ALDER POINT — Ten months after travelling to Bulgaria for a controversial multiple sclerosis treatment, Cecil Keagan says he’s still weighed down by spasticity, numbness and tremors.

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Sobeys North Sydney on Tuesday.epottie , Southern California , Ontario , Canada

But that isn’t discouraging the Alder Point man from seeking further treatment, believing like many others, that his disease is linked to a condition known as chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency — or a comprised flow of blood in the veins.

A link between CCSVI and MS stems from the primary findings of Italian doctor, Paolo Zamboni, who suggests that MS is not, as widely believed, an autoimmune condition, but instead a vascular disease.

As evidence, Zamboni says he’s performed a simple, non-surgical procedure known as angioplasty on several hundred patients who have reported remarkable changes in their health.

In September 2010, Keagan spent approximately $14,000 in travel and medical expenses to have angioplasty performed by a European doctor, who opened up blocked veins in his neck and chest using a small balloon instrument.

“I was getting good results from it,” said Keagan. “It seemed to be a little improvement every day and then I guess my veins re-narrowed and that kind of slowed everything down.”

Five months after the procedure, Keagan noticed a regression in the improvements to his health and the return of some of his symptoms. However, many of his symptoms did disappear.

“My disorientation is gone,” said Keagan. “But my mobility is gone back to the way it was. My head used to be in a cloud all the time. That’s never come back. My fatigue has never come back.”

Keagan, a former oil-patch worker, has been on disability since 2007. He said support from family and the community helped him pay for the first procedure.

He is now planning a trip to Southern California, to be treated by a specialist in vascular surgery who believes Keagan’s first treatment may not have been extensive enough. It’s expected to cost $8,000 for the procedure, with an added cost of $2,000 if stents are required.

“He was saying they could have used bigger balloons,” said Keagan. “Which probably meant I was under treated.”

Prior to his first treatment, Keagan underwent testing in Ontario to determine that his veins were indeed blocked. He said he wasn’t too surprised that reblockage occurred as he’s heard similar stories from other MS patients.

Asked how much he’s willing to pay for further treatments, Keagan responded only by saying some things in life are priceless.

“What price can you put on your health?” said Keagan. “It’s easy for people to say that, if they’re going on about their normal lives and all I’m doing is sitting back watching television because you can’t do nothing else.

“For anything else there’s free medicare in Canada. I can’t name anybody else who has to travel out of the country for a medical procedure. (Angioplasty) is done in the country every day for anybody else.”

In late June, the federal government agreed to begin conducting clinical trials of the non-surgical procedure despite recent studies which cast doubt on the link between CCSVI and MS. To date, no time frame has been established for when the trials will begin.

To help raise money for Keagan’s next treatment, tickets are being sold on a $500 prize at Sobeys North Sydney on Tuesday.

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