It’s been just over a month since Cathie McCahon returned from Mexico following her multiple sclerosis “liberation treatment,” a procedure many believe is a step in the right direction when it comes to curing the condition.
The surgery involves inflating the veins in a patient’s neck with a balloon angioplasty to help blood flow from the brain to the heart.
Offered in countries such as Poland, India, Bulgaria and Mexico, anecdotal reports of immediate results, such as restored warmth to extremities, improved vision and decreased fatigue, have given many coping with MS new hope.
McCahon said her results have been slow to come.
“I’m not noticing any great improvements yet,” she said on Wednesday. “I never noticed anything until about the 13th day when I was home, then I noticed some small things happening but I haven’t noticed anything since then.”
She’s been told there’s a possibility she’ll continue to see positive change.
“I’m just hoping and waiting it happens,” she said.
Despite not seeing dramatic results, McCahon would do it again.
“I’m glad I went,” she said. “I’m really glad I went. I feel more clear-headed and I just think that it’s a good thing I went.”
She was disappointed to learn Canada’s leading multiple sclerosis scientists and researchers this week recommended there be no nationwide clinical trials of the controversial procedure proposed by Italian vascular surgeon Paolo Zamboni for the disease. They say there’s an overwhelming lack of scientific evidence on the procedure’s safety.
McCahon said the treatment, even if ultimately unsuccessful, offers inspiration.
“People with MS just get excited over anything, thinking that there might be a cure or something, an improvement,” she said.
On Tuesday, Alain Beaudet, president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, made public the recommendations given to federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq after a joint meeting between the CIHR and the MS Society of Canada.
“Given lack of scientific basis, it is not scientifically advisable or ethically acceptable to conduct clinical trials at this time,” said Beaudet. He said the decision to hold off on trials until more evidence is found was unanimous among all who took part in the meeting, including internationally recognized researchers and scientists of MS.
That’s too bad, said McCahon.
“There’ve been so many people that have apparently had the procedure that it has worked,” she said. “There’s hope.”
Meanwhile, McCahon is inviting people to a fundraiser on Oct. 9 Eagles Hall in Duncan with the hope of recuping some of the $15,000 she spent on the treatment.
“I know it’s not going to recover all the costs but it could help with some of them.”
