There are two styles of HSCT. Mylo-ablative, and non mylo-ablative. The difference comes in how extreme the chemotherapy is.
The mylo-ablative style is more extreme. It kills the bone marrow in addition to the immune system. It basically is the same system that is used to treat leukemia. Which is how it was discovered. There was a patient that had both leukemia, and MS. After she went in for the treatment for her leukemia, they found that her MS seemed to go into remission. Even before they had discovered stem cells, leukemia was treated this way. The stem cells simply gives your body a step up on the recovery process. Most HSCT in the US, and around the world, is this older style.
Then there is non mylo-ablative. It DOESN’T kill the bone marrow, and the recovery is easier. But, critically, the effectiveness of this style is the same. There was one clinic in the US that performed this style: Dr Burt’s clinic at Northwestern. Most notably, they recently performed the procedure for Selma Blair.
I, however, was turned down from Chicago. Which is unfortunate, but truth be told, they were charging twice as much as other countries for the same procedure. They also garnered some undesired attention because they were performing a study, and charging people to be treated at the same time. Then most recently, the program got suddenly shut down.
So if you don’t want the harsher version of the treatment, you must look outside the United States for treatment options.
They are performing this procedure in many different countries. But to get the non mylo-ablative procedure, and being an international patient, and having a disability score as high as mine is, your options are limited. Largely, I had to choose between Puebla, Mexico, and Moscow, Russia,.