Fetal-cell patient’s condition hits a plateau

Willie Terpstra is upset with her progress, but husband Rein reckons she's doing "really well". Picture / Alan Gibson

Willie Terpstra, the Rotorua woman who underwent controversial fetal-cell surgery for motor neurone disease in China three weeks ago, has not improved since returning to New Zealand.

"She's still the same. Her voice comes and goes. She's still on the tired side," her husband, Rein, said yesterday.

Mrs Terpstra arrived home on April 1 after spending a month in Beijing for the operation, during which two million cells from aborted fetuses were transplanted into her brain.

The 64-year-old was elated when, within hours of the surgery, her voice returned to the point that it was possible for her family to make out what she was saying.

Previously, she had communicated by typing into a talking computer.

But Rein Terpstra said yesterday that his wife was upset her speech had not returned to normal.

"She's still a little disappointed but time will tell," he said.

Motor neurone experts had cautioned that her initial progress gave false hope to sufferers of the disease when the long-term success of the surgery was unknown.

Mr Terpstra said his wife was tired after the ordeal of the operation and the journey home.

She needed to rest in the afternoons and was emotional - which the family been told was a symptom of the disease.

But Mr Terpstra said they were pleased with her progress. "We reckon she's really well."

Severe headaches and cramps in her arms and legs that plagued her after she was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in May 2003 had disappeared after the surgery and not returned.

She was also "back to normal" when it came to cooking and playing golf, and had been out visiting friends.

Mr Terpstra hoped his wife's speech would improve once she was fully rested.

She planned to see her neurologist in Tauranga this week and attend a meeting of motor neurone sufferers at the weekend.

She wanted to correct reports that her operation was stem-cell surgery rather than fetal-cell surgery.

Stem cells are harvested from embryos, before they transform into cells associated with specific body parts, whereas fetal cells come from fetuses several months old.

Using stem cells is considered risky because they can mimic bad cells, such as those in tumours.

The cells given to Mrs Terpstra were taken from inside the noses of aborted fetuses, hence the procedure's full name - olfactory ensheathing fetal-cell surgery.

The olfactory nerve carries smell sensations to the brain and is the only part of the central nervous system known to regenerate continuously throughout adult life.