Hello and welcome to Humbly Courageous. I’m glad you stopped by. I have a lot of new readers, so I’m so glad you are here! This little blog is proof that one small voice can make a big difference. I’ve been writing weekly posts for over two years, and have enjoyed watching this space grow and getting a lot of positive feedback. I’m excited for what’s to come!
If you are new here, I do SVF stem cell therapy. They are cells taken from my own body and processed (obviously there is a more involved description) and infused back into me. The hope is that they could possibly slow my progressive muscle disease, and maybe I could even gain some new strength. To some, the progress may be hard to see because in a way it is slight, but when I do a side by side comparison of me walking up a set of stairs, it’s hard to deny that there has not been some improvement. It’s certainly not life changing, but any ounce of extra strength I can get at this point in my life is a blessing. I’m two years into these treatments now, and 48 years into this disease.
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| I use my front stairs as a way to measure my progress. Stairs are really hard for me, but a tiny bit easier now. |
This time I chose to do a double treatment. So, 20 million stem cells were infused. I hadn’t felt like I got the same affect from the last couple of treatments that I was feeling in the first few, so it was decided I would try a double dose to see if it would help. The infusions are fairly quick, and I’m in and out in about 30 minutes. My cells are banked, so it’s just a matter of getting them to the doctor’s office in a timely manner for my appointment. It’s a process.
It has been a week since my most recent infusion. Some things I have felt are, muscle twitching, tingling sensations in different areas, and increased energy and endurance. I have also had times of feeling very tired and achy, which have been consistent side effects for me following these treatments in the days directly after. I have tried to honor that with rest as much as my time allows. I have taken a week off from my workouts just to give the cells time to acclimate before I get back into it. Through trial and error, I have found that this is what works best for me. I’ve definitely not been sedentary, just not exercising this week. I’m ready to get back at it next week. My body feels best when it gets a good amount of movement and exercise.
As I’ve said before, these treatments are not covered by insurance, and are a sacrifice our family makes in order to try and keep me functioning the best I can, and be the best mom and wife I can be. I’m still walking a majority of the time, for which I’m grateful each and every day. Living with Muscular Dystrophy, there are a lot of unknowns. The way I see it, this treatment buys me time until hopefully a more targeted treatment for my specific disease comes along. Moving forward with hope and humble courage. 💚
For more on this treatment process over the last couple of years, please visit my blog page and search “stem cells”. There are several posts I have written on this subject. For my privacy, I will not share the name of my treatment center, and also I will not discuss financial information. If you are interested, I would encourage you to do your own research to see if this would be something you could try. I share videos of my progress on my social media pages. Follow me on Instagram @ashinneman for progress updates.
https://humblycourageous.blogspot.com/
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