HSCT – Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant

According to Wikipedia, HSCT is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood in order to replicate inside of a patient and to produce additional normal blood cells. It may be autologous (the patient’s own stem cells are used), allogeneic (the stem cells come from a donor) or syngeneic (from an identical twin).

The Mexican Protocol HSCT is the AUTOLOGOUS, which means, my own stem cells will be harvested, cleaned and put back in my body.

Clinica Ruiz has done over 3,000 procedures for various autoimmune diseases since the late 90’s. Of course, I am just concerned with the MS part of this. According to their website they have done over 900 transplants for MS patients. They need to update their info, because I know for a fact, based on internet groups that I am involved with, that they are up to about 1,300 done for MS patients. Regardless, 78% of people transplanted have positive results and this is lumping all types of MS together. Those with RRMS have a better success rate, than those with more progressive forms. The transplant mortality rate is less than .22%. 

On top of this, Clinica Ruiz is the largest patient volume autoimmune disease HSCT private treatment
center in the world. I know that some of you are thinking ‘why would you go to Mexico? I mean,
Mexico?!’ Look, I’ve binged a few times on the show Botched and I hear you. I think that we are led to believe that we have the best medical care and greatest medical minds here in the US. OK, I did just throw up a little in my mouth when I wrote that. Again, I could talk about Big Pharma, but I digress. The point is, while we wait for the FDA to give approval (and I won’t go down THAT rabbit hole right now, either!), other countries are getting it done! And, guess what? People from all over the world are willing to raise the money or refinance their homes or cash in some stocks or retirement or borrow or whatever, to get it done! 

So, who is this Dr. Ruiz and his associates? Well, in researching, I can tell you that he is no slouch! In 2011, he was named one of the Top 50 Doctors to ever come out of the Mayo Clinic. He is a Mayo Distinguished Alumnus and has been published and peer reviewed. You can check out his resume here. Quite honestly, I feel like I’m going to be meeting a celebrity!

Now, this will not be a walk in the park kind of procedure. Please view the graphic to see the timeline of the procedure. You’ll need to click on it to make it bigger. Basically, in the first two weeks you are given two rounds of chemo and then your stem cells are harvested. Then, you get two more rounds of chemo. The next day your stem cells are put back in and you slowly begin recovery. The process is meant to wipe out your immune system and when the stem cells are reintroduced to your body, that they won’t ‘remember’ the disease. You have to be extremely careful about exposure to any type of germs. There is a suggested timeline of when to resume activities after the transplant. These include things like not eating ‘live’ foods such as soft cheese, yogurt and sauerkraut (6mos), not being around gardening or mowed grass (9mos) and not eating out (3mos). While HSCT for MS has a good success rate, a person has to be careful. Personally, my biggest fear is when I get home. You have to be extremely careful about exposure to germs as your immune system rebuilds.

All of that being said, I have not talked with anyone that regretted going to Mexico for this procedure! Even people that didn’t have any improvement! They said that if they could, they’d go back and do it again tomorrow. Just for clarification, I am not talking about one or two people. I am involved in a Facebook group with 8,400 members. Many speak highly of the procedure being done in Russia, but I just don’t think that Russia is a good place to be right now.

There is a lot of data regarding this procedure for MS and other diseases as well. Below are some links for you to look at, if you are so inclined. I encourage everyone to make their own decision and do their own research. Remember, it is your body and you get to make the choice about what you want to do with it. As my uncle says, you have legs for a reason and one of those reasons is to walk (or maybe roll) out of a doctor’s office and find another doctor! Find someone that will listen and appreciate where you are coming from. Not ‘scold’ you for thinking about something that they consider non conventional or non effective. 

TL, DR – HSCT is a viable option for stopping the disease. It comes with risks. You need to make the decision that is best for you!