SEQUIM — Sean McKeown has been living with multiple sclerosis for 17 years.
After trying every medication available to stop the progression of the disease, McKeown finally was approved for stem cell transplant therapy that could significantly help improve his condition.
The therapies are expensive, and the family faces many bills.
The family will host a fundraiser at the Sequim unit of the Boys &Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula at 400 W. Fir St. from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.
A spaghetti dinner and raffle are planned.
Tickets for the dinner are $10 for adults and $6 for children 10 and younger at the door.
So far, the McKeowns have raised an estimated $3,000. The deadline to reach their goal amount is April 24.
For more information about Sean McKeown, visit www.gofundme.com/seans-stem-cell-therapy.
Sean and his wife, Karen, met in a human relations class at college in Bellingham and were married six months after Sean was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
They now have two young children, Madison, 13, and Dylan, 12, who attend Sequim Middle School.
Sean was born and raised in Port Angeles.
The McKeowns have been living in Sequim for five years and work for the family-owned business All Weather Heating and Cooling Inc., located off Kemp Street in Port Angeles.
Sean’s parents, Tom and Ida McKeown, opened the business in the 1980s and later sold it to Sean’s sister, Jeanne´ Sparks, and her business partner, Dustin Halverson. Karen works as the office manager. Sean worked at the business until 2009, when he could no longer work.
Sean was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2000 after experiencing double vision. He is no longer able to take the previous medication he was using for 10 years.
Last September, he got a call from the University of Washington that notified him he tested positive for the JC anti-virus — for most people, it would be similar to the common cold — but when Sean contracts the virus, it means half of the multiple sclerosis drugs can cause a second disease called PML or brain cancer.
“It was a huge wakeup call for us,” Karen said.
Multiple sclerosis causes Sean’s legs to constantly shake and he must walk with the assistance of a cane every day. He also has a lack of energy and at one point was in a wheelchair for several months because he could not walk even short distances.
The McKeowns said they did a lot of research about stem cell transplant therapy for treating multiple sclerosis. Sean was approved for the procedure after he applied. His approval only lasts for 10 weeks, but his insurance does not cover the procedure, so the McKeowns must raise $16,000 to cover the cost.
The idea behind the treatment is to take Sean’s stem cells out of his fat areas, such as the stomach, then put the cells through a machine that cleans them and creates new stem cells. Doctors will then inject the cells back into his body to attach to blood cells and start the healing process.
Stem cell transplant therapy could help with Sean’s movement. Karen added that doctors want to put some stem cells in his brain.
Sean explained that the body’s nerve endings are “almost like a wire.” He said his T-cells are attacking the fatty tissue surrounding the nerve endings, and when these cells get down to the “wire,” or nerve endings, “the wires snap and short out,” he said.
“In theory, those stem cells will reattach those wires,” Karen said.
StemGenex is the San Diego, Calif.-based facility where the McKeowns will travel to to have the procedure done. Karen said the facility has been performing stem cell transplant therapy for nine years to treat other diseases such as Parkinson’s.
The treatment could be done within three days, but if the McKeowns do not raise the money for the procedure within 10 weeks, they will have to reapply.
The McKeowns said they are hoping this procedure will allow Sean to have more energy.
“For him, mainly it will be his energy level,” Karen said. “That would be a huge step in the right direction for him.”
Karen explained there were days where Sean could barely walk out to the mailbox and back and would need to rest shortly after.
The McKeowns have been trying to raise money for the procedure through a GoFundMe account and a bank account through First Federal under “Benefit for Sean McKeown.”
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Erin Hawkins is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach her at ehawkins@sequimgazette.com.
Sean and Karen McKeown met in college and got married six months after Sean was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Since then, they have been managing to find ways to treat Sean’s condition and are currently raising money for stem cell transplant therapy. (Beth Barrett/Morningstar Photography)
