Real Life Stem Cell Stories
These are real stories from real people who have already been waiting too long for the promise of stem cell research. Read them -- and then take action:
1) Tell your elected
officials to get rid of outdated policies and regulations that have already
held up stem cell research for too long; 2) Make a donation to StemPAC, and
help us spread the word. It's a grassroots movement, and we don't need much --
but any amount helps.
Got a story yourself? Make sure to share it today!
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In June of 2002, my husband and I were living a normal life. Raising 2 small sons, ages 9 months and 3 years. On Saturday my husband put in a new door with beautiful sidelights. On Sunday, he went to Lowe's to purchase a couple of finishing products for the job. He called me on the phone and said that he had gotten so dizzy he could barely stand. After a couple of days of dizziness, we ended up going through a series of tests. We visited an ER, family physician, neurologist and ended up at the Cleveland Clinic. Every test had it's possible side effects, my husband had a reaction to every single one. So now, he was dizzy and had a horrible headache from the spinal tap. After 3 blood patches to help with the spinal headache, he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. We knew he was not capable of working at this time, so he quit his job and applied for Social Security Disability. I had to go to work full time and take a second job taking oncall hours at various hospitals throughout the city of Cincinnati. I was oncall 24 hours a day, working 6 days a week and sometimes 7 depending on callins so that my husband could attempt to get well. This meant that he was also a stay at home dad. I knew we were in deep when I had to teach my 3 year old how to call 911 in case his daddy lost his sight, bowels or bladder control. Everyday, I went to work under these circumstances. Plus, my husband was so dizzy and his depth perception was so confusing, he didn't feel comfortable driving a car! Our lives were turned upside down. On the first night of his Solu Medrol IV drip, my husband, again reacted horribly, lay on our couch ashen gray feeling terrible. As my neighbor checked his blood pressure, I tended to my 9 month old who was crying to be nursed, and my 3 year old who was crying to be tucked in to bed. All the while, I was oncall for the hospital I worked for, so the phone could ring and I would have to go to the hospital to do an ultrasound! To say our lives were stressful is an understatement!! We lived this way for over a year. We moved to Morehead, Ky last year as we found that the lifestyle was so much less stressful, it was very helpful for my husband's health. He is successfully managing a finance company and has about 1 exacerbation per year. I am so proud of his progress, but must admit, I worry every single day about his health. We live each day thankful for his current condition. We have been told by his neurologist that MS is so close to being cured, but due to the limitations of stem cell research funding, the research doesn't move as quickly as we need. I hope that we can move stemcell research into the forefront of science and help cure others who have had their lives changed by so many diseases, not just MS.
Read more stories. Get inspired, get angry, and then -- get into the fight!
