Horwich nursery teacher finishes HSCT treatment for MS in Mexico – The Bolton News

A NURSERY teacher who had to remortgage her home to fund a gruelling four-week treatment programme in Mexico has made it back home.

Nina Matthews, 42, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2009 after going temporarily blind with optic neuritis, and collapsing in a shop.

Her condition has deteriorated over the years, forcing her to stop working, and even facing the prospect of being bed-bound within the next six months.

The 28 day course of haematopoietic stem cell therapy (HSCT) should prevent her condition from progressing if it's successful, allowing her to regain mobility and hopefully return to work.

Mrs Matthews said: "It was brutal, probably worse than I expected I'm just doing a lot of sleeping.

"I feel better now I've had it but it's going to take a long time to see results, although I am noticing minor improvements.

"Apparently recovery is like a rollercoaster and then after about two years you see continuous improvement if the treatment works.

"My prognosis was really not good at all, and the deterioration was significant at least what ever I do to try and help myself won't be in vain and be undone now. I can just focus on improving."

The treatment at Clinica Ruiz consisted of four rounds of chemotherapy, before stem cells were harvested and then reinserted into the body.

Although the treatment is available in the UK for people who meet a certain criteria, Mrs Matthews was not eligible, and had to pay 45,000 to cover the

Her medication, which costs 70,000 a year, is available through the NHS, but this only manages her symptoms and does not prevent the disease from progressing further.

HSCT is typically used to treat bone marrow and blood cancers, but has also shown effectiveness in treating MS, according to the MS Society.

There is currently no cure for the disease.

Coronavirus has disrupted the treatment, cancelling their original flights and making recovery difficult.

Mrs Matthews added: "I now have the immune system of a newborn baby - for the next six months I'll be staying inside.

"Obviously with the current situation I've got to be extra careful.

When I booked it covid wasnt even an issue and obviously a lot of our fundraisers had to be cancelled.

"We've had to remortgage the house and it's a new kind of stress now, we need to continue to maintain some kind of quality of life, especially whilst I can't work."

Just a few weeks before the couple jetted off to Mexico, they were told that their flights had been cancelled due to the pandemic, with a new pair of flights adding 3,500 to the total.

Mrs Matthews appeared on BBC Radio Manchester, where presenter Mike Sweeney appealed for the family to be refunded the extra cost generating enough donations to cover the additional expense.

Raising enough money has been a battle due to the current coronavirus restrictions, with the pair managing to raise just 7,000 towards their goal before setting off.

Mrs Matthews said: "We're relying quite heavily on GoFundMe which has quite understandable slowed down with Christmas and covid, but every donation is appreciated.

"It's ruined us financially but we've been there, done the treatment, and it wasn't good at all but now we can focus on the future.

"I just want to get back to work, being a nursery teacher is all I've ever known and any other small goals will be fantastic to achieve, but I just want to get back to the kids."

Visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/nina-matthews to help fundraise.

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Horwich nursery teacher finishes HSCT treatment for MS in Mexico - The Bolton News