy.

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Continue along Joceline’s journey and learn the practice to work-around covid (Ep. 62 part 2)

March 10, 2021 — Leave a comment

Warrior: Joceline
AI: Multiple Sclerosis
HSCT: soon in 2021?
Superpowers: doing nothing

How comfortable are you with uncertainty? Are you able to leave the unknown alone? How do you find patience when you find yourself on the brink?

Picking up where we left off in this two-part episode, tune in to learn more about how Joceline reacted to the idea of incorporating a wheelchair as an assistive device, how she continues to manage her multiple sclerosis as she awaits HSCT, and the practices she has learned through various resources and connections. As a nurse’s assistant by training, Joceline continues detailing her journey beyond diagnosis, attempts at treatment, and pursuit of HSCT, including sharing her strategies for fundraising and finding patience with lockdown in the UK while awaiting the Russian border to open.

Resources:
HSCT Moscow
MS Tripping on Air Instagram
HSCT Warriors Podcast
HSCT Warriors, Inc.

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