Huntington's Disease Testimonials

Hope For Huntington's Disease

Vincente, 40, of Anaheim, California, was diagnosed in October 2006 with Huntington's disease. Huntington's disease is an inherited disease. In fact his mother died of the disease. This disease is known to be a progressive, degenerative disease that causes certain nerve cells in your brain to waste away. As a result, there are uncontrolled movements, emotional disturbances and mental deterioration. When we asked his wife Elena what she first noticed, she told us she noticed differences in the way his shoulders, hands and fingers would move. She said his walk was different.

When diagnosed officially, the doctor gave them no hope at all. Elena says the doctor came right out and told us to "start getting your financial affairs in order and plan your social security."

"I felt completely hopeless." Elena said.

Then a neighbor gave them one of Dr. Steenblock's newsletters. They made an appointment to see him. "We had the bone marrow transplant May, 2007. I've seen improvements, and now we have hope. Everybody knows there's no cure - but we have the hope of warding off the disease - but it's not just hope..I've seen improvements!"

Before the transplant Vincente would snap a kiss - he couldn't control it. He was very stiff. We like to dance but he couldn't dance anymore, he would get dizzy. We had to sit down because he was dizzy. While sleeping he would jerk, kick and move. On his face, his eyes were wide open.

After we had the transplant, I noticed changes: Now he stopped blowing that kiss He can walk better He's sleeping better, not jerking as often as before

Elena told us "The thing that made me the happiest - and confirmed that it was working is when we went to his niece's wedding and he was able to dance. Even though he preferred Mexican music, that day they had a DJ playing Michael Jackson, and he got up and said let's go dancing..this was 3 weeks after that transplant. We danced the entire reception. He's feeling so good."

We're planning to schedule a second transplant. With just one I've seen these changes. I hope to see better results in the future - or at least maintain. Everybody knows there's currently no "cure" - but Dr. Steenblock and bone marrow transplants have given us hope.