MS Liberation treatment. Did it work??

That's the question that keeps coming up.


The short answer is YES!


The long answer is much more involved. Now that we experienced what we did and know what we know. It is much more complicated than a Yes or No answer.


Before we left we didn't know what someone with MS really experiences. We learned that someone with MS may or may not experience:


-loss of sight
-foggy brain
-finger dexterity loss
-loss of balance
-loss of use of arms
-severe head aches
-loss of bladder control
-very weak bladder
-fatigue
-spasms 


 These are only a few of the things that they may go through.
The symptoms vary from person to person and sometimes from day to day and year to year.


Because dad lives in Alberta and we live in Mb. we don't see him as much as we would like and so didn't know all the symptoms that he experienced day to day, other than the obvious.


We spent 2 weeks in Costa Rica with dad and we met a huge group of people suffering with the symptoms of MS. At the Clinica Biblica in San Jose, they do 80 Liberation Surgery's a month and have been for 7 months. They have such amazing doctors who took the time to meet with dad and get all the information through EKG's, ultrasounds, tests and interviews so they could make sure he was a great candidate for the surgery.  That is where we learnt not only what dad was experiencing, but also what so many others experience also. 


Immediately following the surgery most every one felt different. Some experienced huge things. My dad was one of those people. For him, the first thing he noticed was that his head felt clearer. He soon after noticed he didn't have a head ache. That continued on. If you are a head ache sufferer, you will know how great it is to NOT have a head ache. Dad usually had a head ache for 90% of his day. So this was amazing.
He woke up from the surgery feeling very strong and had lots of energy. Because of the vein puncture sight in the main vein in his leg. He had to keep his leg perfectly still and straight for 8 hours after surgery. He felt like he wanted to get up, but he had to stay in bed. The next morning though, he got up and wanted to go to see our friends to see how they were feeling. He also wanted to find someone to dance with. He really felt good and did find the lady next door who also had the surgery the day before and she was ready to dance too. Very fun!


Within days following the surgery, dad kept having more and more surprises. He noticed next that he had his finger movement and dexterity back. He also found that he could put his ankle up over his knee while he was sitting. This is also something that he could not do for years.  Every day it seemed to be one more thing that he found he could do better and felt his legs getting stronger. His balance improved every day, so that after 8 days he was back to walking with a cane and feeling he could go further without it.


We also met people who were in much worse shape than dad was in. We met a 40 year old french girl. She was sitting in a wheelchair when she arrived. Her head looked like it was very heavy, she could almost not keep it up. She could barely lift her arms up and could only keep them there for a few seconds before they would fall back into her lap. She looked very tired.
The day after her surgery she came back to the hotel(double tree Hilton San Jose) where we all stayed for 2 weeks. She looked so much better. He face looked much more aware and less tired. She held her head strong. She had a big smile on her face and had a much stronger voice. She also ate her breakfast herself. She hasn't been able to hold a fork and eat herself for YEARS!! This was so amazing to see. The next thing we saw her do that same morning was wheel her chair. This was obviously very hard for her to do. But she was doing it. This was the day after surgery.


Another girl we met was also 40 years old. She has been suffering from MS for 25 years. She told us how she sees double and very blurry vision. She had to look out the side of her eyes to see people. She said people always think she is crazy because she is looking at them from the side. Immediately following the surgery, she could finally see clearly. She also said how her head felt so clear and light. 


                                             WOW!
                   This is all very life changing stuff.


All these things that we saw from the people we met made us clearly not understand why this is not being done in Canada. All these people here could be in the comfort of their own county instead of having to fly to Costa Rica. It is very frustrating to understand. This surgery is not a "new" thing. It is angioplasty. Something that our doctors have been doing for years. Most people know someone who has had a very similar procedure done.


                                    Just not for MS.


I think if the people who make the decision to not do the surgery in Canada were to go to Costa Rica and observe this being done there. They would see the truth and start to give people the opportunity to feel better here in Canada. 


All in all, this was an amazing experience for not only dad but for us also. We learnt so much. We met some amazing people who we will continue to keep in touch with. 
I would encourage anyone who suffers from MS to look into this procedure in Costa Rica. The company that puts this together for Canadians is called Passport medical in Vancouver. They do a really great job and make it really easy to organize. They do all the work. If anyone has questions we would love to help in any way.