business and finance – Page 530

Heart Safe La Plata hires a new program director

Heart Safe La Plata has hired Kaylie Smith as the new program director. Smith is a Durango native and is available to help with CPR and first aid training needs, from scheduling o...

DATE: Oct 7, 2020 | CATEGORY: Business

Strict rules keep business out of N.M. loan program

SANTA FE – Only about $20 million of a $400 million loan program for New Mexico small businesses hit by the pandemic has been approved to send out since the program began in August, accordin...

DATE: Oct 7, 2020 | CATEGORY: Business

Southwest Colorado business accelerator unveils 2020 class

Entrepreneurs ranging from software developers to cider makers chart success in Southwest Colorado

DATE: Oct 6, 2020 | CATEGORY: Business

La Plata Cares: Support for businesses hit by COVID-19

Well, 2020 couldn’t get any weirder. And just as the business community is buckling down for a long, hard winter, another financial support mechanism has emerged: La Plata Cares. ...

DATE: Oct 3, 2020 | CATEGORY: Local First

Douglass Field promoted to audit manager at FredrickZink & Associates, CPAs

FredrickZink & Associates CPAs has announced the promotion of Douglass Field to audit manager. Field joined the local Durango Certified Public Accounting firm in 2017 as a senior auditor. ...

DATE: Sep 27, 2020 | CATEGORY: Business

First Southwest Bank named Community/Rural Lender of The Year by Colorado Small Business Administration

First Southwest Bank was awarded Community/Rural Lender of the Year by the Colorado Small Business Administration during their virtual conference for National Small Business Week. Sherry Wan...

DATE: Sep 27, 2020 | CATEGORY: Business

Four Corners Children’s Clinic to open Nov. 8

Four Corners Children’s Clinic has announced its official opening date as Nov. 8 at its location at 555 Rivergate Lane, Unit B1-109 in Durango. To schedule an appointment, call 4...

DATE: Sep 27, 2020 | CATEGORY: Business

Dolores cidery EsoTerra Ciderworks aims to boost region’s apple economy

Cidery uses neglected fruit from Montezuma County’s once-flourishing apple industry

DATE: Sep 27, 2020 | CATEGORY: Business

Improving our bump-outs for downtown

The Bump Outs for Businesses program proved to be extremely successful this past summer downtown. Surveys of current users indicate that the new space is supporting 20% of total s...

DATE: Sep 26, 2020 | CATEGORY: What's Up Downtown

New Mexico taps federal loans to pay unemployment

SANTA FE – New Mexico has depleted its unemployment benefits trust fund and begun to use federal loans to keep up with claims – spending that can trigger higher taxes if not repaid, a top la...

DATE: Sep 23, 2020 | CATEGORY: Business

Nurses say state staffing levels leave patients vulnerable

DENVER – Some Denver nurses said the state’s minimum staffing levels have left them overworked and patients vulnerable to substandard care. A Colorado Department of Public Health ...

DATE: Sep 23, 2020 | CATEGORY: Business

A new hand on deck to offer assistance to small businesses

With COVID-19 hitting the bottom line, SBDC adds disaster relief coordinator

DATE: Sep 20, 2020 | CATEGORY: Business

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Durango High School football takes on Piedra Vista during homecomingDemons beat the Panthers 48-7

Demons beat the Panthers 48-7

Fall colors in the San Juan Mountains

Fort Lewis College football plays Colorado School of Mines at FLCMines wins the game, 76-0

Mines wins the game, 76-0

Durango High School volleyball takes on Montrose as boys tennis take on Fruita MonumentVolleyball loses nail-biter to Montrose, 3-2, while tennis called due to darkness with DHS trailing 4-2.

Volleyball loses nail-biter to Montrose, 3-2, while tennis called due to darkness with DHS trailing 4-2.

Durango High School softball overpowers Grand Junction High SchoolDHS sweeps doubleheader 15-0, 22-12

DHS sweeps doubleheader 15-0, 22-12

Durango woman reboots immune system with $60,000 and a trip to MexicoMultiple sclerosis patients seek stem cell transplantation treatment

Carol Clark of Durango realized her immune system was attacking her body in 2000. This year, she ditched it and got a new one.Clark, owner of Union Social House in Durango, is one of at least 3,000 multiple sclerosis patients worldwide who have undergone a stem cell transplantation to try to treat the disease. For Clark, getting the treatment involved $65,000, a trip to Mexico and a “roller coaster” that she wasn’t sure she’d survive.“When my business opened up ... it was visible that I was having a hard time walking, and it was getting progressively worse,” Clark said. “That was the trigger. I decided I didn’t want to be in a wheelchair.”There are about 2.8 million people worldwide who have MS, according to the 2020 Atlas of MS led by the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation. Of those, about 914,000 patients lived in the U.S. Typically, immune cells, like B cells, start out as stem cells in bone marrow and perform different defense functions for the body.But with MS, some immune cells find their way into the central nervous system. Instead of protecting the system against bacteria and viruses, the cells start attacking it – specifically myelin, a fatty insulation around nerve cells.Internally, communications within the brain, and between the central nervous system and the body, begin breaking down. Externally, people can feel fatigue or have problems with balance. They may experience numbness, tingling, muscle stiffness, weakness, difficulty walking or other symptoms.

When Clark was diagnosed, her most noticeable symptom was numbness in her feet, she said. But her diagnosis was a highly disabling progressive form of the disease, which 15% of MS patients also have.For about 85% of people with MS, symptoms may come and go in phases, according to Roche, a global research and development company.Like many MS patients, Clark tried various treatments: daily injections for years at a time, natural therapies, monthly infusions.“You have to keep track of your medication, prescriptions. It’s a lot. You have to have a balance between keeping yourself happy and joyful, and knowing you are living with something you have to deal with,” she said.In the meantime, Clark started Union Social House and Toast, a mobile bar. She was raising her son and spending time with goats, chickens, ducks, horses and other animals on her small ranchette east of Durango.“I get tons of joy from that,” she said. “It’s really intense to be always thinking about doctors visits. It’s just nice to have a quacky duck around you.”But by 2019, she was stumbling as she walked, and she knew her disease progression would eventually put her in a wheelchair.

The Mexico programClark began researching a stem cell treatment and talking to other local community members with MS. One of her friends, Brittny Squires of Blanco, New Mexico, wanted the treatment, too.“The research says the sooner you do it, the better it is for you,” Clark said. “I’m 21 years in, but Brittny is seven years in. She’d have better luck than me.”But the treatment, called hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, is still being researched and can be hard to receive in the United States.The medications and procedures used in HSCT are already approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but the treatment is still not widely accepted or used as professionals watch for more well-controlled clinical studies of HSCT therapy, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.“HSCT has been done in more than 3,000 MS patients worldwide; it should not be considered experimental,” said Guillermo J. Ruiz Arguelles, director general of the Centro de Hematología y Medicina Interna in Puebla, Mexico. “HSCT is nowadays the best therapeutic option for persons with MS.”The center’s Clinica RUIZ has conducted HSCT therapy since 1993, he said. The treatment is also pricey. At the clinic, it costs at least $60,000.But for Squires and Clark, it was the best option. Squires went first. By July 2020, she launched a community fundraiser to help raise $60,000 for the treatment. By January, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, she was in Mexico.“It was definitely scary, but I figured I had a bigger chance of dying driving my car than getting this potentially lifesaving treatment, so why not try it,” Squires said

In February, Clark started her own fundraiser, raising $65,000 within a month. By April, she was in Puebla seeking treatment from Ruiz Arguelles.“She (Squires) dove in and did it. I talked about it and talked about it, and she pulled the trigger,” Clark said. “I was like OK, now I have to go because I told her I was going to do it.”Out with the oldHSCT therapy is essentially an “Alt-Ctrl-Del of the immune system,” said Ruiz Arguelles, director of research at Clinica RUIZ, in an email to The Durango Herald.The treatment involves collecting a few adult stem cells found in bone marrow and blood, called hematopoietic stem cells, and storing them away. Then, the immune system is crushed using chemotherapy drugs. Finally, the stored stem cells are reintroduced to the body where they can replicate and reconstitute the immune system, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.The goal: To reboot the immune system so it stops attacking the central nervous system, Ruiz Arguelles said.

The process makes you sick, and the pain is intense, both Clark and Squires said.“My personal feeling, I thought I was going to die because it was really, really hard,” said Clark, who experienced multiple fevers and had to have a blood transfusion during the treatment. “There were moments like, ‘OK, this is it, I’m cashing in my chips.’ You’re just in the hands of other people.”Each spent 30 days living in an apartment with food and a caretaker, both provided by Clinica RUIZ. There were 10 patients from around the world receiving the treatment in each group, called “stemmy brothers and sisters” because they got new immune systems at the same time, Clark said.“A port in your chest takes your blood out of your body, spins it through a centrifuge and puts it back in. The centrifuge takes out the stem cells,” Squires said. “At that point, your body hopefully creates a new immune system that doesn’t attack you.”

It takes at least six months for the body to rebuild its immune system, and even longer to know for sure if the treatment worked.As of September, Clinica RUIZ has treated 1,099 MS patients, 41% of whom came from the U.S. About 80% had a good response with either improved or stabilized symptoms. The clinic’s mortality rate is 0.18%, Ruiz Arguelles said.“I don’t know that it’s worked, but without hesitation, for us, what else are you going to do?” Squires said. “I have two little kids. The options are to get worse or to do this and try to get better.”Both still have bad days where their bodies are worn out by stem cell treatment. After years of seeking treatment for the disease, it was time to take control of it, they said.“Somebody said to me: ‘I have MS, but MS does not have me,’” Clark said. “That’s a really important thing for anybody with a medical issue. ... MS is not who I am. I have to work with it and deal with it, but I don’t like it to stop me.”smullane@durangoherald.com

Multiple sclerosis patients seek stem cell transplantation treatment

Skyhawks rally to win the match, 3-2

Eli Tomac’s second-half push propels him to No. 2 finish in motocross seriesCortez rider benefits from strong riding, Roczen crash Eli Tomac of Cortez on Saturday capped a comeback season with a fourth-place finish and a win at Hangtown to overtake Ken Roczen in the motocross standings and finish second overall.Dylan Ferrandis, the rookie sensation in the 450cc class, won the 2021 title.Entering Hangtown Raceway in Sacramento, California, nine points behind Roczen, Tomac set up a strong race day with a fourth-place finish in Moto 1. He started the race in fifth place and passed Christian Craig in Lap 2. Roczen grabbed the early lead over Ferrandis. Cooper Webb was in third.In Lap 6, Tomac raced nearly 2 seconds faster than Webb and passed him for third. Then, with the leaders in his sights, Tomac laid down the fastest lap of the race in Lap 7, at 2 minutes, 14.5 seconds – nearly 2 seconds faster than Ferrandis’ time.His charge was short-lived, however. He crashed in Lap 8, and finished fourth after Webb regained third place. Ferrandis overtook Roczen for the lead and eventual victory in Lap 10. “I felt like I was gonna be able to catch those guys, and of course just missed my one main line,” Tomac said in a post-race interview. “And I washed my front end out.”He also said he injured his thumb in the crash, which hindered his speed after he remounted his bike.

Part 2 of the race day storyTomac got his break in Moto 2.He avoided a crash at the first turn, which snagged Ferrandis and Roczen. Ferrandis dropped to 23rd place after Lap 1, and Roczen dropped out of the race altogether.Tomac finished Lap 1 in fourth place and passed Max Anstie for third in Lap 3 while Craig and Webb raced for the lead.It was the green light that he’d been waiting for.Webb and Tomac passed Craig in Lap 5 and engaged in a duel for first. Tomac posted his fastest lap in Lap 8, and passed Webb for the lead and eventual victory with seven laps to go.Ferrandis ran perhaps the most striking comeback race of the season. After crashing in the first turn, Ferrandis started Lap 2 in 23rd place. But he charged into sixth place in Lap 5 and into third in the 14th of 15 laps.Ferrandis’ combination of a first and third in the two motos gave him the overall victory, his sixth of the 12-race season. Tomac was second overall, with a fourth and first, and Webb was third, with a third and second.Tomac’s victory in the second moto gave him his sixth moto win of the season and his third since winning the second of two motos in the Ironman in Crawfordsville, Indiana, on Aug. 28.It also capped the end of a surge that gained momentum in the second half of the series.

The second half of the seasonSince racing in Washougal, Washington, on July 24, Tomac was on the moto podium nine out of 12 tries. In the first half, he was on the podium just four times.He started the second half in fourth place overall, two points behind Justin Barcia at 207-205, and 25 points behind runner-up Roczen at 230-205. Ferrandis led with 262 points.This season, Tomac won two of the 12 races and finished on the podium 13 times. His average finish during the first half of the season was 5.5. In the second half, he cut that average to 2.6, for an average of 4.1 for the entire season.Ferrandis, the rookie for Yamaha who made the leap to the 450cc class this year, won eight of the season’s 24 motos, and finished on the podium 22 times. His average finish was 2.1.Roczen won seven motos and was on the podium 15 times. His average finish for the season was 6.1.What’s next?Tomac can’t comment until Oct. 1, when his contract with Monster Energy Kawasaki expires, but insiders say he’ll join the Star Racing Yamaha team. The move would give Star Yamaha Ferrandis and Tomac, the top two finishers in the 2021 AMA Motocross series.On Saturday, Tomac said he had mixed feelings about leaving the Kawasaki “family,” and though he and the team were on good speaking terms, he was “pretty emotional.” “It was tough that way today, leaving the track, but, um you know, it’s this life-goes-on kind of thing, and that's all you can do.” Tomac’s move helped set in motion a series of changes.Jason Anderson of Albuquerque, who had talked with Star Yamaha, likely will take Tomac’s place on Monster Energy Kawasaki. Aaron Plessinger, on the way out at Star Racing Yamaha, likely will go to Red Bull KTM, and Malcolm Stewart has signed with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna.And after that? The Monster Energy Supercross season begins Jan. 8 in Anaheim, California, and Tomac, who first raced in 2010, will be there.“I still have the itch for chasing green flags and checkered flags and being on the start line,” Tomac said Saturday. “I still like to do it, so that's it: I still like to do it. I still enjoy trying to win races and trying to be the best guy. So, um, that's why I'm still around. “

Cortez rider benefits from strong riding, Roczen crash

Local first responders honor fallen in stair climb on 20th anniversary of Sept. 11 attacks

Heart Safe La Plata hires a new program director

Strict rules keep business out of N.M. loan program

Southwest Colorado business accelerator unveils 2020 class

La Plata Cares: Support for businesses hit by COVID-19

Douglass Field promoted to audit manager at FredrickZink & Associates, CPAs

First Southwest Bank named Community/Rural Lender of The Year by Colorado Small Business Administration

Four Corners Children’s Clinic to open Nov. 8

Dolores cidery EsoTerra Ciderworks aims to boost region’s apple economy

Improving our bump-outs for downtown

New Mexico taps federal loans to pay unemployment

Nurses say state staffing levels leave patients vulnerable

A new hand on deck to offer assistance to small businesses

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