The trouble started when she noticed herself getting weak, losing balance and walking into walls. Doctors diagnosed her with MS a disease that causes deterioration of the nervous system.
In the nearly five years since her diagnosis, she knew her health was going downhill.
“My hand gave out on me two-and-a-half years ago,” said Mrs. Courtney. “I wasn’t even allowed to put things in the oven.”
That changed last fall when Mrs. Courtney went to Rhode Island, USA, for a controversial treatment that is said to reduce the symptoms of MS. The Zamboni treatment, also called liberation treatment, involves a day-surgery where doctors widen the vessels in a patient’s neck.
The Italian doctor who developed the treatment, Dr. Paolo Zamboni, theorizes that blocked neck veins hinder blood flow to that brain and lead to MS symptoms.
Clinical trails have not yet proven the treatment works, but thousands of MS patients are seeking the treatment in private clinics.
For Ms. Courtney, the effects of the surgery were almost immediate and they have lasted.
“I felt the difference in my hand in two hours,” she said.
Before she had suffered limited movement in her hand as well as a pins-and-needles sensation.
Her ability to walk has improved. Her legs no longer give out and she has stopped drifting to one side and walking into walls.
“I’ve never been so happy in my life since I had that surgery done,” said Mrs. Courtney. “I go to bed every night and thank God.”
She said some mild symptoms have remained, but there was an immediate improvement after the surgery and she no longer feels like her heath is deteriorating.
The surgery lead to another side effect. Although she was a smoker, her first puff after getting out of hospital left her queasy. She put out that cigarette and hasn’t touched one since.
Before receiving the angioplasty on her neck veins, Mrs. Courtney said an ultrasound technician determined the veins were blocked. The right side had a 15-millimetre blockage, and the left side had a 12-millimetre blockage.
“My main two jugulars were blocked. How was blood supposed to travel to my brain?”
She said she is thankful for the community support from the entire southwest coast. Fundraisers helped pay the cost of travel, and the approximately $7,000 treatment.
Before deciding to receive the surgery, Mrs. Courtney consulted with Keith Riles, a La Poile native who also received the treatment.
Mr. Riles advised Mrs. Courtney to go for it.
Although he hasn’t been without his own health problems, Mr. Riles said he is still feeling the positive effects from the surgery.
“I don’t get fatigued any more,” he said, “ but I still haven’t got my balance back yet.”
Since his surgery in October 2010, Mr. Riles has been working part time, sometimes as much as 20 hours a week.
Before his surgery, Doctors determined his neck veins were partially blocked. A checkup after the surgery has revealed his neck veins are still wide open, he said.
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