Your Local News
HOPING TO END MS:A Kingston man in gearing up for a trip to Costa Rica, and it's not to soak up the rays.
July 28, 2010
A KINGSTON MAN IN GEARING UP FOR A TRIP TO COSTA RICA, AND IT'S NOT TO SOAK UP THE RAYS. MIKE LORTIE HAS BEEN LIVING WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS FOR EIGHT YEARS AND WILL SOON HEAD TO THE CENTRAL AMERICAN COUNTRY IN HOPES OF CURING HIS DISEASE. THAT STORY TONIGHT FROM NEWSWATCH'S MORGANNE CAMPBELL.
MIKE LORTIE: " I MAY HAVE MS BUT MS WILL NEVER HAVE ME. " THOSE ARE THE WORDS THAT MIKE LORTIE LIVES BY EVERY DAY SINCE HE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS EIGHT YEARS AGO. HE'S TWO OTHER SIBLINGS ALSO SUFFER FROM THE DISEASE. MORGANNE CAMPBELL: "MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS IS A UNPREDICTABLE DISABLING OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM . THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM IS COMPOSED OF THE SPINAL CORD AND YOUR BRAIN. THOSE WHO HAVE MS OFTEN LOSE THE ABILITY TO WALK, MOVE THEIR ARMS AND IN SOME CASES TALK." ALREADY LORTIE HAS LOST SOME MOBILITY IN HIS LEGS AND RIGHT ARM. SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS WALKING UP THE STAIRS HAS BECOME A HARD TASK FOR HIM. THAT'S WHY IN SEPTEMBER LORTIE WILL RECEIVE A CONTROVERSIAL SURGERY CALLED LIBERATION TREATMENT. MIKE LORTIE: "I'M NOT A QUITTER I DON'T KNOW THE WORK CAN'T IT'S NOT PART OF MY VOCABULARY AND THAT IS SOMETHING I TRY AND INSTILL IN THE PEOPLE AROUND ME THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE WORK CANT." THE SURGERY IS SUPPOSED TO ELIMINATE THE SYMPTOMS OF M.S. BY CLEARING BLOCKED VEINS IN THE NECK. THE TREATMENT ISN'T AVAILABLE IN CANADA BECAUSE DOCTORS SAY MORE RESEARCH IS NEEDED. DR. ROBERT ZIVADINOV: "IT WILL TAKE A NUMBER OF YEARS TO UNDERSTAND IF THERE IS ANY VALUE IN SUCH AN APPROACH." LORTIE HAD BEEN WAITING OVER SIX MONTHS TO FIND OUT IF HE WAS A CANDIDATE FOR THE SURGERY IN COSTA RICA. LAST FRIDAY, HE FOUND OUT HE WAS. LORTIE'S BROTHER WILL ALSO HAVE THE SURGERY IN THE SAME HOSPITAL ON THE SAME DAY. MIKE LORTIE: "TO BE ABLE TO GO DOWN THERE WITH HIM IT'S AN HONOUR TO WATCH HIM HAVE IT AS WELL." FRIENDS WOULD LIKE TO SEE LORTIE'S MOBILITY ISSUES GONE SO HE CAN ENJOY THE THINGS HE LOVES LIKE PLAYING SPORTS WITH HIS FRIENDS TWO CHILDREN AND WIFE. DARRIN MCMILLAN: "A COUPLE WEEKS BACK WE WENT TO LUNCH AND HE HAD A HARD TIME GETTING INTO HIS CAR AND I MEAN THAT'S SOMETHING WE TAKE FOR GRANTED. IT WOULD TAKE "US" TWO SECONDS AND WE WOULDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. THAT KINDA HIT ME THEN I WAS THINKING THINGS ARE GETTING PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. AND ITS NEVER A GOOD THING TO WATCH A FRIEND GO THROUGH SOMETHING LIKE THAT." LORTIE SAYS IF HE REGAINS THE USE OF HIS LEGS THE FIRST THING HE'LL DO IS HIT THE BALL FIELD. THE SECOND? TAKE HIS CHILDREN SKATING ON THE RIDEAU CANAL. MORGANNE CAMPBELL CKWS NEWSWATCH KINGSTON.
