HappyPoet wrote:Mark, it's good to see you here again. I applaud you for posting what you believe.
I wonder--does Dr. Arata refuse to treat patients who don't want the MRV? He talks about having done 2,000 CCSVI procedures, but none of those were done using IVUS because he didn't want to invest money into acquiring (purchasing or leasing) the equipment. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't $5,000 x 2,000 = $10,000,000 TEN MILLION DOLLARS??? Seems to me he could easily afford to start to use IVUS. I feel so sorry for all his patients who paid all that money and didn't receive complete procedures.
I have yet to hear of anyone being treated that wasn't mandated to receive the scans, and yes, it is a crapload of money. The second I started asking him probing questions, he stopped responding to my emails, concerning a friends daughter that was seeing him. Not offensive questions, probing questions in a respectful manner. I believe us ccsvi'ers are being done a TREMENDOUS disservice, not just from a financial POV, but in overall treatment, particularly in followup. They aren't being entered into any meaningful database nor registry. just like a bunch of cattle, NEXT! I am beyond disgusted. I hold medical professionals to the highest standards, when they start behaving like this, well I have no problem whatsoever questioning their integrity, or motives.
On a lighter note, getting back to this other Doctor, I had seen him as I said on unrelated matters, my treatment came up as a matter of previous medical history and he's been a ball of fire ever since. Since he heard about this through me, I get all his latest stuff, and it is impressive. He served his bonafides on the battlefields of the Iran Iraq war, with little equipment nor supplies, he saved limbs using novel treatments (and the pictures would blow you away trust me), and never gave up on the most hopeless of cases. He believes he can treat this using non-invasive, non-chiro, has an ultrasound in his office and will be doing a full week of baseline scans on the patient in question before treating, as he believes stenosis to be transitory in nature. He has already submitted a paper to a scientific journal with copious refs. He speaks 3 different languages fluently, which matters because some of the books he uses are in German, and they are pretty impressive to look at. He is a garden variety Internist who's been a lot of places, in research facilities, and treating burn victims, thoroughly inquisitive to a fault.
But he truly does care, a very loving heart for the downtrodden.
But perhaps his new modality will not work, so be it, I will report that too. There will be no adverse affects to the patient, who's angioplasty failed after a few months anyways. (Costa Mesa). I try to keep him grounded in all the latest and greatest, what he especially needs are scans to study, even anonymously. The only help offered so far has been Dr. Dake, the rest he can't even get past the office staff.
Will update as it comes in, but it is very very exciting, if this works, he will turn this mamma jamma upside down, and angioplasties could just become the old way of doing things.
Heady thinking, but hopeful nonetheless...