How treatment in Mexico stopped an Elgin man’s daily headaches – and gave him hope in his MS battle

Andrew Mulholland jetted off to the other side of the world from his Elgin home for medical treatment with hopes of stopping his Multiple Sclerosis in its tracks.

Earlier this year, he was diagnosed with the brain and nerve condition after doctors discovered a lesion higher up on his spine and one on his brain.

Then in May, Andrew travelled to Clinica Ruiz in Puebla, Mexico for $54,500 Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT).

The private hospital is the largest specialist autoimmune disease centre of its kind in the world.

He spent four weeks there for the procedure.

Six months on, the founder of Elgin based game developer Hunted Cow Studios says the long journey was worth it for the treatment.

What did the treatment involve?

It is chemotherapy where immune cells are removed.

The immune system was then rebuilt using stem cells from the bone marrow.

His MS symptoms includes daily headaches and numbness at bottom of his left foot and fingers feeling a bit numb too.

He previously told The Press and Journal the biggest scare was if he didn’t do anything about it, he could end up in a wheelchair.

Now, he has revealed there has been some encouraging signs shown in recent months of the treatment helping.

Andrew said: “Before the treatment, I was getting painful headaches almost daily and now I get normal 0nes maybe once a week.

“Doctors have been saying my bloods are pretty normal which is encouraging.

“Also, I am getting bit more feeling on my left foot and fingers.”

‘Hoping to stop MS completely’

Since he has returned to Elgin, life has been quite normal for him.

Andrew explained: “I’m living quite normal. “I’m still on anti antibiotics and anti viral drugs.

“I should be finished with them in the middle of December.

“However I will still be getting MRI scans every year just to keep an eye on the situation.

“Long-term I am hoping the treatment helps stop my MS completely.”

In his last interview with us, he said he travelled to Mexico as he wanted to use it as a first line treatment.

Andrew added: “It was well worth it. I still think everyone should be given the treatment in the UK if they want it.

“They do the treatment in the UK but won’t offer it unless you fail the other drugs first.

“I want to raise more awareness of this option as I was never told about it.”

You can visit the MS Society website for more information about the treatment.