WINDSOR, Ont. -- Lisa Maheu-Gauthier dreams of strolling along the streets of
Paris with her teenage daughter and gazing at the Eiffel Tower from a

sidewalk cafe.

It’s a trip of a lifetime she hopes to make if a California doctor succeeds in helping her walk again with a
controversial treatment offered to multiple sclerosis patients all

around the world — but not in Canada.

In mid-January, the 45-year-old Windsor woman will travel across the border to undergo
"liberation" therapy, which involves opening up blocked veins using

angioplasty.

The treatment is based on a theory dividing the global medical community and MS patients around the world: that MS is
not an autoimmune condition but a vascular disease which can be treated

with surgery.

The recent death of an Ontario man who travelled to Costa Rica for the liberation procedure and subsequently developed a
fatal blood clot has not deterred Maheu-Gauthier, whose condition has

been steadily deteriorating over the years. She now uses a motorized

chair to get around and relies on friends for help with day-to-day

tasks.

"I just believe from the bottom of my heart that they’ve found the Holy Grail in this," she said.

Last November, Italian doctor Paolo Zamboni suggested that improper drainage
of blood from the brain, a condition he termed chronic cerebrospinal

venous insufficiency, or CCSVI, may be causing MS and could be corrected

with the simple vein opening procedure.

His research, involving only 65 patients, made a big splash in Canada, but many doctors were
skeptical from the start, warning MS sufferers not to get too excited

and continue their prescribed course of treatment.

Heeding the advice of an expert panel on the issue, the federal government has
decided not to fund clinical trials of liberation therapy until more

research is done to determine its safety and effectiveness.

But to Maheu-Gauthier, Zamboni’s theory makes perfect sense. There is a
history of vascular disease in her family and she believes she was born

with an underlying condition that eventually led to the development of

MS.

MS patients across the country have been petitioning Health Canada to approve the CCSVI procedure, voicing their anger on social
networking websites and organizing rallies. Frustrated, many have gone

abroad — to countries like India, Costa Rica and Germany — for the

procedure with varying results.

The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada is funding several preliminary research studies that will help
decide whether clinical trials are warranted. But that will take time

and Maheu-Gauthier’s clock is ticking.

"I don’t have five years to wait for Canada to decide on this," she said in an interview. "My daughter doesn’t have five years.

"I want to be able to take her to Paris and see all the things we’ve
talked about, all the things we love. I’ve made her promise she will go

without me if I can’t."

Maheu-Gauthier was in her 20s when she was diagnosed with MS, a degenerative disease which affects the ability of
nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to communicate with each other.

Symptoms vary among patients and include loss of balance, muscle

weakness, paralysis, vision problems, impaired speech, extreme fatigue

and pain.

The past year has been especially difficult for Maheu-Gauthier. She was hospitalized for months after a fall, eventually
losing her ability to walk. Her husband died in May and she became a

single mom.

Her 14-year-old daughter Stefanie is the main reason she’s going ahead with the liberation procedure, despite all the
negative attention it’s received, the warnings from health officials and

the risks involved.

"She’s my everything. I’m doing this because of her."

Maheu-Gauthier has extensively researched her options, settling on Pacific
Interventionalists Inc., a group of doctors in California specializing

in interventional medicine and vascular surgery. The treatment is not

cheap there — the average cost is about US$10,000 — and Maheu-Gauthier

could never afford it herself. But her sister and brother-in-law have

stepped in to help and will finance her trip.

At Pacific Interventionalists, the doctors are all board-certified and highly
experienced in angioplasty and other vein procedures, said Dr. John

Joseph Hewett, a partner at the clinic who will not be treating

Maheu-Gauthier himself.

He said the clinic treats an average of seven patients a day with the CCSVI procedure. Of those, about three or
four are Canadian.

"There is a lot of interest from Canada," he said, noting that outcomes vary, depending on the severity of each
patient’s symptoms.

"I must stress — this is not a cure," said Hewett. "There is no guarantee that it will work. Improvements are very
individual and all over the map. But in general, about two-thirds of

people have a positive benefit. And it’s a very safe procedure. The

biggest risk is that it just won’t work."

Although Maheu-Gauthier is "very excited" to try liberation therapy, she will draw the line at
having mesh stents inserted into her veins to prop them open.

It’s been reported that Mahir Mostic, the St. Catharines man who died after
getting the CCSVI procedure in Costa Rica, developed a blood clot around

a stent placed in his neck. Other MS patients whose procedures involved

stenting have also complained of blood clotting and other adverse

reactions.

Zamboni’s proposed method involves inserting balloons to widen patients’ veins and then removing them. He has advised against
using mesh stents.

Maheu-Gauthier is heading to the U.S. with realistic expectations. She knows she won’t leave the clinic doing
somersaults, but hopes her quality of life will improve and she’ll

eventually be able to walk again.

Maheu-Gauthier’s biggest concern is getting followup care at home. She hopes doctors in Windsor won’t
refuse to see her because she’s sought treatment outside the country.

"Followup is very important to all of us who are doing this," she said.

Jackie Putterman of the MS Society’s Windsor-Essex chapter said the
organization is aware of about eight to 10 local MS patients who are

either planning to undergo the CCSVI procedure somewhere in the world or

have already done so. But there could be many more people resorting to

medical tourism and spending thousands of dollars in hopes of getting

better.

Putterman said the society realizes "people so want this to be the answer," but it’s not recommending to anyone where to go for
treatment.

"They are doing this solely on their own as it is not an approved treatment in Canada at this time," she said.

The Windsor-Essex region has a comparatively high rate of multiple
sclerosis. The local MS chapter had about 400 members last year, but

some doctors have estimated about 1,000 cases in the area.

Canada has one of the highest rates of MS in the world, but experts have yet to determine why.