Cindy Morrissey fuchsmorrissey@hotmail.com

19 décembre, 2006 12:52

Karen, thanks so very much for sending this. I greatly appreciate you sending this information to Hilary and me. You are the best!!!

Yes, I am following stem cells research with many diseases, as well as stem cells with scleroderma....BUT I am not sold on it. It will help some patients, but NOT everyone as I am sure you understand. Besides we (like many others exposed to the chemical adjuvancy of breast implant lot numbers) are dealing with human adjuvant disease (HAD) like with Hilary's aggressive scleroderma which is clearly NOT classic scleroderma. This young girl (Hilary) is dealing withHuman Adjuvant Disease caused/exerted from the variants of genes/variants of key genes that were expressed /exerted/turned on /mutated by the chemical adjuvancy of MY failed breast implant lot numbers along with the time factor of exposure for 9 months in the womb/Breast feeding simply was just extra "hits" of this genetically offending trigger...I will never debate this with anyone...I am NOT able to debate the ignorance of the medical community when they are incapable of understanding medical harm. The damage is clearly done here....and I have tried to move on with our girls so that we can live life...as it is.

So personally, as her/ Hilary's caregiver I would NEVER opt for stem cell treatments with HER plight of suffering because in medicine they really do NOT fully know what they are doing when it comes to stem cells...stem cells/ this type of research (too) is STILL in its infancy. As you probably feel as well, we too in our family are really tired of playing the part of reserch/the lab animal....so to date we are sitting back and watching what happens to others who opt for various medical treatments....Of course, I would NOT opt for stem cells with my multiple sclerosis either, which clearly IS NOT classic...and seems to be aggressive as well. But we have resiliency and will over come this~~ along with prayer involved. I am not concerned at this point....this is the way it was suppose to be, and I see this. My eyes are open with prayer... ...and with God's help have been given the grace of acceptance of the grand ignorance within the Art of Medicine to what happened with breast implants/silicone gel breast implants....we ALL are living Human Adjuvant Disease, nothing more, nothing less when exposed to the chemical adjuvancy of silicone gel breast implant lot numbers...end result for little Hilary, the aggressive scleroderma & more.

Like always, thank YOU so very much for remembering us when sending scleroderma information & all of the other extremely informing information you send....PLEASE, keep it all coming. We truly appreciate you doing this for us. You clearly are an extremely good person. I appreciate your friendship.

May God continue to bless you and your family.

Merry Christmas~
Take care, Cindy & Hilary too

From: ParfumGigi@aol.com
To: delphine1939@videotron.ca
CC: fuchsmorrissey@hotmail.com
Subject: (no subject)

Stem cells play part in battle

By SHERRI DEATHERAGE GREEN

For The Chronicle

Stephanie Daniels couldn't bend down to put on her socks.

She noticed the first symptoms of scleroderma about 2 1/2 years ago while attending St. Edward's University in Austin. The disease's name translates to "hard skin," and for 23-year-old Daniels, it began as sore joints and dry spots on her chest.

Scleroderma can be so mild it doesn't require treatment, but Daniels' case quickly became severe. The disease attacked internal organs, sapping her energy and greatly restricting her mobility. Eventually, doctors told her, she might need a lung transplant.

"There wasn't very much hope," said Daniels, who finished her psychology degree while battling the disease. "I was in pretty bad shape."

This summer, Daniels became the first scleroderma patient to receive an adult stem cell treatment in Houston through a new clinical trial.

'It's like you're trapped'

More than 100,000 Americans have scleroderma, about 80 percent of them women. The most common symptom of the autoimmune disease is hardened skin, but damage to the lungs, heart, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract and vascular system can occur.

"Your skin gets so tight around your body, it's like you're trapped in a leather jacket," Daniels explained.

The University of Texas Medical School at Houston is one of several institutions nationally enrolling patients in a study comparing the effectiveness of a standardized course of chemotherapy against high-dose chemotherapy, plus stem cell transplantation.

Chemotherapy long has been used for scleroderma, but medications and the length of treatment varied widely.

In one small study of patients receiving stem cells, 80 percent improved and 10 percent died because of disease progression or treatment complications.

"The primary danger from this sort of treatment is that it decreases your immune system," explained Dr. Maureen Mayes, a rheumatologist and professor of medicine at UT Medical School. "You are much more susceptible to infections."

Rescuing immune system

Patients in one arm of the study receive chemo once a month for a year at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. For the others, stem cells are harvested from the patients' own blood before treatment begins. They undergo radiation and a five-day regimen of high-dose chemo at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center before the stem cells are returned to the body intravenously.

"In this case, the stem cells are being used to rescue the immune system," Mayes said.

The radiation and chemo kill off all mature immune cells. The stem cells then migrate to the bone marrow and, over time, create a new immune system. These new cells carry no antibodies for past diseases, however, so patients must be reimmunized for things like mumps and measles.

Because of the risks involved, only patients with severe scleroderma are eligible for the study. To qualify, a patient's symptoms must have originated in the past four years and progressed to affect internal organs as well as skin. About 220 patients will be treated nationwide.

UT last month received a five-year, $7.5 million federal grant to establish the nation's first Center of Research Translation focusing on scleroderma. In addition to testing clinical treatments such as stem cells, scientists will study the molecular basis of the disease and possible genetic links.

Daniels didn't notice immediate results from stem cell treatment as she had hoped, but as the months go by, she has gotten progressively better. She has more energy, her skin in loosening and her mobility is improving.

"My spirits are so much better now because I realize the changes are coming," said Daniels, who plans to attend to graduate school and become a therapist.

For more information about the clinical trial, call 713-500-7118.

matthew.schwartz@chron.com.

Study: Sufferers can participate in the Scleroderma Family Registry and DNA Repository, research to identify the genes that influence the disease. For more information, call 713-500-7196.