It’s all over for 33-year-old Iris Weststrate from Heemskerk: The young woman has an aggressive form of the neurological disease multiple sclerosis (MS) and needs 29,000 euros for a special stem cell therapy in Mexico. With this special therapy, her chances of an MS-free life have increased. Recently, €36,000 has already been raised, but without further donations there is a high probability that he will end up in a wheelchair. “I just want to go to the playground with my son.”
Before being diagnosed with MS – diagnosed in 2011 – Iris Weststrate (33) trained as a cosmetologist and had a busy social life. Her world has now become much smaller. She has never been able to practice her profession and is at home all day. “I prefer to do fun things with my son, just like other parents, but it’s too hard,” says Iris. “I can’t lift it in and out of a car and carry it with me all the time.”
“If I had another seizure now, I’d be permanently in a wheelchair”
You can pick him up, even if it hurts a lot. He can also walk (stairs) in the house, but as soon as he wants to go out he has to use a wheelchair. And he still refuses to do it for now. “But if I had another fit now, I’d be in it forever.”
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NH News talks to Iris if she just had corona among the members. “So all the MS disorders play an extra part. I was even completely paralyzed from my toes to my waist. I couldn’t get out of bed at night to urinate.” Luckily, Iris has help from her mother, who comes to see her several mornings a week.
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For €65,000 he can have stem cell therapy in Mexico, which would increase the chances that the MS will disappear from his body for some time and that he won’t end up in that wheelchair. This treatment is not yet available in the Netherlands and is not reimbursed by health insurance. For this reason, a foundation has been set up for Iris to raise money for treatment.
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Multiple sclerosis stem cell therapy
In people with MS, the immune system is disrupted and inflammation occurs in the central nervous system. Stem cell therapy can give a sort of ‘reset’ to the immune system. The Dutch Association of Neurology (NVN) says this therapy should be made available to a specific group of MS patients. The MS Research Foundation and the National SM Fund support this position. A study is currently underway at the UMC in Amsterdam on the possibility of offering stem cell therapy in the Netherlands.
In many ways, family and friends drew attention to the fundraising campaign in the area. “My mother’s friend did a mural on De Oever’s graffiti wall in Beverwijk,” says Iris. “Unfortunately, it has now been repainted.”
There is still a donation column in the supermarket on Beverwijkse Wijkerbaan, into which people can throw in their deposit receipt for Iris. There are also donation boxes and flyers in several places in Heemskerk and Beverwijk.
“And my mother organized a flea market with children’s clothes and second-hand toys in Uitgeest and Zaandam, in the munitions factory,” says Iris. “We raised 600 euros with that.”
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With these actions and the support of the environment, 36,000 euros have been raised, which means that there are still 29,000 euros left. That money is to be received at the clinic in Mexico in late December, where Iris is scheduled for therapy in March. “If I can get this treatment, there’s a really good chance of progress. And I just want to. I want to get rid of this stupid MS.”
Iris doesn’t care that the treatment will be harsh and she will probably lose her hair. “I’m in an app group with people who will also be doing that therapy in March, and we can only be positive about it. Obviously it’s going to be tough, and I’m going to miss my son for 28 days, but what’s a month compared to the rest of your life?”
Click here for the donation campaign.
