- Help Allie win his battle with MS
- Start Date: Monday, August 10, 2009 05:00 AM MST
- End Date: Saturday, September 19, 2009 04:00 PM MST
Allie is a 22 year old, born and raised Field/Golden boy, who has been stricken with a terrible illness – Multiple sclerosis (or MS). In his younger days Allie was most often found on the hockey rink or any other sports field, depending on the season. He was diagnosed just as he was entering his 2nd year at Mount Royal College. Luckily his health held out long enough for him to complete a degree in Business with a major in Sport and Recreation. Unfortunately, over the last year, his disease has progressed more rapidly than we expected. However, Allie is not one to give up without a fight, so we are asking for your help to secure a future for Allie where he will not be in a wheelchair or bedridden.
MS is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision. The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from one person to another. Today, new treatments and advances in research are giving new hope to people affected by the disease. More information about MS can be found at www.mssociety.ca.
Allie has experienced relapses that have affected his vision, digestive system, and have caused walking, gait and balance problems. He currently finds it difficult to walk more than 50 yards with the assistance of a cane and on bad days needs additional assistance to do even that. At the rate his disease is progressing he faces an uncertain future.
There is currently no cure for MS, nor is there an “approved” treatment that reverses any damage the disease has already done. Allie will be starting to take Tysabri, which is a disease modifying therapy. The hope is this treatment will slow the progression of the disease.
Stem cell therapy trials are showing incredible results in reversing damage and restoring function. We have tried to get Allie into some of the clinical trials in Canada. Unfortunately he had a medical condition (ITP) in high school that eventually resulted in the removal of his spleen so he is not a “typical” MS patient and has been excluded from any trial we have attempted to access.
Our research has convinced us that the greatest hope for MS suffers is Mesechynal Stem Cell Therapy. This experimental treatment is being studied in countries around the world (including Canada) but is only available, outside of a trial, through Dr. Slavin’s clinic in Israel. The treatment involves a trip to Israel to have a bone marrow extraction. After which, over a period of 6-8 weeks the mesechynal stem cells are separated out of that bone marrow and multiplied into several million and then purified. The patient then travels back to Israel to have the cells injected back in to them. The hope is that because Mesechynal stem cells are capable of becoming any type of cell they will migrate to the affected areas of the brain and spinal cord and promote repair. Also the stem cells are capable of modifying the immune system so that it no longer attacks the patient’s nervous system. The treatment has not been done on enough people to claim statistical significance but results to date have been very positive. Of the 60 patients to undergo treatment so far 55 claim to have experienced significant improvement and 5 either report no change or did not report. One of the publicized success stories is of a Canadian Women's professional golfer whose MS caused her to be unable to walk 50 yards and 8 months after the treatment she was able to return to golfing professionally. The treatment helps people to varying degrees. The key factor is to have it done as early as possible before irreversible changes occur which is why Allie cannot wait the several years it would take for a clinical trial in North America to be completed.
We are trying to raise $40,000 to take Allie to Israel this fall/winter. The treatment itself costs $35,000 and the rest would be to offset the travel costs.
For more information on this and other fundraising events go to the Facebook group page
Help Allie Jenkins-Bennett win his battle against Multiple Sclerosis
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=131219296608&ref=ts
We are still accepting donations for the auction, if you have an item you want to donate email: yohoagogo@gmail.com
MS is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision. The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from one person to another. Today, new treatments and advances in research are giving new hope to people affected by the disease. More information about MS can be found at www.mssociety.ca.
Allie has experienced relapses that have affected his vision, digestive system, and have caused walking, gait and balance problems. He currently finds it difficult to walk more than 50 yards with the assistance of a cane and on bad days needs additional assistance to do even that. At the rate his disease is progressing he faces an uncertain future.
There is currently no cure for MS, nor is there an “approved” treatment that reverses any damage the disease has already done. Allie will be starting to take Tysabri, which is a disease modifying therapy. The hope is this treatment will slow the progression of the disease.
Stem cell therapy trials are showing incredible results in reversing damage and restoring function. We have tried to get Allie into some of the clinical trials in Canada. Unfortunately he had a medical condition (ITP) in high school that eventually resulted in the removal of his spleen so he is not a “typical” MS patient and has been excluded from any trial we have attempted to access.
Our research has convinced us that the greatest hope for MS suffers is Mesechynal Stem Cell Therapy. This experimental treatment is being studied in countries around the world (including Canada) but is only available, outside of a trial, through Dr. Slavin’s clinic in Israel. The treatment involves a trip to Israel to have a bone marrow extraction. After which, over a period of 6-8 weeks the mesechynal stem cells are separated out of that bone marrow and multiplied into several million and then purified. The patient then travels back to Israel to have the cells injected back in to them. The hope is that because Mesechynal stem cells are capable of becoming any type of cell they will migrate to the affected areas of the brain and spinal cord and promote repair. Also the stem cells are capable of modifying the immune system so that it no longer attacks the patient’s nervous system. The treatment has not been done on enough people to claim statistical significance but results to date have been very positive. Of the 60 patients to undergo treatment so far 55 claim to have experienced significant improvement and 5 either report no change or did not report. One of the publicized success stories is of a Canadian Women's professional golfer whose MS caused her to be unable to walk 50 yards and 8 months after the treatment she was able to return to golfing professionally. The treatment helps people to varying degrees. The key factor is to have it done as early as possible before irreversible changes occur which is why Allie cannot wait the several years it would take for a clinical trial in North America to be completed.
We are trying to raise $40,000 to take Allie to Israel this fall/winter. The treatment itself costs $35,000 and the rest would be to offset the travel costs.
ALL PROCEEDS FROM THIS AUCTION WILL GO TOWARDS SENDING ALLIE TO ISREAL TO RECEIVE STEM CELL THERAPY.
For more information on this and other fundraising events go to the Facebook group page
Help Allie Jenkins-Bennett win his battle against Multiple Sclerosis
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=131219296608&ref=ts
We are still accepting donations for the auction, if you have an item you want to donate email: yohoagogo@gmail.com