My name is Delvin Bourn. I grew up in a small town in northeast Nebraska. I am married with three kids and three wonderful grandkids. The day after I graduated high school, I shipped out to the Army, and I never looked back.

Today, I live with Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP), a rare autoimmune disease, along with chronic pain and multiple serious health conditions. I am pinning my hopes on stem cell therapy because I want better mobility, hopefully sleeping and napping less, and the ability to do activities with my grandkids.

🪖 Military Experience

I earned my wings as a United States paratrooper and put myself through Jump School, Air Assault School, and a long list of other military schools. Over the course of my career, I served with units including the 82nd Airborne Division, the 2nd Infantry Division, and the 18th Airborne Corps.

My combat deployments included Operation Just Cause in Panama and Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. During Desert Storm, my unit helped destroy roughly 500,000 tons of enemy ammunition at Khamisiyah. The Department of Defense later confirmed those bunkers contained sarin and other nerve agents. Many soldiers who were there have since developed cancers and neurological diseases. I am one of them, living every day with a service-connected neurological condition tied to that exposure. During those deployments, I was awarded the Bronze Star along with several other commendations.

🏥 What Happens Next

After Desert Storm, I returned to Fort Bragg. On a routine training jump, I broke my pelvis on landing and spent eight weeks in the hospital. It grew back together, but not correctly. From then on, running and even sit-ups left me in constant pain. I left the Army with a heavy heart.

After retirement, I became a truck driver. For a while, that worked, until one day my arms and legs gave out. The VA doctors told me they did not know what was wrong. I was referred to the War Related Injury and Illness Study Center in Palo Alto, where I was finally diagnosed with CIDP. Two neurologists at Stanford University took my case and started me on two of the three available treatments.

The main treatment is IVIG, intravenous immunoglobulin. I receive 100 grams at a time to suppress my immune system because CIDP causes the body to attack itself. CIDP damages the protective coating around nerves, which affects feeling and motor function. I have been on IVIG for 13 years, and there is still no cure.

💔 Daily Life Right Now

I live with traumatic brain injury, CIDP, and elevated autoimmune markers that indicate I likely have a second autoimmune disease driving joint pain throughout my body. I am also a cancer survivor. I had cancer in my left shoulder joint. Surgeons initially planned to amputate my arm, but an orthopedic oncology surgeon was found in time to save it.

I also have thyroid disease with six nodules, an aortic aneurysm measuring 4.9 cm, an abdominal aortic aneurysm measuring 4.8 cm, GERD with a hiatal hernia, bone spurs and bulging discs at C4 to C5, pelvic misalignment, and chronic pain in both shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles. I also live with depression and anxiety.

This is what daily life looks like for me. I sleep around 14 hours a day due to my disease. I am unable to exercise. I cannot straighten my right knee. I have to look down in order not to trip or fall. My left shoulder is bothering me again. I cannot lift over 20 pounds, and I cannot lift my arms overhead. Lying on my side causes burning hip pain. Walking causes my knees and ankles to swell.

🌟 What Your Support Helps Me Work Toward

With stem cell therapy, I am hoping for:

Better mobility
Sleeping and napping less
Doing activities with my grandkids
Helping more veterans with our non-profit because I can focus more

CIDP is classified as an orphan disease. Too few people have it to attract serious research funding, and most doctors have never seen a CIDP patient in their career. I am sharing my story to help educate patients so people newly diagnosed do not feel as lost as I did, and to help educate doctors so the next CIDP patient gets answers, options, and hope.

🤝 How You Can Help

Your donation helps me pursue the next step in my recovery journey. If you are not able to donate, sharing this page also helps more than you may realize.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I survived a combat zone, a toxic exposure, a broken body, and a disease most people have never heard of. If telling my story helps one more person get diagnosed sooner, treated better, or just feel less alone, then every chapter of it was worth living.

Funds raised for a specific individual must be used for their intended medical purpose. If, after a reasonable period, the funds remain unused or cannot be applied as intended, they may be redirected to support another qualified hero in need, consistent with our charitable mission. Miracle Hope Foundation will make reasonable efforts to notify the recipient prior to any reallocation.

Support Delvin Bourn’s Stem Cell Treatment