“I already feel better than before the treatment and I am still recovering,” says Iris Weststrate from Heemskerk with a crackling smile. She is only two weeks back from her trip to Mexico, where she underwent severe stem cell treatment. The 65,000 euros needed to pay for travel and treatment was raised through crowdfunding by friends and family.
We’ve got Iris on the phone. She is not receiving people yet, because her health is still fragile after the treatment. She sounds happy and is very optimistic: “I think I will come out very well, I am so very grateful to all the people who made this possible”.
MS
Iris has suffered from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) since she was 22 and underwent stem cell treatment in Mexico in early March. This treatment is not applied in the Netherlands and is not reimbursed by insurance abroad.
To be able to travel to Mexico for the operation at his own expense, 65 thousand euros was needed. Friends and family raised that money. Under the motto Iris, MS beats all kinds of fundraisers. A pub quiz, a sponsored mural, a flea market; everything was good, as long as it brought in money.
Iris looks back on that period with some surprise. The amount was raised in about three months. “It all happened so fast and so easy that I barely realized it. It wasn’t until I was in Mexico that I realized how special all of that actually was, how sweet people actually are. It sometimes seems as if people have distanced themselves from each other since Corona, but if this happens to you, it turns out that people are there for each other when the need arises.
Iris tells how surprised she was at the deluge of donations that came in after publication of her story on NH News. Some sweet texts that were written with it have stayed with her. “A lady wrote that she had little money and was in debt restructuring, but still wanted to help, she transferred two euros fifty, how very sweet is that?”, said a moved Iris.
Therapy
She was in Mexico for four weeks with her partner Mo who watched over her bedside 24/7. Their two-year-old son Semih stayed with Iris’ mother. That was the hardest part for Iris, to be without him for so long. The treatment itself started immediately upon arrival and went smoothly.
Iris: “I was lucky with my body; I only really had pain for one day. In the clinic where I was, I saw that it could be done differently, there were people in a lot of pain.”
Iris has now been home for two weeks and can look back on a successful treatment. “According to the doctors, my immune system has reset and the disease has now stopped for at least ten to fifteen years.” Quite a difference from the situation without treatment in Mexico: “I would have ended up in a wheelchair very quickly and permanently,” says Iris.
Multiple Sclerosis a 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 kind of ‘reset’ to the immune system.
The Dutch Association of Neurology (NVN) states that this therapy should be made available to a specific group of MS patients. The MS Research Foundation and the National MS Fund endorse this position. A study is currently underway at the Amsterdam UMC into the possibility of offering stem cell therapy in the Netherlands.
Now that the treatment seems to be working so well, Iris dares to look carefully to the future. “I especially look forward to small, ordinary things. I think it would be great to be able to take Semih to the preschool on foot. It’s only a few blocks from here, but it really wasn’t possible before.”
“I am looking forward to being able to go to the fair with my son, that was unthinkable”
She is also looking forward to going to the fair with the apple of her eye of two “That is really a thing here in Heemskerk. I want to be there when he enjoys it for the first time.”
But we are not there yet. We still have to wait for the results of the blood test. If they are good enough, the quarantine can be lifted and she can lead a somewhat normal life again.
After that, with the help of a physiotherapist, she can work hard on a full recovery. She aims for a holiday in the sun family next summer. She also hopes to be able to celebrate her 35th birthday next year, on April 22, exactly one year from now, with a party.
