Warrior: Janet Matthews AI: Multiple Sclerosis HSCT: Puebla, February/March 2022 Superpower: kindness To what extent are you able to eliminate stress from your life? Do you believe you can achieve whatever you put your mind to? To what extent are you aware of treatment options? Despite noticing some symptoms that interfered with walking and mobility, Janet postponed seeing doctors until after she retired from being a police officer. While Janet did not find her career to be stressful, she did experience intense stress in her relationships and personal life. Once Janet came down with bouts of hives caused by intense, long-sustained stress, she began taking steps to reduce and eliminate stress from her life. Over time, Janet experienced other stressors and symptoms (like foot drop and optic neuritis) that she was able to explain away at the time they occurred, but upon reflection, realized they were all related to her eventual diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in March of 2020. Tune in to learn more about how Janet explored options for HSCT in the US and Mexico, prepared her body physically for HSCT, developed strong feelings about accessibility to HSCT, found motivation to write a book about her experience and help others, and ended up having a complete reversal of symptoms. Be sure to visit our website, HSCTWarriorsPodcast.org where you can find notes from today’s episode, submit ideas or feedback, or connect with HSCT Warriors, Inc. and schedule time to “Talk with a Warrior”, find the latest research and resources, or explore information about locations. Special thanks to musical genius Billy Alletzhauser for sharing his superpowers to produce the soundtrack, and to Jacob Kinch for engineering the audio to make this podcast possible. You can find us when you subscribe on SoundCloud, iTunes or wherever you find podcasts. It has been great to connect with Warriors worldwide, so please reach out if you’re interested in sharing your story. We would love to learn how the podcast has helped your journey with autoimmune disease so if you could take a moment, leave us a comment on instagram or share feedback on our website. We hope you’ll tune in next Wednesday for another episode, highlighting another HSCT Warrior. Until then, be a snowflake and embrace your superpowers. Be kind. Be well. _________________________________ Jen Stansbury Koenig and the producers disclaim medical influence and responsibility for any possible adverse effects from the use of information contained herein. If you think you have a medical problem, please contact a licensed physician.