One step at a time

After months of fundraising and huge support from Kootenai County residents, Robin Bates traveled to Mexico for a groundbreaking treatment for his multiple sclerosis. 

“I’m so grateful for the incredible life I’ve had,” Bates said. "I look back at my life, and I think I’m one of the luckiest people I know."

Bates was born in South Africa and now lives in Hayden with his wife, Paula. At 29, he lost his business and was diagnosed in the same year. 

In April he was accepted to undergo a hematopoietic stem cell transplant with an intravenous infusion of stem cells to help reestablish his blood cell production. The trip and treatment cost roughly $60,000 nearly all of which he raised through GoFundMe. 

After months of struggle and challenges, Bates is thrilled that he can start to feel the results. 

“I’ve nearly gained all feeling in my foot,” Bates said. “The first four months after the procedure there was nothing. But this last month ... I can actually move my toes. Which is huge, because I’ve been completely paralyzed for 10 years and partially paralyzed for 24 years.”

He’s also stopped taking his MS medication for the first time in 24 years. His hair is growing back thicker than it ever has, and he laughs at his beard and chest hair.

But the journey hasn't been without hurdles. 

While making the flight to Mexico in May, the Airline broke Bates’ wheelchair, and he missed his second flight. 

“They dropped it and bent it and broke it pretty good,” Bates said. “I could still drive it but they broke the control mechanism. Then in the second leg, they broke it again. My whole life is my wheelchair. I eat in my wheelchair, I sleep in my wheelchair. The anxiety was massive." 

He thought, "They make me work for this, and I’m just going to be more grateful,” Bates said. 

He was deeply grateful that the airline covered the cost of replacing his wheelchair and repairing the damage, for example. 

And grateful to make it to Mexico for his treatment, despite the pain of the treatments. 

When Bates returned from Mexico he went into an assisted care facility for his rehabilitation. 

The healing process began, but there were more challenges. While in the assisted living facility he was dropped on the floor by staff. He also caught COVID-19 and later food poisoning. 

“I might’ve been dropped, but this carpet was pretty soft,” Bates joked. “They could’ve dropped me on concrete.”

After he fell, Bates was transferred to Kootenai Health where he spent three months, coming close to death twice. 

“When I was in the hospital, for the first time in 25 years I thought I was beaten,” Bates said. “Luckily that feeling only lasted a couple of days. I’m ashamed but I want to be honest with you, while I was lying there I thought, ‘Can I? Should I give up? Is this mountain too high to climb.’” 

Bates was finally transferred to a post-acute care facility after three months and eventually got to go home to be with his wife again in September. 

“It’s so nice to actually be home with her,” he said. “You can’t imagine being in hospital for three and a half months. We only got to see each other once or twice a week.”

Bates has been given a strict diet. He was advised not to eat any fresh fruits or vegetables because they could contain toxins that could kill him.

If he eats dairy his brain will think it’s MS and attack his system, he said.

He also cannot eat gluten, he can have limited red meat, he's advised to eat organic foods and to cook his food thoroughly, among other restrictions. 

“Before I could eat a little here and there and have a slice of cake,” he said. “And now I can’t eat that. I don’t have that option.”

Bates was told it could take six months after treatment for him to see results. 

It's been five, but he's watching his strength return.

“When you're as broken as I am, and then you find something as wonderful as what the stem cell treatment can do, you say let’s go for it,” Bates said. “After six months, every month is going to get a little better. And for the first time in a long time, I’m feeling great. I’m excited for what the future holds.”

   Robin Bates lies in a hospital bed in Kootenai health in mid-june within a week after he arrived home from Mexico. He was dropped on the floor by staff at a rehabilitiation facility and  transferred to the hospital, where he spent three months recovering from COVID-19 and food poisoning.