Yesterday was a long and tiring day, returning home to the sunny and south of Spain from the colder temperatures found in Moscow.
With the help of two members of the support team, I left the hospital at 7am, which was 6am in Spain, eventually getting home at 10.30pm. Believe me, 16½ hours of travelling and layovers is a tiring experience which is probably why it was gone midday before today woke me from my slumbers.
Being in Russia, in the AA Maximov HSCT clinic, was an experience I am glad to have had, but nothing comes up to the delight brought about by being home again. Home with Lisa, the love of my life.
In the clinic, bonds are quickly established between patients at various stages of the process and, even though only there for assessment, I immediately found myself welcomed as one of the community. And I now have new Facebook friends so we need never lose touch.
MRI brain scan. This is a stock picture,not one of mine.
Several people have sent me comments since my assessment result was revealed – that I would not be accepted to have HSCT. Some have said how sorry they are that I cannot have the treatment; others have expressed their pleasure that the MRI scans showed that my lesions are inactive and that my future is looking good according to Moscow’s Dr Fedorenko.
So, how do I feel? Strangely, contented.
The fact that my lesions, which exist in both brain and spine, are inactive is great news in itself. And to have Dr F tell me that my prognosis for MS is no, or in the worst case very slow, progress is something that I had never dreamed could happen.
So, in short, I am in a good position.
On top of that, I had so many checks on various internal organs that I know now exactly what is wrong in much more detail than before. The scans, x-rays and other tests – also show that there is nothing unwanted, nothing that should not be there.
50shadesofsun.com is the personal website of Ian Franks, who is Managing Editor (columns division) of BioNews Services. BioNews is owner of 50 disease-specific news and information websites – including MS News Today. Ian has enjoyed a successful career as a journalist, from reporter to editor, in the print media. During that career he gained a Journalist of the Year award in his native UK. He was diagnosed with MS in 2002 but continued working until mobility problems forced him to retire early in late 2006. He now lives in the south of Spain. Besides MS, Ian is also able to write about both epilepsy and cardiovascular matters from a patient’s perspective and is a keen advocate on mobility and accessibility issues.
50shadesofsun 
You have done everything you can, and had an incredible experience as well as probably the best of medical examinations available to find that your MS is pretty much stopped by the sound of it, sounds like a win to me – keep living your life now Ian, you and your wife have a beautiful relationship which many never experience, and your health is stable – the stuff dreams are made of really!
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Hi Colleen, thank you for your beautiful comment and the sentiments you expressed. Life is for living with or without MS. Lisa and I have both been married before and at the end of this month we celebrate our fifth anniversary; we are very much in love, and beside her I feel I can take on the world.
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