My experience with multiple sclerosis
When you make yourself into a victim, you give up, says Richard Cohen, author, journalist, and MS patient. After 40 years with MS, Cohen has not given up, and recently enrolled in a clinical trial utilizing stem cell research to treat his disease.
Transcript
I think the worst thing you can do when you're sick is make yourself into a victim.
When you choose to be a victim, in a sense, you stop living. I'm not going to do that.
And I'm going to hold myself to the same standard that I would have if I were healthy.
Life's unfair. And what's the next line? I mean, that just doesn't take you anywhere.
[MUSIC PLAYING] I was in denial at the very beginning, for sure.
And I kept saying to the doctor, I'm sure it's just in my head. But then six months later, I went blind
in one eye, which is a classic manifestation of the illness. Destinations are uncertain.
This disease goes in lots of directions. You don't know that where you are today
is going to be where you are tomorrow when you wake up. I'm tired of sitting back and just waiting to see what comes.
Too many people go to doctors and say, cure me. I think you've got to be aggressive. I think you've got to make choices for yourself.
Not staying at a plateau but improving. RICHARD M. COHEN: And so I began with Dr. Sadiq,
who's quite extraordinary. He said to me, I've had this application in for years to do a clinical trial with stem cells.
Lo and behold, the FDA approved it. And I got into the trial. This is the first time in 40 years the idea of hope
has even entered my head. I don't think Dr. Sadiq has a clue what's going to happen. He wasn't promising anything.
He wasn't telling me that this will happen or that will happen. But he said, maybe--
maybe-- who knows, maybe you can get off your cane. You know, maybe you could get some eyesight back.
If the disease progression stops, that's a huge victory. NURSE: Do you feel pressure, Richard?
What do you feel? A little sharp pain but not bad. RICHARD M. COHEN (VOICEOVER): I had a bone marrow aspiration.
They extracted bone marrow. And in that bone marrow are millions and millions
of stem cells. And in theory, they can help restore some, all, who knows,
neurotransmission. I, like anybody else, was aware of stem cell therapy.
I knew that someday-- and someday is sort of the way I always framed it--
maybe, just maybe it could help me. We're pioneers. We're on the cutting edge.
For 40 years, I've been told, there's nothing we can do. The idea of helping to shape my own future
and dealing with my own problems is very liberating. [AUDIO LOGO]
multiple sclerosis
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