By Jim Bailey - Associated Press - Sunday, September 19, 2010
A pair of British Columbia brothers who travelled to Mexico for a controversial surgical procedure to avoid becoming wheelchair-bound say they're now recovering with a new sense of liberation.
Matt Berukoff and his brother Dan, from Fruitvale, both suffer from multiple sclerosis. Matt's case, however, is much more serious and progressive.
"I was toast. Basically it was my last resort — I was one step away from being in a wheelchair," he said.
When they left for Cabo San Lucas last month, they were filled with hope and anticipation; both brothers planned to undergo a procedure that would open up blockages in their veins. The day surgery is not available in Canada.
When they left, Dan had a significant limp and Matt had to be wheeled across the tarmac to the airplane. An MRI revealed an 80 per cent blockage in Matt's jugular, while Dan had 70 per cent blockage in his vein. In the last four years, Dan has lost feeling in his left side, causing his foot to drag, numbness and cramping.
The brothers had the surgery on Friday. The procedure took about two hours and the men said they felt an immediate change.
"I noticed it right away," said Dan. "I felt like I had new legs under me. It was totally different. I use to cramp all the time at night when I was sleeping — not once have I had a cramp since then."
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1 comments:
Congratulations to these brothers. You can feel their joy reading their comments. I do not [well yes I do] understand why all the negatives against the liberation option. Everyone w/ ms wants their life of choice and activity BACK. If drug companies and the ms societies and foundations, really want to help...let's get more accessibility to these procedures.
For those that don't have the heinous disease, 10K is nothing to pay for your "freedom" to do and go and choose. You have no idea how difficult it is to deal with symptoms and how you "die" a bit everyday when ms takes another "thing' from you. ms sufferers don't have time--at least give us a viable choice.
Thank you for listening.
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