This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

I guess you aren't the only one after all.

I spent the afternoon with another person from the "that'll never happen to me" world. I have no way to convey it: even if they've known me all along and see the same things happening to them that happened to me ten years ago. Like I said, it's almost impossible to explain. It's like a life sentence before it starts. Only after a couple of years are under your belt do you believe it's real. If I only knew then what I know now...

Take the sedation. I slept though the whole thing.

DenverCO wrote:I cannot even read about CCSVI without having to put my head between my knees. Am I the only one?

this does not bother me. now an impacted bowel discussion would gross me out.

I hear what you're saying DenverCO. Every time I have to endure someone sticking a needle into one of my veins I swear it shaves 3 minutes off the end of my life. So very stressful and makes me feel like I will pass out. But it is a "mind thing" and I've been working on getting it down to a respectable phobia level for many years. You can do it too!

SaintLouis wrote:I hear what you're saying DenverCO. Every time I have to endure someone sticking a needle into one of my veins I swear it shaves 3 minutes off the end of my life. So very stressful and makes me feel like I will pass out. But it is a "mind thing" and I've been working on getting it down to a respectable phobia level for many years. You can do it too!

I think you will all be amazed by Dr. Werner Forssmann, the true father of venous catheterization.

http://www.ptca.org/archive/bios/forssmann.html

Did he experience any intimal hyperplasia?

Wow, Dr. Forssmann sure had guts and foresight. Some similarities to our pioneering CCSVI doctors, I think. And he got his Nobel Prize in the end. Thanks for the link and lesson.
And I only got a little bit queasy reading it...

drsclafani wrote: I think you will all be amazed by Dr. Werner Forssmann, the true father of venous catheterization.

http://www.ptca.org/archive/bios/forssmann.html

Amazed is one way to put it...
He was one determined pioneering doctor for sure; interesting that he was awarded the Nobel Prize that many years after being scorned by the medical establishment of his day.

DenverCo, I also feel the same way you do. I have never given myself an injection - my husband had to do it. The sight of blood makes me dizzy and I also could not read most of what has been written about the CCSVI procedure.
But, on November 18th, 2010 I went to the Ameds Clinic in Poland and had the procedure done. I didn't ask anyone what was going to be done to me, I never looked at anything in the operating room - except the ceiling, and I never have looked at the incision near my groin.
It still makes me feel light-headed to read anything regarding the procedure, so I don't read too much about the actual procedure or watch any youtube videos regarding it.
The outcome of my procedure was better than I had ever expected or hope for, I am glad I had it done. I have my life back, any pain that I that had before the procedure is totally gone. I have energy to spare at the end of the day, I can run, draw, paint, write, see better, walk without using any aids, turn my head all over the place without getting dizzy and feeling a vertigo feeling, clench my fists, bend my toes while walking.... the list goes on and on.
If I ever have to go back and the procedure again, I will do it the same way - ignorant of what is being done to me becase that is the only way I could go through with it.
People who don't have these fears or squeamish feelings I don't think would really understand waht we go through with our fearful thoughts. Justr knwo that thre are others out there who feel the same way you do, and we deal with it in our own ways.
Chin up DencerCo, and don't think about it - just think about how much better life can be after that hour or an hour and a half of laying in a room with green walls (probably green, all operating rooms I've been in have green walls).

If you want to see what the entry point actually looks like, I posted a photo on "Dr. Makris' 1st CCSVI procedure" thread.

Really, I have had general surgery done for non-MS related things and IR venoplasty is a walk in the park compared to them.

Donnchadh

drsclafani wrote:

SaintLouis wrote:I hear what you're saying DenverCO. Every time I have to endure someone sticking a needle into one of my veins I swear it shaves 3 minutes off the end of my life. So very stressful and makes me feel like I will pass out. But it is a "mind thing" and I've been working on getting it down to a respectable phobia level for many years. You can do it too!

I think you will all be amazed by Dr. Werner Forssmann, the true father of venous catheterization.

http://www.ptca.org/archive/bios/forssmann.html

ACK!! If anyone deserved a Nobel prize that man did. Thank heavens for him, you and others like you who are not put-off by such things.

Thanks anyways Donnchadh, I'll take a pass at looking at the photo.

SaintLouis wrote:ACK!! If anyone deserved a Nobel prize that man did. Thank heavens for him, you and others like you who are not put-off by such things.

This was my reaction too, that whenever our IRs are feeling particularly innovational, they can go ahead knowing they're not nearly as out-there as what Forssmann did.

MarkW wrote:Read about the later stages of MS then compare it to venoplasty, it was a simple choice for me....

MarkW

My exact feeling.

A bigger fear to me would be to be put under general anesthesia. That in itself comes with potential risks.

MarkW wrote:Read about the later stages of MS then compare it to venoplasty, it was a simple choice for me....

MarkW

My exact feeling.

A bigger fear to me would be to be put under general anesthesia. That in itself comes with potential risks.