My wife Ruth has received a stent in October of 2010.  MS symtomps started returning about three months ago.  Had we promptly returned for retreatment the blood clot in the stent could have been cleared with no problems.  We waited too long and it has hardened and can not be cleared despite over an hour in surgery trying all kinds of tools by one of the best CCSVI surgeons in the world.  Lesson?  When MS symptoms return, have your stent checked with a Doppler or with a venogram promptly and get it cleared-- if you wait the clot will harden and will be impossible to clear and the stent is permanent -- right now there is no good way of getting it cleared or removed.  Ruth has formed some good secondaries and the restenosis of the other two veins has now been cleared almost normal blood flow volume from the brain  has been established and symptoms have receded.  This has been her 4th CCSVI treatment in just over 2 years.  We have come to the Tokuda Hospital in Sofia Bulgaria because of the reasonable cost only 2,500 Euros (about $3700) for CCSVI treatment with overnight stay in the Hospital (rather then a day clinic), plus getting a stem cell treatment for another 2000 Euros ($3,000) made the trip very worthwhile.  Would we do it over again?  Without a doubt.  Why did we invest in the stem cell treatment?  Stem cell treatment is in the forefront of repairaitive medicine.  While the exact effect on MS is not know, the potential benefits are great and the downside is minimal since the stem cells have ben taken from Ruth's own bone marrow.