By KATHRYN BERMINGHAM
CHERYL Blanchfield says there is no way she could express her gratitude to the donors who are sending her to Mexico for life-changing treatment.
The Maryknoll mum was diagnosed with MS in 2010 after she started losing sensation in parts of her legs.
The last six years have seen her condition deteriorate and the once-active theatre nurse can no longer drive or work.
She spent the first 48 days of this year in hospital due to an infection, relapse and then rehabilitation.
On 22 May, she will fly from Melbourne to Mexico to receive Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, or HSCT.
The treatment involves collecting stem cells before administering chemotherapy and then reinfusing the cells, and has an 85 per cent success rate in halting the deterioration of the condition.
Although HSCT is a widely accepted method of MS treatment in other parts of the world, it is still in clinical testing stages in Australia. Therefore, Cheryl must find $100,000 to fund the treatment and flights for herself and Helen, her carer.
To raise the money, the family started a gofundme account and in 13 days has generated almost $14,000.
Cheryl said the family was extremely grateful to everyone who donated, as well as those who helped in other ways.
“The community has been so helpful. We have great neighbours and other parents on the boys’ sports teams have been so good with giving lifts whenever we’ve needed it,” she said.
“We just want to say thank you to everyone that’s helped out. That doesn’t feel like enough, but all we can do is say a big thank you.”
She said the disease had been hard on her husband, Ron, and twin sons Patrick and Angus.
“I knew what MS was, but I had no idea what it was like to live with it,” she said.
With her condition only set to deteriorate, the treatment is her only hope.
“I’m not scared of the treatment – I am very scared of living with the ongoing disability and future incapacitation,” she said.
“We’ve got to give it a go.”
To donate to Cheryl, visit www.gofundme.com/wy4mhfg.
