So I had my 1st new life birthday on Friday 6 May 2016, I had a great day at work and then went to met our friends newborn Max so no celebrations for me as such as we wanted to meet this little man finally. On the Saturday night we had a small gathering of our good friends and celebrated the year by cracking open the Beluga gold line vodka, that we (well Joe, Dan and Sonia went hunting for and) purchased in Russia. So here’s cheers to making it through the first year!

I cant believe this was a year ago!

With HSCT whether you retain any antibodies and remain vaccinated against all childhood diseases is very intersting and re-immunisation is hotly debated subject. I am definitely not an antivaxer but I also dont want to do anything to turn the MS back on either. So I had a blood test to check my titer levels, therefore showing which diseases I would need to be re vaccinated against.
When I saw my Hematologist for my 12 month check up my titer results were
Chickenpox (varicella) = ✔
Whooping cough =❌
Tetanus = ✔
Diphtheria = ✔
Hep B = ❌
Hep C = ❌
Measles = ✔
Mumps = ❌
Rubella = ✔
Pneumococcal = TBA
So I will head off to my GP and get the whooping cough one I can have now and be retested at the 2 year mark to check again before having the others.

I also had my usual Full blood count done and he was happy with my results.
Haemoglobin =133
Platelets = 265
Lymphocytes = 1.55
Neutrophils = 2.72

Dr Lewis has now discharged me from his care and handed me back to my GP per se. He has said I can still contact him if I have any concerns and he is definitely still available should an emergency occur, however he is really happy with my recovery and feels I am pretty much at minimal risk of anything untoward happening now. I am satisfied with this also as although I like to keep an eye on my bloodwork, my GP can do it, and I have had a pretty cruisy recovery and am back to living normally but still haven’t given up the santitiser Iol.

I was unable to have an MRI before my appointment with my neurologist because of a couple of reasons… 1. I didn’t get the referral at my last appt so had to wait till he came back from a conference to write one. 2 I couldn’t get in before my appointment anyway. 3. I wanted it on the same 3T machine I always go to. So I had my 1 year post neurologist appointment and I can phone him to discuss my MRI results if need be. He was happy to see me and the changes in my walking, I was a pest though and made him do a full examination and assess my EDSS. EDSS is the expanded disabilty status scale measuring the level of disabilty in a patient with MS. He commented on how easy it is to do it when walking is ones main disabilty hehe, I made him work for his money. He tested all my functional systems (there are 8 different ones) and I have put some info below to help you understand the scoring. At my worst relapse in September 2013 I was a 6.5. At my time of treatment in Moscow I was a 4.5 now today 1 year on I have lost 2 points on the scale and am now only a 2.5 with minimal disabilty! I still have sensory issues with my right leg and only very mild in my right arm, I have a slight vision tremor, my right leg spasticity is still there. My brain fog, heat intolerance and fatigue are all gone and most of my other symptoms a lessened or reduced. Woohoo! These are the bonus’s that come with the treatment, as they were not to be expected but they are very much welcomed.

The main goal of the treatment was to halt the disease where it was and not have any further progression or new attacks/symptoms. MRI is one way of telling if this has happened but is not the only way. I headed into my MRI feeeling very positive as I am feeling wonderful and have been seeing lots of good changes so didn’t think that there would be any new lesions or anything to worry about and guess what………..

There isn’t! I have achieved NEDA status! NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE ACTIVITY! NO NEW LESIONS! NO CHANGES! (only good bonus ones)

HSCT has worked for me so far, we just need to keep seeing these same results year in year out! So without sounding like a broken record…
THANK YOU to Kristy Cruise for sharing your story, telling me about HSCT, my family and friends who have supported me every step of the way, everyone who helped on the road to russia, the hsct online family and everyone else for reading or following my journey, And of course the fabulous Dr Fedorenko, Anastasia, Nicolai and all the Pirogov staff! WE DID IT!
Lauren leaped and definitely got a better life, a life without MS! XXXXXXXX