Status
Not open for further replies.

bala80

Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2007
Messages
26
Reason
Learn about ALS
Country
AUS
State
Vic
City
Melbourne
Hi there,

I am recently diagnosed, but a rare poster, fairly young 27. I'm progressing rapidly, and I have made the decision to go to China ti the TCM hospital in Huaihua which I'm sure most people would have heard of. This may be stupid and these guys might be peddling false hope, who knows. I know many people may have gone and not benefited in the past, and likely this may happen to me too. But staying home (home as in Melbourne the city in Oz) going through the motions is not really helping me. I guess at least I could say I made a leap of faith, no matter how reckless (and expensive) it may be. I will update my experiences while I am there if people are interested... Thanks for reading.
 
Well good luck if you're going to waste your money anyway. I'd be using it to take the family on a vacation to create lasting memories of me for them. But then that's me.
AL.
 
bala,

I understand why you would try to find help. You are so young. I believe that we all need hope and if hope means to try something that may work it is well worth it. We never know if it will help for not. There are no answers. All of us will deal with this differently. My husband and I wish you well.

hope.
 
If this is definitely something that you are going to try, i believe many would be interested in your experiences. good luck to you. when are you leaving?
 
I am leaving in a week, just waiting on getting my visa accepted. Al, I understand your stance, but I am 27 and have no wife no kids and my situation is totally different. I need to have something to cling onto, and at least say I gave it a shot. If I was older with mature kids I doubt I would even consider this too. It may be a waste of money, but money means nothing to me anymore, I have worked and deposited savings, for things that I will never need now.
 
TCM Hospital

Hello Bala,

I understand and would likely do something similar under your circumstances. I hope your journey is a safe and productive one. Chinese medicine has had many successes, and many of our modern drugs are derived from the ancient Chinese herbs. I think that you stand to gain something by taking this journey versus staying home and doing nothing.
I will look forward to hearing how things are going for you.
Laurel
 
Bala - I totally get it. Last ditch attempt to do something but I don't think there have been any documented cases of stem cells improving things. The problem is that you are throwing good cells after bad as it were. They dont know why the motor neurons die off so all that happens is the same process will affect the new ones. But it might give you more time, I just don't know. I believe Stephen Heywood tried it. Maybe read about his experience. I guess anything is worth a try and if it makes you feel like you're doing something, then IMO, it is worth it just for the mental peace of mind that offers. You will know you tried.
 
bala, I think I remember you when you first joined here a while back. I know the name bala rings the bell. All I can say is good luck. I believe I have heard of these treatments before. I hate to spit in your cereal, but I do not believe I have heard of any successes. I have heard of a couple or more patients losing their lives, if we are talking about the same thing. You are looking into stem cell treatments, aren't you? I have also heard that they are very costly. For the amount of money that they charge it'd be nice if they can come up with good results. I haven't heard of any yet, has anyone? (I hate to sound like an idiot!) God bless everyone, and good luck bala!

Irma
 
Well good luck if you're going to waste your money anyway. I'd be using it to take the family on a vacation to create lasting memories of me for them. But then that's me.
AL.

Ironic because if I were going to take a "fantasy vacation," it would probably be to Australia, where Bala lives! :-D
 
Once again if it were me in your shoes I think I'd put the money into bona fide ALS research in a well documented facility or University hospital. Try some homeopathic or holistic remedies. In 4 years being on this forum I have not seen ONE person have more than a few months benefit from any treatment in China or anywhere else. I firmly believe that this was from the placebo effect. If you believe it works then it might for a while, until your body catches up to your mind and says, nope this is crap, not working and you may be worse off. Rilutek is cheaper and gives you a few extra months. Hate to sound negative but I've seen a lot of people lose a lot of money on things that just do not work except to give you false hope. Do what you need to do but at least do it being well informed of the risks. Money to throw away or not.
AL.
 
Just as an aside, I always wanted to do Australia too.
AL.
 
china or bust

hi Bala good luck to you I hope you find success.This disease is terrribly hard to deal with I am very interested to hear about your progress. I uggest you might google Steven Shackel and read his story it might help and inspire you. Anyway goodluck take care
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the support guys. Just to clarify, the hospital treats ALS patients using traditional chinese medicine techniques, not to be confused with the one that injects stem cells. The idea of injecting stem cells into someones brain only for them to eventually killed off is not appealing at all.

I guess its either this trip or lithium if I am to have some hope of slowing this down, and I intend to do both.

I will report back on how I'm going in this thread. I'm currently getting my visa done and organising flights.
 
Thanks for the clarification, Bala. Just be careful out there. :-D Cindy
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top