Aidan Curtis
A MOUNT Gambier woman is going to extraordinary measures to seek treatment for a degenerative disease in the hopes of maintaining her quality of life.
Nearly five years ago, Tenison Woods College teacher and agility dog competitor Sarah McDowell was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).
While Ms McDowell has not let the incurable disease stop her from doing the things she loves, she has had to live with the knowledge that it will progressively worsen in time.
After two courses of chemotherapy failed to halt her MS, she became eligible for a bone marrow transplant – a treatment option with a high chance of pausing the progression of MS for up to 10 years.
There was just one problem: bone marrow transplants are not easily accessed in Australia.
“You can’t get one [bone marrow transplant] in Australia unless it’s on trial, and to get on trial you’ve got to have failed two treatments, which I have now failed,” Ms McDowell said.
“So I meet the criteria for that, but they’re saying I need more severe disease and more severe disability.
“Myself and a lot of people are not prepared to wait until we’re literally wheelchair-bound or unable to toilet ourselves or feed ourselves.”
She said while Australia could potentially follow other countries and make the transplant a treatment option here, she does not want to wait that long and risk things getting worse.
Instead, Ms McDowell decided to apply for treatment in Mexico, which will not only set her back around $95,000, but has also caused a lot of anxiety.
“The cost, that’s terrifying to think how much money it costs and how much I’m having to pull out of my house and all that sort of stuff, then flying into Mexico itself, which isn’t the safest city even though they pick you up from the airport and take you to the hospital,” she said.
“The fact we know it’s not a safe city also terrifies me, but at the same time you weigh up the positives and the fact there haven’t been any reports of patients having safety issues there and if this treatment works, then it should halt my MS and I won’t need any treatment for hopefully another 10 years or more.”
She said she is determined to see it through, though, with the support of agility-champion-turned-assistance-dog Cali.
“She’s just been able to make me feel like I’m not going through the journey of the treatment or the disease course alone,” Ms McDowell said.
“All my family are over in the UK, so I don’t have any support, which is why I have to rely on Cali.”
To help cover the financial side of things, Ms McDowell has set up a GoFundMe page called “Sarah and Cali beat MS together” and said anything the community can do to contribute to would go a long way.
She also said her friends have been doing great work to help her raise funds as well, which will all add up in the end.
