Hello,Tyson!
I am glad that your condition now is so much better,than it was,that you can even consider yourself "not deserving" this treatment. But,looking back,you certainly are.
I wish you the very best of luck,if you do that.You are not only deserve the treatment,you deserve a VERY best outcome.Hope,it will be that way.

One question: your monthly IVIG - is it 5 infusions each month,or it varies?
Do you feel better after each course ,or it's different every time?
Again,best of luck.:wink:
Marina.

I personally think that every patient deserves to receive the best possible care.

What this care is depends many times on his/her preferences, as many situations in medicine are not "black and white" and do not have one right answer.

Tyson, I don't know about anyone else here on this forum, but I'm just "old" enough that whenever I hear about someone as young as you who has this disease I am hopeful that doctors will find something that will allow them to live a full and rich life, free of the shackles of this illness.

If anyone is "deserving", it is someone like you - someone who has their whole life ahead of them.

I'm "only" 51 (and Lord knows, I certainly don't think of myself as "old" :p), but I've had the opportunity to do all of the things that you haven't. I'm willing to bet that a lot of other folks on this forum feel the same way.

What you are talking about is risky, and there are no guarantees that it will make you better. But it sounds like there is HOPE for a better life, and when a person is younger, the benefits can many times outweigh the risks.

Ultimately, it is going to be your decision, and I know that everyone on here will support whatever decision you make. You're going to have to take a leap of faith, one way or another - that's always a scary proposition.

You are a fine young man; don't sell yourself short. It's not as if someone else is NOT going to get this treatment if you take it, right? So you're not denying someone else the same opportunity.

What you are experiencing, though, is actually quite common in people who receive a life-saving organ transplant (someone else has to die for them to live). Your situation obviously isn't quite as drastic, but I would imagine you are feeling some of the same things that those patients do. You may find it helpful to read about their experiences.

Regardless, we are all here to support you, no matter what your decision may be. :hug:

....I have asked her, however, she thinks I am too young to do it....

What are her SPECIFIC concerns about this (your age)? There may be very valid reasons for her to be worried; you need to understand what she is thinking.

Remember, the Hippocratic Oath tells doctors to "First, do no harm" - the good ones take that VERY seriously. If your doctor is worried about this, you need to find out what issues she is weighing.

We sometimes forget that our doctors are always second-guessing their decisions when things don't turn out the way everyone was hoping. I'll bet a lot of them do a lot of "If only"-ing for those patients.

Even though we may tell them over and over that it is ultimately our decision which course of treatment we choose, they CARE about us and what happens to us, and they worry right along with us.