Red Deer’s Neil Johnson remembers a time when there was little laughter in his home.
In just over a week, Neil and his wife, Phyllis, will celebrate the one-year anniversary of her “Liberation Therapy,” the treatment for multiple sclerosis sufferers developed by Dr. Paolo Zamboni. The Italian doctor believes there is a link between MS and blocked veins in the neck or spinal cord. He uses angioplasty or ballooning to open the blocked veins.
The couple spent nearly $30,000 for the controversial surgery on July 9, 2010, in Bangalore, India. Since his wife’s procedure, Neil said, there has been no shortage of laughter in the couple’s home.
Phyllis has regained her speech, gained weight and feels little pain. The now 55-year-old former nurse was diagnosed with MS in 1997 when the couple lived in Drumheller. Shortly after she was diagnosed, they moved to Red Deer to be closer to hospitals and have the support of a local branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.
On Wednesday, the federal Health Minister gave the green light on clinical trials of the procedure, a step forward in bringing the surgery to Canada. Specific details on the trials or the promised funding have not been released.
In recent years, many hopeful Canadians have spend thousands of dollars to have the surgery in places like Poland, India and the United States.
Neil said the trials will open the door to allow more MS sufferers the option to have the surgery closer to home.
“It doesn’t work for everybody but it worked for Phyllis,” says Neil.
Phyllis said it is about time Canada has followed suit of other countries.
“I think it’s great,” said Phyllis. “It’s about time Canada started doing something. At least some people will get in on the trials and be helped.”
Some provinces like Saskatchewan and Manitoba have already committed millions to trials.
Last year, Alberta committed $1 million to fund an observational study to track the patients who received the surgery in another country. The study is expected to be launched in the next couple of weeks.
Alberta Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky said the green light on clinical trials means the province will immediately pursue additional opportunities for the clinical trials because the trials are deemed safe and ethical. Alberta has set aside between $6 and $7 million for clinical trials.
Former Lacombe-Stettler MLA Judy Gordon said the announcement is good news for those sufferers who are interested in the treatment.
Gordon is on a provincial working committee which is devising an extensive MS report including the gaps in service and how MS sufferers and their families can be helped.
Gordon said data collected from the observational study could actually tie in with the clinical trials.
“There is an awful lot of very good and we hope very useful research that is going on presently in Alberta right today trying to find the cure for MS,” said Gordon.
“If not the cure, the cause. We don’t want to slow that down either. (Liberation Therapy) is one part of it. But trying to come to terms on what is the cause or what is the cure is very important.”
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com