Today is a monumental day in my HSCT quest to free myself of MS.  Dr. Fedorenko has been waiting for the last three day’s bloodwork results to come in to finally tell me the words that I’ve been waiting to hear for all of these weeks.  The reason that I came here, and the reason why I will leave here with a new lease on life and without the burden of living with further progression of my MS.

His words, exactly, “Your immune system has been officially re-booted!”  He said that is the universal term used with regard to HSCT…REBOOT!  He, of course, tells me this with that gleam in his eye, and, with that unending enthusiasm of his that I think may actually rival my own.  He said to me from the beginning that “we are a team”.  Well, the team won big today.  We hit it right over the fence!

It is very important for me to explain exactly what has taken place here, and it is equally as important to Dr. Fedorenko that I relay the information in the most accurate way.  We spoke at length before I made this post.  For the piece and mind of my family and friends, as well as the families and friends of those who are either scheduled to undergo HSCT or in the planning process, it is important to know exactly what will be taking place with their immune systems.  Since making the decision to have HSCT, I have had a full understanding of how this works.  I will do my best to explain it without suffocating you with medical terminology.

Dr. Fedorenko said that there is no “old” and “new” immune system.  It will always be the same immune system.  However, it will have been “re-booted”.  Meaning that it has been functionally dismantled by chemo and re-built with a new foundation (with the assistance of my stem cells) wherein your MS is permanently in “functional remission”.  He said that my immune system will always have a memory of MS.  But, it will not have the ability to react.  I will always test positive for MS, however, it will be non-functioning and non-progressive. It will be HALTED!  The very core of my immune system has all but been expunged.  Only a skiff of my immune system remains, and that is the area that contains any prior vaccinations that I may have had.  In a later post, I will discuss where we go from here and what I can expect with regard to recovery and restoration of function.

This is the part where I sit here humbled and overwhelmed.  This is the part where my mind scans chronologically back through the last four weeks and every pain-staking move that I needed to endure to make this happen.  THIS IS THE PART WHERE MY DANCE WITH THE DEVIL ENDS.

Peace and love from Moscow.