HSCT Warriors

Warrior: Eileen 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 someday...

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

Warrior: Leta AI: Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis HSCT: 07-08/18 Superpower: Support from husband and friends How affiliated are you with your autoimmune disease? How certain are you that HSCT might work for SPMS? 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 cons...

Snowflake: Multiple Sclerosis and Lyme Disease HSCT: 2019 Superpower: knowing her body 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 13 years young, an...

How thick is the fog on your brain? How clearly are you able to think and plan? When gearing up for a significant medical procedure, how well do you prepare for recovery? After years of experiencing symptoms without answers until finally receiving a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in 2016, Bonnie experienced heart complications with her first line of treatment that were exacerbated after abruptly...

Snowflake: MS Caregiver and HSCT Advocate HSCT: March 18, 2018 Superpower: Knowledge we could not do it alone How do you shift focus from self to other when faced with taking on the role of caregiver? When you ask your neurologist about HSCT as an option for treatment, what is their reaction? Do you have what it takes to construct space for success? Meet Jay, a proactive planner who made a conscio...

Warrior: Barry Goudy AI: Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis HSCT: August, 2003 at Northwestern in Chicago Superpower: Belief How do you place a value on health? 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? Despite the devastation after initially failing requirements for the cli...

Warrior: Denise Bishop AI: Stiff Person Syndrome HSCT: 9/12/17, Chicago Superpower: increased 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...

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 of her MS from an early age, Ahna found HSCT in her late twenties through research trying to avoid moving into an assisted...

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 pharmaceuticals that only guaranteed harsh side effects with terrifying probabiliti...

Warrior: Katie Hominsky AI: MS HSCT: 4/15/19, 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 the ups and downs of her recovery rollercoaster at nearly...

Warrior: Tracey Rossi AI: Multiple Sclerosis 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 surpris...

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, Ja...

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 life that you can count on as running partners? After she spent years managing another autoimmune is...

Warrior: Allison Carr AI: MS HSCT: 2014/15, Northwestern Memorial, Chicago IL Superpower: Survival To what extent do 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 busy...

Warrior: Keri Huff AI: Tumefactive multiple sclerosis  HSCT: 2010 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 debilitating pain and extrem...

Warrior: Ali Strong AI: MS HSCT: 11/6/17 Superpower: Gratitude Where do you find yourself bringing attention in life? Are you able to find goodness with your current state of being? What have been your most important lessons in life? Embrace a shift from the typical podcast interview and listen in on Jen’s conversation to check in with Ali Strong on her HSCT journey, and share more about the new n...

Snowflake: AIMS Charity, UK HSCT: MS Caregiver, Alison Superpower: Dedication Have you considered the possibilities of traveling abroad to pursue HSCT to halt your autoimmune disease? Are you striving to overcome obstacles like funding or researching HSCT? How do you turn a challenge into opportunity for others? Meet Alison, a caregiver for her warrior husband who was diagnosed with multiple scler...

Warrior: Katie Snowflake: RRMS HSCT: Chicago, scheduled in March 2019 Superpower: walk with God Where do you find confidence to move forward? How do you take the reins and find the right mindset? Who do you consider to be family? Join us along Katie’s Hope Journey and learn from this interview with our first HSCT Hopeful. After spending 9 years battling multiple sclerosis, Katie found the mindset...

Warrior: Ali Strong Snowflake: RRMS HSCT: 11/6/17, Northwestern Memorial, Chicago Superpower: Gratitude Where do you find gratitude in life? Are you just surviving in life, or are you thriving? Tune in for updates from Ali Strong and find out what our first HSCT Warrior has been up to since her first interview. Find out more about the healing that Ali has experienced, her training and research to...

Warrior: Kevin Snowflake: Multiple Sclerosis HSCT: April 2016, Raffles Medical Center, Singapore Superpower: Novena to St. Jude When facing the unknown, are you curious about possibilities or do you fear uncertainties? What is the part of your journey that has become too familiar? How can we support each other to mobilize for different outcomes? If you’ve ever been curious to know more about poten...

Learn more about the journey of our very own “Zen” Jen, as she shares the mic for a chat with her dear friend Sara Leah and they find commonalities in their unique experiences with MS. With a fun break from the usual interview, enjoy this conversation from the lens of someone curious to know more about HSCT, and in celebration of Jen’s one-year HSCT birthday. Special thanks to musical genius Billy...

Warrior: Cecilia Snowflake: RRMS HSCT: July 11, 2018, Northwestern Memorial Hospital Superpower: Connections How positive is your outlook? How empowered do you feel by your faith and innate resilience? When life seems scattered like a puzzle, how do your pieces fit together? Tune in to learn more about how Cecilia embraces a positive mindset, regular mantras, and her lens of love to face any chall...

After hearing a “no” from her first attempt at HSCT, Anna remained open to try anything (including experimenting with mesenchymal stem cell therapy) to cure her MS. She found herself on Medicare and full-time disability for two years at the end of her late-thirties, so after failing four disease-modifying therapies (DMT) and facing the side-effects of yet another DMT, Anna chose to jump at the cha...