Twenty years ago, Lesley Hegland's life dramatically changed as she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

"People are looking at you," explains Hegland. "If you walk funny they look at you like you're drunk. You're not stable."

"You just don't feel proud."

She says that all changed last year when she travelled to Poland for Liberation therapy (CCSVI). The procedure involves the surgical widening of neck arteries to improve blood flow.

"I feel like I'm a whole person again," says Hegland. "The brain fog… it was literally like a curtain had been lifted."

Calgary researchers are not as optimistic about Liberation therapy and have issued a warning to those considering the procedure.

In the fall of 2010, five different people were admitted to Alberta Emergency Rooms suffering from complications caused by the Liberation therapy.

Among the severe side effects were nerve damage and blood clots.

"I certainly think it's possible that this might provide a cautionary tale for some people," says researcher Jodie Burton. "I understand that this is a group of people without the greatest set of options, in desperate need and I totally understand that."

Burton says the Canadian medical community still has reservations about the treatment which has not been approved in Canada.

The surgery is done in other countries, which may not have the same medical regulations or procedures as this country.

Liberation therapy is relatively new and the long term effects aren't known.

Burton says she isn't sure it works at all.

"Unfortunately, I haven't personally seen the dramatic effects in my patients," says Burton. "I, like a lot of people, am waiting to see what the larger studies show to decide what the evidence ultimately says about this idea."