Source: Wane

(Fort Wayne - WANE) Mikey Riley, 20, is living with multiple sclerosis (MS) and is now packing for a trip to China where he'll have a stem cell transplant to treat his disease.

Riley's first symptom of MS was when he was only 15 years old. His left eye went blind for a month. Then symptoms came back when he was at summer camp. Riley's body went numb on his left side. In July 2005, a spinal tap confirmed that he had MS. He was 18 years old. 

"We went through a denial period for a long time," Riley said. "I still say sometimes maybe I just had too much caffeine."

Riley's referring to the tremors he gets now in his legs and arms. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. Mikey's body is attacking the myelin, protective tissue around nerves, leaving behind scars called sclerosis. This damages nerves and causes people with MS to lose different abilities.

"The progression of it as his age is going to debilitate him much earlier in life," Dianna Riley, Mikey's mother, said.

Riley predicts he'll be in a wheelchair in the next ten years if he doesn't have some treatment now. His MS is fast progressing and isn't responding to traditional MS medications.

He works for a landscaping company and leads an active lifestyle, so the thought of being wheelchair-bound is devastating. Not treating the MS is not an option for Riley.

"I wouldn't say I'm desperate, but I am willing to try new therapies," Riley said.

So, he decided to look into stem cell transplants. Riley found one at Northwestern University in Chicago. The procedure involves using chemotherapy to wipe out the patient's immune system. Adult stem cells are taken out, frozen and then put back in the person's body. Riley compared it to a computer system re-boot.

The procedure costs more than $100,000 and after several appeals, his insurance, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, would not cover his treatment. It called the transplant experimental, and said it doesn't cover experimental options.

"It's frustrating because we had documentation of it working on several people, so why couldn't they try it on me," Riley said.

The Rileys wouldn't be knocked down and the family started fundraising to pay for the treatment themselves. But then another option came.

"I prayed about it and asked that if there is another treatment I should know about tell me and I'll do my homework," Riley said. "Two days later I got a call from the American liaison from Transplant China."

Riley and his mother leave for China Thursday for a five-week treatment in Shenyang, north of Beijing.

This stem cell transplant uses umbilical cord stem cells. They are given a growth agent, in Riley's case myelin. Riley will have four injections of 15-20 million stem cells and one bone marrow transplant. If everything goes well, Riley's myelin will start to re-grow.

"That's what is being destroyed so if you can re-grow it, that would be perfect. This won't stop the MS, but it could slow it for three to five years," Riley said.

Riley relies on his faith to keep him in good spirits, and said the controversial stem cell procedures should be more widely supported and funded.

"We need to do something," Riley said. "If we can help so many diseases why not put funding into it."

Riley noted his transplant uses umbilical cord so no lives were lost to harvest the stem cells.

The treatment in China is also considerably less expensive. He already paid the $23,000 for the transplant and flights for Riley and his mom were another $3,000. But, he raised $46,000. The rest of the money will be kept in an account with the National Transplant Assistance Fund for him to use for any medical expenses in the next two years. After that, the money will go into another transplant patient's account.

"You never know what live's going to throw your way and I've learned from Mikey you just have to grab a hold of it and do what you have to do," Dianna Riley said. "We'll see what happens next and we'll climb each hurdle when we get to it."

While in China, Riley will update his blog with his progress. Click here to see his blog or make a donation to Riley's fund.