You and me both, Pomtzu.

My friend Neil is proceeding immediately to physiotherapy via his GP; guess he is striking while the iron is hot. Hope it works for him.

$20,000 (last reported cost in Scotland was $8,000+) is barely a year's salary for some ($20,000 would be a dream for me! ). Given what a patient and their family(ies) might spend on everything from meds to home care to losing wages being a caregiver, I suppose this price doesn't seem so bad. Neil had a companion fly with him to help him, and most if not all airlines allow a companion to fly at half price.

I hope the people that have benefitted from this have some sort of follow-up plan to try and move forward. It's like a heart attack, in a way - one doesn't go back to daily fatty fast foods and smoking and over-indulging in booze.

If this treatment even only gives people a break from this illness for 2 months...I wonder if the cost might be worth it?

And - if the results are often temporary, and the veins clog again - THAT might even provide a huge clue as to how to treat this disease in a more permanent way.

My sister's case was too advanced for trials of medications (many of which work well - have heard good things about Avonex). Also - the existing meds were not recommended for her. Reason? It's a dubious "benefit" of so-called "socialized medicine". Provincial governments cover the costs of these meds - some of them run $10,000 a month. Therefore MS specialists prescribe the medications for cases where they will do the most good - ie, less severe cases.

NB: Just as an example, for the drug trials, a person with MS has to be able to walk the length of a football field. And the first stage of the trial is done on healthy people to establish a safe dosage.