MS fight Mum in plea for help to get stem cell therapy
AMUM from the Bristol area was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis after she woke up with blurred vision one day, and now has to endure “excruciating” pain.
Sam Brimble, from Patchway, woke up after a nap in May this year to find that the vision in her left eye was blurred, as if someone had put cling film over it.
Over the course of a week the 29-year-old started to suffer other symptoms, including loss of function in her legs and slurred speech.
She was eventually rushed to hospital in an ambulance, and was diagnosed with MS.
MS is “an unpredictable disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body”, according to the National MS Society.
For Sam, it means she has to deal with “excruciating” pain.
She wakes up every morning with double vision, and she finds it difficult to walk because the disease makes her legs stiff.
Other symptoms include pins and needles in her hands, which means she can’t grasp objects.
“It’s horrible. It feels like you just can’t function. It gets to a point in the day where you’re just done and you can’t do any more,” she said.
Sam has a two-year-old son named Harry, and the disease stops her from being able to play with him as much as she used to. She worries that she may “relapse” at any time, meaning new or old symptoms appear over a short period of time, which could result in loss of vision or mobility for her.
One of the worst parts is the impact on her mental health, and a feeling of uncertainty for the future.
She said: “I just feel anxious all the time. I don’t know when my next relapse is going to be, I don’t know what damage it’s going to cause.”
There is no cure for MS, and although there are treatments available on the NHS, Sam says what she has been offered will have horrible side effects and won’t stop the disease progressing.
She is now fundraising to travel to Mexico for a treatment called haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
The procedure is only available to certain patients in the UK, and Sam does not currently qualify.
According to the MS Society, HSCT is one of the most effective types of disease-modifying therapies.
But it will cost Sam about £50,000 overall.
And although she finds the prospect of travelling to Mexico “terrifying”, she thinks this treatment will give her the best of chance of leading a normal life.
Her mother also suffers with MS, and the disease has created difficulties in their relationship.
Sam said: “I just don’t want that for my son. That’s what it comes down to at the end of the day.”
People can donate to the fundraiser at gofundme.com – search “Sam Brimble”.