When Lindsay Bzdel-Klassen was on the table in New Delhi to receive treatment for multiple sclerosis, she had an instant awakening.
"I could instantly feel my hands the minute the doctor started opening my neck veins with a balloon, said Bzdel-Klassen who made the trip to India in November.
"It was pretty amazing that I could feel with my hands for the first time in a long while. I could feel my fingertips and I just kept feeling every line and every knuckle of my hands as I lay there."
When the 27-year-old Prince George woman left for treatment, she was unable to hold her child or climb stairs due to weak limbs, non-functioning hands and severe fatigue.
Since husband, Matthew, was working in northern Alberta, she and 16-month Owen had to come home to be helped by parents, Pat and Bill Klassen.
Today Lindsay says she has increased energy, has been able to toss out two medications, and can carry Owen, now 20 months, up and down stairs.
"It's a climb back to better health, and it will take time, but it was well worth it," she said of the total expense of the trip which was about $20,000.
"It's not a cure, but a treatment in which the jugular veins are cleared of partial blockages that prevent the blood flowing as effectively as it should," said Lindsay, whose jugular veins on both sides only had 50-per-cent blood flow.
She said patients are expected to see the greatest improvement at three months following treatment, "but they don't have any long-term studies yet to know for sure what the results will be."
She was among a group of five Canadians assisted in their journey by the organization Liberating Gateway in Ontario.
She said because her fellow Canadian patients had lived with multiple sclerosis much longer than her, they did not respond as quickly, but she has since heard they have all shown some improvement.
She said in Canada, there is still no movement towards providing the CCSVI (chronic cerebo-spinal venous insufficiency) treatment, despite the fact North America has the greatest number of MS patients.
Last year the federal health ministry stated it will not fund clinical trials for the CCSVI treatment in Canada, but will wait for results from other places.
Prince George men Bill Foley and Barry White also had CCSVI treatment late last fall.
Upon returning to Prince George both reported improvements to their conditions after treatment for jugular vein blockages in their necks.
Like Lindsay, Foley, who went to Warsaw, Poland, said he "could instantly feel his hands" and his energy level improved.
From treatment in Merida Mexico, Smith found his feet were warm again and he had improved balance, bowel, bladder and leg function to the extent he can stand and expects to walk again.
The 11 other Canadian patients in Merida all showed improvements, Smith said.
He said they ranged from stronger voices, holding heads erect and improved speech to returned feeling in hands and feet, reduced shaking and eating without help.
"I doubt this is just a treatment for MS patients. I think it works for many conditions," said Smith, who believes Canadians "need to get organized" and start pressing for the treatment in Canada.
