HSCT Warriors

Warrior: Zarko Bilal AI: Relapsing Remitting MS HSCT: April, 2021 Superpower: positive thinking When did you start to figure out the important things in life? How do you overcome fear of the unknown? How do you keep your mentality in tact? The continuation of this two-part episode reveals even more detail about Zarko’s experience with HSCT at the AA Maximov Hospital in Moscow, including how he man...

Warrior: Zarko Bilal AI: Relapsing Remitting MS HSCT: April, 2021 Superpower: positive thinking When did you start to figure out the important things in life? How do you overcome fear of the unknown? How do you keep your mentality in tact? After a happenstance diagnosis of MS, Zarko initially held on to the hope that his symptoms would be a one-time hit of CIS. Easy to rationalize because of all t...

Warrior: Javor Milanov AI: Relapsing Remitting MS HSCT: Scheduled in March 2022 Superpowers: Consistency How well do you attune with culture? Is your mindset one of growth, or is it fixed? How do you navigate your internal compass? After his diagnosis, Javor felt tired and run-down facing his experience as a new immigrant working three or four jobs at a time. He experienced terrible side effects a...

Warrior: Samantha Lakey AI: Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis HSCT: July 5, 2021 Superpower: eating Are you someone who believes in fate? How do you recognize joy in yourself? Only after Samantha endured a full-body seizure and spent weeks in the hospital did she finally receive a diagnosis for symptoms that doctors continued to brush aside, even though she had been struggling with fatigue, i...

Warrior: Mike AI: Multiple Sclerosis HSCT scheduled for January 2022 Superpower: fortitude How do you share your diagnosis with others? How familiar are your loved ones with the demons you battle? How do you reconcile your experience with disease? Having received a diagnosis at the young age of 22 after a bout of optic neuritis, Mike experienced reversal of his symptoms after a round of steroids a...

Warrior: Amy Capel AI: Multiple Sclerosis HSCT: scheduled for October 2021 Superpower: Thinking What is your response to the judgment of others? To what extent do you control your mindset? Are you committed to eliminating negativity? When Amy was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she not only struggled to understand the disease, she ended up struggling with a storm of negative side effects...

Warrior: Jacob Kinch AI Multiple Sclerosis HSCT: October, 2020 Superpower: new perspective Where do you find glimmers of hope? Do you recognize the double-edged sword of multiple sclerosis? Jacob shares so many relatable aspects of his experience with multiple sclerosis, including frustration with doctors, questionable approaches and decisions around treatment, and challenges with paying for expen...

Warrior: Ali Roberts AI: Multiple Sclerosis HSCT: November 2017 Superpower: Gratitude Are you familiar with your fears? Are you open to freeing your authentic self? Are you living your best life? We’re so grateful to check in with Ali to begin each new season of the podcast to help portray the continual journey of recovery from HSCT, as it can have several layers and play out in very different way...

Warrior: Tamra Minch MS Caregiver HSCT: April 2019 Superpower: Humility Are you able to make time for yourself when caring for others? When faced with the whirlwind of life, what do you focus on? How does resiliency inform your outlook? When her husband was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the whirlwind experience suddenly had Tamra searching for answers and alternatives to the pharmaceuti...

Warrior: Barry Goudy AI: MS HSCT: August, 2003 at Northwestern in Chicago Superpower: Belief When it comes to solutions for your experience with disease, how do you determine whether a treatment is good enough? How far are you willing to go with research? How do you place a value on health? Despite the devastation after initially failing requirements for the clinical trial protocol, Barry remained...

Warrior: Denise Bishop AI: Stiff Person Syndrome HSCT: 9/12/17, Chicago Superpower: empathy How often do you listen to the voice in your head? How much can you afford to endure? What are your strategies to sort through all that needs attention? Join us to check in with Denise following her two-year check up post-HSCT in Chicago. Learn more about the unexpected twists and turns along her ongoing ro...

Warrior: Ahna Crum AI: Multiple Sclerosis HSCT: April, 2016 in Moscow Russia Superpower: Shapeshifting What motivates you to find curiosity in life? Have you ever been let down by a one-size-fits-all approach? How equipped are you to adapt? After suffering significant relapses from an early age, in her late twenties Ahna found HSCT through her research trying to avoid moving into an assisted livin...

Warrior: Katie Hominsky AI: MS HSCT: Chicago Superpower: Confidence Who has your back when things get tough? When facing struggles in life, where do you seek support? How do you find hope and understanding? Tune in for this post-HSCT update from Katie, our first Hopeful interviewed about her Hope Journey to HSCT and hear more about her recovery rollercoaster. She offers updates on her fundraising...

Warrior: Tracey Rossi AI: MS HSCT: August 2018 Superpower: motivation Are you looking to fit all the HSCT pieces together? What is your outlook on life? How often do you choose to turn a frown upside down? As a former surfer, Tracey became an expert in finding balance and going with the flow. Having lived with the MS monster since 2009, Tracey was shocked when Dr. Burt was surprised enough by her...

Warrior: Paul Wheeler AI: Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis HSCT: April 10, 2017 Superpower: Dancing Have you experienced the compassion of humanity? Is your approach to life with disease more of the “cup half empty” or “half full” mindset? Just how full is your cup? As someone who prefers “research to the nth degree” about medical decisions, Paul weighed the odds of HSCT and determined the...

Warrior: Jarrod Schlipf AI: Multiple Sclerosis HSCT: November 2014 Superpower: Patience How much effort/time/money has been spent battling autoimmune disease? What is your contribution to the outcomes that you are seeking? How committed are you to making time to build habits that nourish your mind, body and soul? Tracing his 17 year experience with MS to an auto accident that injured his neck, Jar...

Warrior: Tammy Kazen-Richert AI: Primary Progressive MS HSCT: 2013, AA Maximov Hospital, Moscow Russia Superpower: Incredible hulk-type shifts between calm intention and strength to power through How intentional are you about making memories? Which side of the coin are you on? Who are the people in your life that you can count on as running partners? After she spent years managing another autoimmu...

Warrior: Allison Carr AI: MS HSCT: 2014/15, Northwestern Memorial, Chicago IL Superpower: Survival To what extent do your doctors have your best interest in mind? Does the medical community you depend on have accurate information about HSCT? After suffering symptoms without a diagnosis for twenty years, Allison felt completely ignored by her medical community. As a busy mom in a busy career with a...

Warrior: Allison Carr AI: MS HSCT: 2014/15, Northwestern Memorial, Chicago IL Superpower: Survival To what extent do your doctors have your best interest in mind? Does the medical community you depend on have accurate information about HSCT? After suffering symptoms without a diagnosis for twenty years, Allison felt completely ignored by her medical community. As a busy mom in a busy career with a...

Warrior: Keri Huff AI: Tumefactive multiple sclerosis HSCT: 2010 Superpower: self-advocacy When you try to advocate for your health and doctors turn you away, how do you persist? Have you ever reflected on how much time you have? Where do you find beauty each day? At just 28 years old, Keri started experiencing odd symptoms that countless doctors ignored and dismissed. As she persisted through deb...

Warrior: Bethany Pappalardo Snowflake: Multiple Sclerosis HSCT: 03/08/05 Superpower: heightened awareness When you need a different course of action, how long will you bide your time? How confident are you among judgement, shock and awe? Will you be ready once you hit rock bottom? Having so many family members plagued with autoimmune disease, Bethany had just run out of options to treat her MS whe...

Warrior: Eileen Hushion Snowflake: Multiple Sclerosis HSCT: 01/05/17 Superpower: Knowing you have the rest of your life to look forward to How much fear do you have when facing uncertainty? How do you adjust when riding a roller coaster? What does normal even feel like? Despite years of debilitating fatigue and cycling through nine different disease modifying therapies, Eileen had a suspicion that...

Warrior: Brooke Slick Snowflake: Multiple Sclerosis HSCT: May, 2013 in Moscow, Russia Superpower: Patience How do you navigate your diagnosis? Would you describe your perspective as positive or negative? How do you normalize your disease? After years of experiencing symptoms, Brooke was diagnosed with RRMS in 2006 and cycled through various disease modifying therapies, participated in a clinical t...

Warrior: Leta Krieger Snowflake: Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis HSCT: 07-08/18 Superpower: Support from husband and friends How affiliated are you with your autoimmune disease? How connected are you with your community? After living with MS for nearly 40 years, when Leta first heard of HSCT while watching the BBC on vacation, she researched it and considered the chance that HSCT could po...

Snowflake: Multiple Sclerosis and Lyme Disease HSCT: anticipated by June, 2019 Superpower: body-knowing How does one come to terms with the brutality of multiple sclerosis? How many disease modifying drugs have caused you significant complications? Do you know what it feels like to live a life without a chronic disease? After seeing too many doctors that wouldn’t listen, receiving a diagnosis at 1...