Michael Warren

PLEASE HELP MY HUSBAND HALT MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS.

Michael Warren was born and raised in Seattle, WA. Most of his formative years were spent in the Wedgwood and Ravenna neighborhoods. A natural athlete, he enjoyed skiing, skateboarding, boxing, basketball and football. He played in the Wedgwood Football League in the early 1970s; one year, his team took home the city championship title by winning the final game at Memorial Stadium.

After high school, Michael explored long lining and other commercial fishing jobs in Alaska. After a few years, he settled down in Seattle and began a roofing career with the Union of Roofers, Waterproofers & Allied Workers (Local 54), where he quickly advanced to the position of foreman. After about 15 years, he chose to start his own roofing company. Five years later, after establishing Fidelity Roofing and bringing it to the point of profitability, he discovered one day to his dismay that he could no longer climb a ladder. A visit with his doctor revealed that Michael had multiple sclerosis (MS). When his roofing career abruptly ended, he was just 37 years old; with a wife of 10 years and two young children, ages 5 and 8.

Michael has been fighting Multiple Sclerosis (MS) for 20 years. MS is a chronic disease that attacks the central nervous system. He has participated in multiple drug trials and some of them worked
for a while — others did not. At this point, Michael has depleted all effective treatment options, except one.

In 2015, we read an article in the Seattle Times regarding a patient from Seattle who underwent a Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Seattle, WA. The results were nothing short of amazing (click this link) http://bit.ly/WAHSTC HSCT treatment uses an individual’s own stem cells to halt the progression of MS.

Michael’s insurance denied his treatment request even though he was accepted by Fred Hutchinson. Without insurance coverage, the center requested a cash payment of $434,000 in advance of any treatment with estimated total expenses exceeding $500,000. We began to search for a more affordable facility outside the US and after many stops and starts, Michael was “approved” in the Philippines in March. Unfortunately, on April 18 they told us they need to cancel our bed date until further notice.

We had also applied to Israel with Dr. Rowe, an option highly recommended by Michael’s neurologist in Seattle. Amazingly enough, Dr. Row accepted Mike on April 19th with a treatment date in May!

We are thrilled and excited at the prospect of halting the progression of Michael’s MS in its tracks! However, our family needs your help to raise $140,000, which will cover the cost of treatment in Israel and travel costs. Michael wants desperately to continue contributing to his family and society as well as aid other MS sufferers by spreading awareness about HSCT and sharing his personal journey.

To help offset such expenses, a fundraising campaign in Michael’s honor has been established with Help Hope Live, 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 to the full extent allowed by law, are held by Help Hope Live in the Northwest Stem Cell Transplant Fund, and are administered by Help Hope Live for illness-related expenses only. If you would like to make a contribution today, please click the DONATE NOW bar now.

From our hearts, thank you for reading our story. We appreciate everyone’s emotional and financial support; it means the world to us! If possible, we hope that you will please consider making a contribution to help HALT the progression of Michael’s MS.

Gratefully,

Holly Bacon Warren & Family
[email protected]