Marcia Rose

Marcia Rose, is a 48 year old Wife and Mother married for 27 years with 7 children. A blended family with a combination of his, mine, and ours. Her 6 oldest children are what the majority of the world would call Step children, but to Marcia they have always been much more to her then that. She came into their lives when they were at a very young age, and when she was only 21 herself She passionately loves them every bit as her 3 youngest biological children.Marcia has always been considered the backbone of the family,with many years of love, joy, happiness and celebrations. But as everyone knows, life can have some painful and tragic moments. Marcia lost her first born child, Joshua, when he was 3 weeks old. Her youngest son by marriage was lost in an automobile accident when he was only 21. These were painful moments for the family to endure, but with the power of God and love they persevered. All the children are adults now with families of their own. 13 years ago, during the prime of her life, Marcia, without question, took in 6 of her grandchildren, and with heart and soul she has also raised them lovingly as her own. 3 of the grandchildren are grown and out on their own now, She still has 3 at home. 12 children total that she has focused her life around, doing everything she could for them and happily making the great sacrifices to love and teach them well so they would grow up to be successful adults. Marcia, by nature is a loving, nurturing caretaker and the heartbeat of our family. Never asking for anything in return. Just seeing her family happy is reward enough. Marcia’s oldest grown children are living happy successful lives with children of their own, some teenagers, a couple of them preteens.Her two youngest children are just starting out on their own with a very young family and young children with more on the way. Bringing her grand total of grandchildren to 17. She feels so blessed to be surrounded by such a large family! She love’s and adores them, as much as her children and grandchildren love and adore her. She was diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) in January, 2016 and has been on a roller coaster ride ever since. After a long hospitalization in February, her neurologist came to the conclusion that she’s likely had MS for many years. Marcia has a very aggressive form of MS and has had three relapses in the past two months. Every day she experiences pain. Most days her gait is crooked and some days she can’t walk at all because of vertigo. She is dependent on a walker and has difficulty driving because the majority of the nerve damage is on her right side. Her biggest fear is disease progression; that day when she ends up permanently in a wheelchair or worse yet, bedridden and can no longer play with her grandchildren, attend their graduations and weddings, as well as continue to enjoy her quality of life she has had with them throughout the years.
Marcia’s family feels that she has spent her life doing and caring for others, for no other reason then pure love. To give her the gift of being able to stop this disease before more damage is done is at the very least, her family feels like they can do for her.
There is no cure for MS but there is a treatment that gives Marcia hope. Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT), using a person’s own adult stem cells is showing amazing results in stopping this disease from doing any more damage, and in some cases reversing damage that is already done. Currently, there is no FDA approved transplant therapy for MS. Dr. Richard Burt at Northwestern is in the final phase of a clinical trial using HSCT for MS but the trial won’t be complete until 2022. HSCT is also offered in Mexico and Russia. Marcia has chosen Mexico because the waiting list is much shorter and she is concerned about her disease getting worse while waiting. Before she can get the transplant, Marcia needs to raise at least $54,500 to cover the cost, and she needs the support of family and community to make it happen. The extra money is to cover travel expenses, groceries as well as a 6 month supply of medication she will need to bring home with her from Mexico as her immune system will be compromised during this recovery period.
To help with the financial burden of Marcia’s uninsured expenses, a fundraising campaign in her honor has been established with HelpHOPELive, a trusted nonprofit organization that has been providing community-based fundraising guidance to patients and their families for more than 30 years. All donations are tax-deductible, are held by HelpHOPELive in the Great Lakes Stem Cell Transplant Fund, and are administered by HelpHOPELive for transplant-related expenses only. Any contribution you can give would be greatly appreciated. To contribute, click Donate Now.

This stem cell transplant is Marcia’s only hope at stopping this disease. If you can’t donate, your thoughts and prayers are very much just as important. God Bless you, and please pray or send your positive thoughts that a healing, protective hand is kept over me. Thank you in advance for everything you do, whether it be monetary or thoughts and prayers.

Family of Marcia Rose