The first thing she noticed was the sensation in her legs. Oddly enough, it felt like there was hot water running down them.But, it had been years since she felt anything in her legs. The family joke was it didn't matter if you stepped on mom's toe, she couldn't feel it anyways. Yet here she was, lying on a hospital bed in Mexico and her feet were no longer the blocks of ice she had become accustomed to, they were actually warm.Like the many who had gone before her, she couldn't predict what the future held. But the one thing Beth Wock knew for sure is that her feet were warm.A glimmer of hopeMultiple Sclerosis is an often unpredictable disease of the central nervous system that affects thousands of Canadians. Although not everyone has the same experiences, MS generally impairs a person's vision, hearing, memory, balance and mobility, and gradually gets worse.According to the MS Society of Canada, there is no cure for MS and, outside of a battery of drugs, not much in the way of treatments.For Estevan's Beth Wock, her journey with MS began in 1986 and in the 24 years since her diagnosis she has endured the rollercoaster ride that comes with the disease.However the last year had been particularly rough. Wock admittedly was sliding fast. She had gotten to the point where basic mobility was a chore and needed a wheelchair when she was outside the home. Other problems were also creeping up on her."I was having a lot of troubles," she said. "My concentration. My speech was getting all fumbled because I couldn't think one word past the other word.""She was going downhill very quickly," added her husband, Bob Wock.Making matters worse was the fact there was little reason for her to be optimistic about the future. Beth has tried the many drugs and found they did little more than make her ill."MS drugs don't work," said Bob.Fortunately for Wock, and many others who battle MS, when things were looking there worst, a glimmer of hope appeared as stories began to emerge about the work being done by a doctor in Italy.Dr. Paulo Zamboni found that many people with the disease had a similar trait - a blockage in their internal jugular veins and azygos veins.Zamboni, whose wife is also an MS sufferer, discovered that malformed veins were causing the slow draining of blood through the brain and spine which leads to a number of problems including low oxygen and iron deposits on the brain. After giving the problem a name - Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency or CCSVI - Zamboni also came up with a treatment that calls for a standard balloon angioplasty procedure to restore blood flow.Zamboni's liberation treatment, which first came to light in Canada after the CTV program W5 profiled the doctor and his work, has improved the symptoms of many MS patients and halted the progression of the disease in others.The broadcast also highlighted another important issue - the fact that the CCSVI procedure is currently not available in Canada (more on that later). Although frustrated by the Canadian medical establishments hesitancy, Wock quickly began to do her homework about CCSVI and spoke with a number of her fellow MS sufferers, including some who had gone overseas to have the procedure done. Among them was a man from Halifax who said he had gotten his life back.Faced with the prospect of either waiting for the procedure's acceptance in Canada or going out of the country for the procedure, Wock decided to go a similar route to those she had spoken with and began to look at clinics around the globe which will perform the CCSVI procedure and found a number of locations in both Europe and Mexico. Eventually they settled on a clinic in Mexico. "They did an initial study with 10 people and all 10 people had blocked veins," Wock said. "I spoke with one of them personally and after talking with her I said 'ya, I gotta try this.'" "I just started bawling" July is often called the unofficial start of summer. For Wock, it was truly the start of the rest of her life.She and Bob boarded a plane for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on July 1. After a battery of tests confirmed that Wock did indeed have the blockages - her azygos vein was 90 per cent blocked - she was on the operating table July 3 and had the CCSVI procedure performed on her by Dr. Rafael Monguel."He did the one jugular and then the other jugular," said Wock who noted the medical facilities and treatment she received was first class from start to finish. "Then he was working on the azygos vein, which is the main vein that runs in the chest, and that really hurt when he was ballooning that. "Then, all of a sudden, it felt like there was hot water going down my legs right into my feet and my feet have been warm ever since. Then things just happened really subtly. I was putting lotion on my legs and I thought I can feel my legs. I haven't had feeling in my legs for years. Then I could start feeling my fingertips."Although there have been some dubious internet reports that people have gone running the day after having the procedure, Wock said the majority of people she has been in touch with have noticed the slow, gradual improvements she has experienced."When we came back we stopped in Calgary overnight. After being on the plane all day I just had to have a bath. I got into the tub and I got out of the tub. When I realized what I had done, I just started bawling because I never could have done that before. "I couldn't believe what had happened and I am still sort of in awe and emotional about the whole thing. It has just been such a positive change after so many years of just gradually getting worse and worse. We've tried every drug there is for MS and that has usually been my sickest times, when I was trying those drugs."Wock said she doesn't know what the future holds for her. There is no guarantee that the procedure will have lasting effects just as there is also no evidence to suggest it won't. The majority of reports on the internet point to a high rate of success. There is also no way to be certain how much she will continue to improve. On that point, however, Wock said even if she were to stay at the level she is now, both she and Bob would be more than happy with that."It's like she's alive again," said Bob. "She sat before like a zombie.""It's like we all say, we've got our life back," Beth added. "Every day is exciting again."An advocate for changeImagine yourself locked in a cell. The key for your release is dangling outside the window but each time you reach for it, someone knocks it away.In some respects this is the situation Wock - as well any other MS patient who wishes to try the CCSVI procedure - was faced with before she went to Mexico. Fortunately for her, she was able to get to Mexico and have the procedure. She knows there are many out there who don't have the financial means or good enough health to fly to Mexico, Bulgaria or Germany or any other country where the treatment is allowed. For them, Wock said she will continue to fight for the right to receive the CCSVI procedure in Canada."I can't say everyone with MS go to Mexico and have the CCSVI procedure done. That has to be their decision. But I think they should all be tested. People should be aware of CCSVI. It was an awesome experience for me."Wock said there is a frustrating amount of opposition to CCSVI in Canada and feels the drug companies are a big reason why as they supply the various MS medications.However there is also a great deal of skepticism among the Canadian medical community and even at the MS Society of Canada.According to a McLean's magazine article, a June meeting of the MS society turned contentious when a pro-CCSVI group claimed the organization is not representing the wishes of all MS sufferers.A posting on the Canadian Network of MS Clinics web site also provides a good sampling of the attitudes in the medical community."The MS community has seen and heard of many 'treatments and claimed cures' over the years, which have usually turned out to be false. Until the observations regarding CCSVI can be verified and the potential treatment based upon these findings is shown to be safe and effective the CNMSC strongly recommends that patients DO NOT seek to have their veins studied by techniques that have not been standardized, nor should patients be asking for treatments based on these findings that have not been proven," the posting said."The placement of catheters within great veins to unblock or straighten them requires particular expertise and experience, which most of our neuroradiologists lack. Potential harm can come if the wires fed through the groin and passed within the body to get at veins located in the neck or around the spinal cord, break through the vessel wall, or if they cause bleeding, clotting or infection. Once trials are developed and start up in Canada, interested and eligible patients are welcome to participate in them, where they will be studied or treated within a clear ethically approved protocol. More importantly, we urge our patients NOT to stop their current treatments, nor should they change their management plans in favour of trying to obtain Dr. Zamboni's liberation treatment."Bob Wock said although he agrees the proper research should be done, he feels Canadian doctors have to begin testing and treating people now with so many suffering from MS."It's nothing new," he said. "It's angioplasty. It's testing for blockages and unblocking them. She is denied treatment because she has MS. Just something as simple as getting out of bed was a terrible chore. It would take her half a day to have a bath and get dressed. On Sunday she was up and dressed and had a bath in a half hour."The government recently channeled more money to the MS Society for research. For more research; channel some of that money into the procedure.""Test the people and then study from that," Beth said. "That would be the logical thing."Until the procedure is available in Canada, Wock said she will continue to be an advocate and will offer support to those in need. "People like me who have had it done, I think we are obligated to tell the rest of them what is available."Wock said she would also like to thank all of her friends and well-wishers for all the emails and support they have provided her. If anyone is interested in making a donation to help offset the cost of Beth's treatment, they may contact the Wocks at 634-6618.
