My husband over the course of testing it was discovered that he might have Lymphoma (non-hodgkins type so treatable and curable). He is back in the hospital to run further tests so they can make a diagnosis regarding the lymphoma because previous tests were inconclusive. So when I contacted his Neuro yesterday with regards to John being a candidate for the Switzerland trials of stem cell here is how she answered my email:
I think it is important that John getting the testing that we laid out previously, as lymphoma would be treated much differently than other causes of spinal cord injury (and stem cell treatment would have no role in that case). Prior to that evaluation being completed, I don't think that he could be a candidate for this. I believe this treatment is more aimed at motor (not sensory) function, with which John has made significant strides with PT. Most of these studies are aimed at individuals with para/quadraplegia. I will see what I can find out, but I think it is a very long shot. He was admitted yesterday because his transfers were getting sloppy AGAIN and it appeared that he was having a relapse AGAIN. Each time he has been given steroids and he responds fairly well and can walk about 100 feet with a walker but then must get back in the wheelchair. One of the treatments for Lymphoma is steroids so this is why they are leaning more towards the lymphoma. Early on in this nightmare.in one of his MRI of thoracic spine they saw a slightly enlarged lymph node which could be indicative to the lymph system cleaning out the viral infection or lymphoma. Since his TM is idiopathic they keep looking for a reason and lymphoma in VERY RARE cases can cause TM if it should wreak havoc in the spine. Steroids is also how they treat TM..so it is all so up in the air at this point but these tests over the next few days should show something and if it is lymphoma they will begin treatment. It has been a very long and bumpy ride through this medical adventure. John began getting symptoms on August 10th, hospitalize on August 29th, Diagnosed on September 4th with Idiopathic TM, and then it has been acute rehabs, hospitalized in ICU for pulmonary embolism and insertion of vena cava filter, back to rehab, home for 14 days, hospitalized for relapse, home for 5 days, hospitalized with pneumonia, home for 5 days, and now back in the hospital with relapse and tests to diagnose lymphoma or not. He has been home a total of 24 days since August 29th...and whatever could go wrong has. Hopefully even if it is lymphoma that is causing the TM, damage to the spine has taken place and we hope that he will be a candidate for the trials in Switzerland...time will tell and we are keeping our fingers crossed. We are hoping that it doesn't matter how the spinal cord gets injured to be a candidate for these trials. Thanks to this group for helping us get through a very difficult time right now. YOU are the only ones that could even imagine what he is going through right now. I am so thankful for finding this group.it has been so helpful. Emily Meyers For John Meyers T7 - T11 _____ From: Janice Nichols [mailto:jan...@centurytel.net] Sent: Monday, November 15, 2010 11:28 PM To: em...@telephonelady.com; tmic-list@eskimo.com Subject: Re: [TMIC] stem cell treatment for spinal cord lesions Sure hope your husband gets in the trial. Good luck. Janice From: Emily <mailto:em...@telephonelady.com> Sent: Monday, November 15, 2010 1:10 PM To: tmic-list@eskimo.com Subject: RE: [TMIC] stem cell treatment for spinal cord lesions My husband is currently in the 3-12 month window..he was diagnosed on September 2nd with TM T-7-11. We have contacted my husband's neurologist to see if they could get him in this trial in Switzerland. We are awaiting a reply. _____ From: Dalton Garis [mailto:malugss...@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, November 15, 2010 1:39 PM To: fr...@franksheldon.com; tmic-list@eskimo.com; Garis, Brooks (Darien, CT) Subject: Re: [TMIC] stem cell treatment for spinal cord lesions Could it be the miracle mankind has been waiting for? Just imagine if this thing works! Dalton _____ From: <fr...@franksheldon.com> Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:10:01 +0000 To: <tmic-list@eskimo.com> Subject: [TMIC] stem cell treatment for spinal cord lesions Resent-From: <tmic-list@eskimo.com> Resent-Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2010 06:10:06 -0800 News release: StemCells, Inc. Files to Conduct Neural Stem Cell Trial in Chronic Spinal Cord Injury PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov 15, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) --StemCells, Inc. (Nasdaq:STEM) announced today that is has filed an application with Swissmedic, the Swiss regulatory agency for therapeutic products, to conduct a clinical trial in Switzerland of the Company's HuCNS-SC(R) purified human neural stem cells in chronic spinal cord injury patients. If authorized, the study would enroll patients who are three to 12 months post-injury."With this filing we have taken a tangible step to broaden the clinical development of our HuCNS-SC product candidate beyond the brain and into the spinal cord," said Martin McGlynn, President and CEO of StemCells, Inc. "This exciting initiative is supported by extensive preclinical research demonstrating the ability of our proprietary cells to restore lost motor function when transplanted in the chronic spinal cord injury setting. The prospect of extending the treatment window to months or longer following injury would mean that a much larger population of injured patients could potentially benefit from such an approach."
