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Hi,

I know that people who did scans twice - say the first in the UK, where the result was negative, then the second in Poland where it was positive.

Will the Essential Health Clinic in Glasgow be using the right protocol, the one that works for Zamboni, and Simka and the other doctors? Does anyone have an opinion or inside information??

K

My view is that they will use the correct protocol and get appropriate training. Setting up this facility is expensive, so why would they deliberately want to fail ?
MarkW

I know they were sending people to Italy to be trained by Dr. Zamboni.

The website appears a little shady to me. I could not find any type
of medical procedures this doctor does.

The Essential Health Clinic in Glasgow is just offering Doppler scanning. This business that they have currently underway at 450 GBP does not include the venogram, which I understand is pretty crucial as it has been the difference for some people between a negative result and a positive one.

I admit I thought when I booked that the test would include both. I wanted to see the scan and decide. Decide what? Hello, I am not sure!

Mohzi, when you say it looks shady can you explain more?

Balsaboy: Apparently they got an earlier appointment in Poland, so sent staff there to learn instead of to Italy.

MarkW: I as surprise by the language of "deliberately want to fail"! I don't think they will fail, it just depends on whether the goal is to champion the cause of the stenosed MS patient or to raise finance. That is sceptical, I guess.

I'm not too sure about the outfit. It seems very commercial. I don't think it will offer the same high level of expertise which Dr Simka does. This is just my hunch.

Until our respective Gov't get off the toilet and flush. I have no problem with the commercial shop doing the surgery. Cost is the issue and as a consumer. Choice and competition are good.

Cheers

Well quite. I do think that they might miss things which Simka would find so there might be quite a few disappointments. Just because they are less experienced.

I asked them some questions about cost/who is doing the surgery etc...

They are sending people to Poland to be trained.....so they don't have anyone yet.

The cost is 450 for testing and 5000 pounds for the procedure.

They will not be using stents, or at least plan not to.

It would be my opinion to wait, and if able go to Poland/Bulgaria.

Cheers

It is great to read your posts on this. It helps in thinking about these things!

Does anyone know how much MS costs the country each year?

Isn't it bizarre that you have (in Ireland and the UK) this drop feed of parts of the procedure. A doppler is not worth much without the venogram.
We all know that.
Yet people are offering this tiny part of the process for a quick buck. It reminds me of the guys in the souk in Marrakech who would fling a monkey onto your shoulder and start snapping polaroid photos, then start charging your boyfriend for photos you didn't ask for, while you, in wide surprise, marvel at the monkey's little hands.

£450 seems a lot of money to me.
There is now a clinic in Ireland offering CCSVI Scans for only 195 Euros.

http://www.ultrasound.ie/ccsvi.html

Whilst I of course welcome someone in the UK offering scanning and treatment and of course Dr Gilhooly wants to make money, however this does seem a little excessive to me.

Dr. Tom Gilhooley is my doctor and although I now live temprorarily in the Middle East, I always consult with him on my return to the UK as well as communicating regularly with him. I've been consulting with him for a number of years - since he first prescribed my LDN. He is a wonderful, professional and caring doctor and a doctor who 'thinks outside the box'; he is willing to listen to others' ideas and is open to new and innovative treatments. Because of his forward-thinking and his initial belief in the possibility of CCSVI and then conviction, a lot of people with MS in the UK are going to benefit i.e. have the diagnosis then the procedure.
This is a commercial venture, not subsidized by the NHS and of course it's going to cost you money for a diagnosis but this clinic is in no way suspect. It's a well established, organised modern and well run clinic with very professional staff.

The Doppler and the MRV are useful diagnostic tools but really it is only during the angiopalsty / venography that the vascular surgeon can be 100% sure of what's going on with your veins.

I had the procedure with Dr. Simka's team in Poland in April and even with their expertise, when Dr. Simka did my Doppler, he thought there might be a blockage in my right as well as my left jugular when in fact it was only my left one that was blocked. I asked about this after my procedure and the surgeon said that in around 40% of cases they find discrepancies like this.

Good luck to all of you going to the EHC - I have no doubts they're going to get it right!

Pauline