No news is really no news

Well, we wait. The surgery has been pushed until August so there isn't much news. So I thought I'd post my favorite MS and CCSVI blogs and websites.



http://www.iamsickofms.blogspot.com/



Great blog from a lady who had her surgery done in Poland.



http://www.liberation-treatment.com/



Very informative website and has most of the countries and doctors doing the surgery.



http://www.passportmedical.com/



I my opinion the best option for CCSVI surgery at this point. Proximity, cost, minimal culture shock, physiotherapy, and hey it's working down there.

www.travelcostaricanow.com

This is a great website, definitely check out the driving Costa Rica link.

Enjoy the reading!!!!

Bump in the road

As some of you may or may not know, Don's surgery was cancelled. You may think that this is bad news but it is quite the opposite. The hospital has used every angioplasty balloon available in Costa Rica and Panama. That means a lot of people suffering from MS have been helped and that is our hope for everyone.

Well the bump in the road was the shipment of balloons that they were suppose to receive was wrong. So they have had to cancel all of July's surgeries and reschedule them. The next shipment of balloons will take a few weeks to ship and clear customs so we wait, some more.

Yes, it's put a wrench into some plans but in the long run Don will receive the surgery and knock on wood he will be better soon. They have re booked for the middle of August but unfortunately my wife and daughter won't be able to come down and watch the transformation that will occur. I will be able to chronicle the events for you for the first week and then give you updates until the end of Don's first golf game. After that it's up to you to book your tee times with him.

Is their a doctor in the room?

New, Experimental, groundbreaking, controversial, and "yet to be independently replicated"(my favorite). All used to describe the "Liberation Procedure", "The Zamboni Procedure", or whatever else the media wants to call it.


But is it really any of these things?


The first angioplasty was performed in 1977, 33 years ago. The procedure was as easy back then as it is today. When performed on arteries there is a less than 1% rate of complications resulting in death. This procedure is performed daily because it is less invasive then bypass surgery.


That is all well and good you say, but this new experimental groundbreaking and controversial procedure is not performed on veins. Veins are not ridged like arteries, we have know idea how this procedure will affect a vein. We need research and lots of it. We need private research, public research, we need double blind research groups, we need to test it on mice first, and my favorite we need to independently replicate it to know it is safe to perform.


But again, is any of this really true?


Have MS patients handcuffed themselves by calling this common treatment "The Liberation Procedure"? Are doctor's so egotistical, and blinded by progress that they won't come forward and speak up.


By now you must have figured out I'm going somewhere with this, and I am. Angioplasty is also very commonly performed on veins and has been done for years. People that suffer from kidney disease need angioplasty done because of complication with there dialysis. I'm not a doctor but it sounds like the dialysis opening or exit of the vein can get blocked, as well the vein can get over worked and collapses. Doctors go in and balloon that sucker open, sometimes even stenting them to keep the vein open to allow for easy dialysis.


So there is one specific use for angioplasty when it comes to veins and is completely different to CCSVI.


Oh wait, I'm sorry. Doctors are performing angioplasty on portal veins that have stenosis after liver transplants. And pulmonary vein angioplasty which is way over my head but still, vein being angioplasty'd sounds good to me.


Anyway, type vein and angioplasty into Google and you'll see that CCSVI has some brothers in arms and anyone without an MD attached to the back of there name would understand that this is the opposite of New, Experimental, and Groundbreaking.

Doing it right

Well, we are one week away from our trip down to Costa Rica.

I just talked to my parents on the phone and they are very excited. You can here the enthusiastic anticipation in my fathers voice. He sounds as if he knows the winning numbers to the next lotto max draw and is about to go buy a ticket. We hope he has the winning numbers too, as do a lot of friends and family.

I believe that his odds are already increased because of one thing, Passport Medical. As you can imagine, I've read quite a few articles about CCSVI and the Liberation Procedure and I believe that Passport Medical is doing it right. They are adapting as they go, taking new information and making the process better, on the tourism side and the surgical side. Example: If their are no complications with the surgery the patient will only need to spend one day in the hospital now. On the tourism side, they now limit the number of wheelchair bound patients because the hotel has a limited number of wheelchair accessible rooms. Smart thinking and quick (unlike the North American Health Systems)

9 days of physiotherapy, genius!!! some of these patients have not used parts of there bodies for years. Passport Medical makes sure they have a trained physiotherapist there to help you regain strength and mobility in those area's. Geez, How do some of these medical tourism joints expect people to get better if all they do is open a vein and send you home. You need to retrain the body, strengthen muscles and set up a workout plan that can be executed at home.

That's doing it right!!!

Surreal

I received an email from family friends that just blew me away. They set up a bank account for people to donate too, if they wished. I was floored, that was one of the most thoughtful gifts. The costs of this adventure is not cheap, $10,000 for the surgery alone, plus taxi's, flight, hotel, food, and all the unknowns. I would like to thank everyone who has been so generous, large or small they all have help enormously.


It is a long trip for most people, let alone someone with MS. Fortunately enough I live a very privileged life. My work allows for me to take time off as I need it. My beautiful wife also has a great job that allows her to book time off. With that, we will set off with my daughter to help my old man get down to Costa Rica and help support my mother while dad is in surgery. Document the good times and bad for you to read and Emily will provide the healing hugs.


The next day after receiving that email, I was still floored, speechless. I thought, "hey, this is one of those story's you see on T.V., Man goes on a cross country trip to find a cure for his horrible disease. Donations can be made to ...." Very surreal.


Of course that was followed up with it actually coming true. The local newspaper, The Nanaimo Daily Free Press wrote an article, "MS patient heads south to try controversial treatment". Under the picture the caption read, "Don DuBois will travel to Costa Rica next month to undergo treatment for Multiple Sclerosis. A once-avid golfer, he hopes he can get back to the sport he loves."

And that's where the idea came for the blog address.