This was the second quarter of my recovery form the Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) I went through in October/November 2018. As a reminder, HSCT is an intense chemotherapy treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS). It aims to stop the damage MS causes by wiping out and then regrowing your immune system using your stem cells.
This was a bit of a rough quarter. By rough, I mean my walking has been as bad as it was before I had HSCT . It is how it was for me pretty much all of 2018. I walk like a drunk Frankenstein and often move like a shopping cart with a wonky wheel. While it is frustrating and has caused about 10 falls, it did not stop me from doing everything I normally do. Also, thanks to the graph below I am not worried about what happened over the last few months. This graph gives a simple picture of the average recovery cycle from HSCT. According to it, the past three months should have been the roughest.
There is only a 41% chance for treatment responders to have symptom improvement. I knew this going in and was not concerned because my main agenda was to halt MS, which there is a 78% chance of happening. I AM NOT WORSE THAN I WAS A YEAR AGO! That is the silver lining!
My walking may not be changing, but my hair is. Please see below for how it changed this quarter.
Hair at 4 Months Post HSCT
Hair at 5 Months Post HSCT
Hair at 6 Months Post HSCT - My naturally very curly hair is back!
