Marcus, my husband, is an amazing man whose life has been turned upside-down by 4 letters: PPMS

Marcus was diagnosed with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PPMS) eleven years ago. PPMS is a chronic and lifelong disabling disease of the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). PPMS affects about 10-15% of people diagnosed with MS. MS is a very strange disease and everyone with it gets affected by it in different ways. Unfortunately, Marcus has a particularly aggressive form of MS which is typically characterised by a clear progressive decline affecting the balance, mobility, motor skills and brain.

Anyone who knows Marcus will know him as an incredibly active, daredevil, adrenaline junkie whose passions include skiing, wakeboarding, hiking up mountains to jumping out of planes or diving off cliffs! Marcus was always the first one to wake up to say ‘What shall we do today?’.

Marcus is a wonderful 43 year old father to his two children – Xavier 10 and Maya 5 years old.

Unfortunately, PPMS is winning the battle and in the last two years his symptoms have progressed quite severely. Marcus can no longer lead an active ‘normal’ life - He can no longer run after his children, walk the children to school, ride a bike, run around the supermarket! ‘Normal’ daily activities are like climbing Mount Everest for him. Daily life is a constant struggle, he suffers from loss of balance, brain fog, foot drop, muscle spasms, fatigue and he is in constant pain. The brutal truth is PPMS will eventually mean Marcus will be bedbound and need 24/7 care. It has not been an easy journey for Marcus or us as a family to say the least. The children are becoming deeply affected by seeing their Papa struggle with the simple things in life.

Marcus has always been a proud, strong and independent man. He has become depressed and withdrawn from those that love him most and his friends in order to deal with MS and the changes it has required in his life. Even with his strong and stubborn personality he feels defeated.

There is some hope. The only effective treatment shown to halt the progression of MS is Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT). This gruelling treatment uses high doses of chemotherapy to wipe out the immune system, and then the patients’ own bone marrow stem cells are transplanted back into their body to help rebuild the immune system without any memory of MS. Unfortunately, Marcus is not eligible for this treatment under the NHS (British health care system). Thankfully, he has been accepted to a specialist centre in Mexico this August, which will involve being there for 28 days. The treatment itself, the after care and the long recovery means that this all comes at a considerable cost.

Those of you that know Marcus, know him as a genuine, loving, caring man who would do anything for anyone. More than anything, I would love it if my husband had the chance to beat this evil disease. HSCT is also a chance to give to Xavier and Maya; what they would do to see their papa with a smile and getting a break from such pain and despair.

We are a private family but the time has come to put our pride to one side and ask for help – because without your collective financial help, there is no way for Marcus to have this treatment and no chance for his cruel disease to be halted. It is a huge sum we are asking for. This will cover the treatment in Mexico, flights, a 24/7 carer while he is there, plus the after-care when he returns to the UK which includes regular blood tests, 5 infusions of Rituxamab.

Marcus’ recovery after the treatment is expected to be in some ways even more challenging than the treatment itself, including a long potential period of quarantine and considerable debilitating side effects lasting for roughly 12 months.

There are no words to express our love and gratitude for all the emotional support we have received recently and we have been given amazing hope with HSCT, for Marcus, for the children and the family. Because of this, we are here today asking for your financial aid please. ‘Thank you’ doesn’t even come close and I am incredibly grateful you have spent the time to read this. Thank you for giving Marcus a chance to halt his MS and for giving my family hope for a new and happier life.

With love from the bottom of my heart,

Nina