CCSVI Treatment - Successful!

Wonderful news! I hope you continue to improve. Keep us posted on your progress.

sho

Hi,

I'm excited that you feel much better! I'm looking to have the procedure done soon. Did you have health insurance or pay out of pocket if so, how much?

thanks

dgriff

Hi dgriff,

I am still doing better than before the treatment, although I still have MS. I tend to wear myself out almost daily but can do so much more than I could before. Its very worth it.

I payed out of pocket for my treatment out in California, at Synergy, with Dr Michael Arata. I felt he and his team were the best in the country and had done a lot of successful procedures. I also opted for the whole Haacke Protocol MRI. Total cost was $8000.00 not including transportation and lodging. The special MRI or MRV if you want to call it that, was $2500, of that $8000 I think. But it establishes a baseline for future comparison. About a month after I got the MRV done, I got the Disk with the long in-depth report. :)

I started out with my insurance company but they were confused, a bit hostile and very balky. I didn't want to jeopardize my treatment coverage, IVIG, so I just payed for it myself out of my vacation fund. Since I have not been on vacation in many years, there was enough in my fund to cover the whole trip.

The procedure itself was painless, short and the recovery was easy. I had a bit of a headache and neckache where they inflated the balloon, and a little achiness where they took care of a poorly functioning valve near my collarbone. But all discomfort was tolerable with an advil every few hours for a day.  I had to take Pradaxa for 2 weeks and that was nothing to write home about either. I had no side effects at all. We took the time to drive up and down the Pacific Coast Highway and really enjoyed the California coast line. It turned out to be a great "vacation."

Regaining my brain was the best thing. I have much less brain fog, and feel more "with it." My balance is a bit better and my bladder and bowel issues are lots better. It has not helped my walking at all, unfortunately. But I do have more energy and only take a short nap each day, but I have tried to do that for years anyway.

My neurologist pushed me to take more MRI's to see if it did anything, being very skeptical about CCSVI. I held that off for 2 months but when I had the MRI, amazingly enough it showed less lesions, better overall. (That is not the norm, but it made a believer out of her.)

BTW, The doctor out there said most of his clients are Canadian and most are of Scottish descent. I was the lone Texan when I went that week but am most certainly of Scottish descent! I did grow up in Vermont and Massachusetts.

I hope you have as wonderful of an experience with the CCSVI treatment as I did.

  I'm going through the same and I'm very curious how you are doing now?  Hopefully still better.