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This has to be the single most common question I get about the SCT. And I suppose rightfully so. People want to know whether the expensive, challenging, 3-month long treatment was worth the time, hardship, and investment to arrest my aggressive multiple sclerosis. I can say conclusively right now that... I don't know.
MSers are all too familiar with that answer. "I don't know" also is the problem with traditional treatments that slow down the disease (CRABs, Tysabri)—there is no way to be absolutely sure. You have to trust the science and reams of research that those treatments are doing their jobs.
But in the case of my SCT, the "I don't know" response is more tenuous. The treatment is meant to halt MS progression: no further disability, no further relapses. So far, so good. Alas, though, all it takes is one major bump in the road over the next few years to chalk this experiment up as a failing one (albeit a valuable result for science).
So when people ask me if my stem cell transplant for my multiple sclerosis was a success, I honestly want to never be able to answer that question conclusively. Because if I can, that means I've had a serious setback.
That said, if things are still status quo after several years, that alone is a notable degree of success (especially considering how fast my disease was progressing). In five years, when the study officially concludes, no progression would be huge. Fortunately, if that's the case with most of the study participants, researchers won't dilly expanding and refining HALT-MS—a potential boon to MSers desperately seeking more viable treatment options.
MSers are all too familiar with that answer. "I don't know" also is the problem with traditional treatments that slow down the disease (CRABs, Tysabri)—there is no way to be absolutely sure. You have to trust the science and reams of research that those treatments are doing their jobs.
But in the case of my SCT, the "I don't know" response is more tenuous. The treatment is meant to halt MS progression: no further disability, no further relapses. So far, so good. Alas, though, all it takes is one major bump in the road over the next few years to chalk this experiment up as a failing one (albeit a valuable result for science).
So when people ask me if my stem cell transplant for my multiple sclerosis was a success, I honestly want to never be able to answer that question conclusively. Because if I can, that means I've had a serious setback.
That said, if things are still status quo after several years, that alone is a notable degree of success (especially considering how fast my disease was progressing). In five years, when the study officially concludes, no progression would be huge. Fortunately, if that's the case with most of the study participants, researchers won't dilly expanding and refining HALT-MS—a potential boon to MSers desperately seeking more viable treatment options.
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