b'losing the ability to taste. It was difficult to eat and he lost weight. His platelets fell and he had various blood transfusions to support his bodys efforts to rebuild. And, his immune systemstartedtorebound,withhiswhite blood cell count slowly but steadily rising. Twelve days after his stem cell transplant, DeWayne was strong enough to be released from the hospital, but spent another 30 days staying near the hospital for frequent follow-ups and lab work to monitor his new immune system. During that time, his taste began tois making.Even though I have been walking return,hisbonemarrowandwhitebloodbetterandthenumbnessandtinglingis cells bounced back, and his energy started togradually going away, I still have a way to go. return. On December 11, three months fromNow, at one year post-transplant, how is the day he signed the paperwork officiallyDeWaynedoing?IfeelbetterthanIever starting the process, DeWayne was cleared tohave in the last ve years since my diagnosis.return home. My walking and balance have improved so Ashisimmunesystemhasrebooted,much that I am more condent when I move DeWayne has had battles with Epstein Barr Virusabout in public spaces.I can step off of the and recently, a case of shingles. The shinglessidewalkwithcondence.Mycognitive in particular caused him a setback, with his legprocesses have improved so much that I tend function decreasing to pretreatment levels. Butto breeze through my work, rarely get stuck, during the time since his transplant, DeWayneand I think more clearly. I have started started noticing the improvement of some ofvolunteering with the advisory board of the his MS symptoms. I had to relearn how to doHSCT Warriors, Inc., nonprot to help promote some things normally, he said, referring to thingsawarenessofHSCTasatreatmentfor hed had to learn to do differently because of MS.autoimmune disease. I am enjoying student I used to have to concentrate to walk, reallyministry once again and volunteering on a focus on where I would have to put my foot toregular basis. step off a curb. Now, I dont have to think aboutAs I reect, it is hard to believe that it has walking.already been one year since transplant.I am But not all of his symptoms have disappeared.praying hard and seeking direction for my From that rst dose of chemo, I noticed thatrecovery and would love to see improvements numbness that Id struggled with in my feet hadonmyMRIscomingupin Aprilof2022. disappeared. But before I even left the hospital,Doctors tell me that if it happens, it will not the numbness did come back. It comes andbe until I reach the two-year mark or later but goes now, but it can be intense. DeWayne iswhen I look back and see what God has regularly attending physical therapy in hopesalready done, I know that He can do this too. of bolstering more improvements. I amLearn more about DeWaynes story at his surprised at the difference my physical therapywebsite, rooftopprayerwarrior.com. 15 msfocusmagazine.org'