John Wyse, 40, a Nanaimo father of three, is in a race against the progression of his disease.
Wyse was diagnosed in 2010 with primary progressive multiple sclerosis and hopes to receive hematopoietic stem cell transplantation treatment at the Hassadah Medical Centre in Israel.
Multiple sclerosis affects the brain and spinal cord by causing inflammation that damages myelin – the protective covering of the nerves – and disrupts nerve impulses, giving rise to symptoms that include extreme fatigue, weakness, lack of coordination, impaired sensation, vision and bladder problems, cognitive impairment and mood changes.
What causes MS is unknown, but it’s thought to be an autoimmune disorder causing the body’s immune system to attack healthy tissue.
Patients suffer repeating cycles of advancing deterioration followed by periods of remission in all forms of MS except for the primary progressive variant of the disease, which progresses without remission and is the only form of MS for which there are no conventional drugs or treatments available.
Research into stem cell transplantation therapy is the latest avenue of hope for successful treatment and a possible cure. Clinics in Germany, Russia, India and Israel currently offer stem cell treatment and clinical trials are also being conducted in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere.
Most clinical trials and some treatment clinics will not accept primary progressive MS patients.
Wyse, with his wife and three daughters, are trying to raise $158,200 to pay for his treatment in Israel, scheduled for April 2016, but the Hassadah Medical Centre places limits on how far Wyse’s condition can deteriorate before it will not accept him. Wyse, who now walks with a cane and hasn’t been able to work for a year, figures he has little more than a year before he’s no longer a treatment candidate.
“Russia is way cheaper. It’s only $40,000, but there’s a four-year waiting list, but I don’t think I have four years to wait,” Wyse said. “I’ll be in a wheelchair.”
Wyse was part of a University of British Columbia drug trial, but the medication proved ineffective. He says he’s desperate to find a way to halt the disease. Neither his doctor or the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada has recommended stem cell treatment, although the MS Scientific Research Foundation is supporting a stem cell therapy trial involving nine clinics worldwide, for which only 40 patients have been selected from Canada.
Suzanne Jay, MS society B.C./Yukon division spokeswoman, said the society is hesitant to recommend experimental treatments, but it also hopes the clinical trial it’s funding results in more treatment options for primary progressive MS patients.
“We just try to be very cautious and try to provide as accurate as possible information because people make health decisions based on what we say,” Jay said.
A successful outcome isn’t guaranteed. Dr. Shimon Slavin, medical and scientific director for the International Centre for Cell Therapy and Cancer Immunotherapy in Tel Aviv, said in a written notice listing the centre’s treatment strategies, “We know that some patients benefit remarkably, while others report only very mild benefit and some report no benefit at all.”
But Wyse hopes he’ll be among the clinic’s success stories.
“There are people that went for it five years ago and they still have shown no signs of the disease coming back, that it’s halted the disease,” Wyse said.
He and his family have already raised more than $2,000 from raffle and dinner fundraisers in December. They also save what they can from his wife’s salary and are gathering prize donations for more fundraisers.
Wyse hopes a successful treatment outcome will spark creation of stem cell clinics closer to home so MS patients can travel to Victoria or Vancouver for treatment.
“If [the public] sees what I’m going for, this could be a big thing, possibly, for people with MS on Vancouver Island,” Wyse said. “This could be opening up eyes and giving people hope, I believe. If I went for this and if it was a success, this would change things around here.”