28 minutes ago General
DUIVEN – The sword of Damocles hangs over the head of Marjoleine Bessels (36) from Duiven since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in January. A stem cell transplant in Mexico should offer a solution. Costs: €65,000. She hopes to raise the money for this operation through crowdfunding and to get her life back.
Door Susan Wiendels
It started with Marjoleine with a numb feeling in her buttock and legs. An MRI scan of her head finally revealed the devastating diagnosis of MS, an inflammation of the central nervous system. “I have RRMS, the most common form. You get attacks that pass again. Then your complaints will decrease and you will recover. But it is also possible that part of the symptoms persist and that there is permanent loss of function.” These ups and downs occur on average about three times a year. The severity of the complaints, the periods between two attacks and the recovery differ per person. Marjoleine: “I had another attack myself in May.” The consequences: extreme fatigue, concentration problems and difficulty walking.
No one can say how the disease develops. “I am only at the beginning of the disease. But I don’t intend to wait for the sword to fall. That will happen one day if I don’t do anything,” she says belligerently in her home. Now she takes inhibitory drugs. “But that won’t get me back to my normal life. It has to stop.”
So she has no choice. “Stem cell therapy for the treatment of MS has been successfully used abroad for years. I have an 85% chance that it will catch on.” Because the treatment is not reimbursed by health insurers in the Netherlands, she hopes to raise the money through crowdfunding. “I shared my story through the socials. In addition, there are plans for a collection and an event in the Ogtent in October.”
Sports, work and being a good mother to her two sons aged 13 and 15, that is what Marjoleine wants. The latter weighs very heavily. “I am a single mother. I don’t want them to have to take care of me instead of the other way around.”
To help? You can do this by scanning the QR code on the site www.marjoleinetegenms.nl and donating. Or by transferring an amount to account number NL32RABO0371824923. The dot on the horizon is February 5, 2024. “Then I want to go to Mexico.”
2023-07-12 05:47:18
#Crowdfunding #lifesaving #treatment
