‘It is just a chance you have to take’
Selina Daly, 34, from Bandon, Co Cork, who was diagnosed with MS in September 2002, says she immediately noticed an improvement in her condition after receiving the treatment in the Netherlands on December 8 last.
The treatment, not yet clinically approved, uses stem cells from newborn babies’ umbilical cords and takes just a few hours to administer.
Selina was connected to an intravenous drip and injected in four points around her stomach and in the back of her neck.
“A day after receiving the treatment my legs straightened out and my circulation improved. My feet were always frozen and were a dark red colour but they are not cold anymore.
“I am not tired any more either and my family and friends have remarked at how my voice has changed and my face has brightened up,” says Selina, who is married with a six-year-old son.
Selina, who began to show symptoms of MS in 2000, still uses a stroller around the house and a wheelchair outside but is filled with hope for the future.
“When I was treated I was advised that it would take a month before the treatment would begin to repair the damage caused by MS,” says Selina, who now plans to undergo physiotherapy to strengthen her limbs.
Selina says she read a magazine article about stem cell treatment for MS that was being carried out by a Swiss-based company Advanced Cell Therapeutics in Rotterdam.
While Advanced Cell Therapeutics, which has 13 clinics in Europe, does not offer a cure for MS, it believes that in some cases it can stop the progression of the disease.
Selina searched for the company on the internet and sent them an email asking for more information. Her family helped her raise the €19,500 for the treatment that was subsequently reduced to €10,000 when the company agreed to subsidise almost half of the cost.
Selina is glad she went for the treatment. “Even if it fails, at least I tried to improve my life because there is nothing else out there for me. When you are like me you will try anything.”
Selina told her consultant about her plan to travel to Rotterdam. He told her it was up to her to decide whether to go for it because it was not approved in Ireland.
Selina points out that she has not suffered any side effects. “It either works or it doesn’t. Some people have had fabulous results and some people have had none. It is just a chance you have to take.”
6,000 people in Ireland are affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a disease that distorts or prevents the smooth flow of messages from the brain and spinal cord to other parts of the body.
People are usually diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40 and twice as many women are affected by the disease.
The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland can be contacted on 1850 233 233.
(Source: Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland).
