Dozens of Canadians suffering from multiple sclerosis are planning to travel overseas for an experimental treatment that isn't yet available in Canada.

After an assessment at a Vancouver private clinic, eight patients are planning to travel to India to get treatment with a company called Surgical Tourism Canada -- spending about $19,000 for the privilege.

"I hope to gain back my life, the ability to do simple things that most people take for granted," said Bill Harrison, who says that MS has stolen his ability to walk and to work.

"If I could get this fixed, I would be on the next plane," he said.

Multiple sclerosis is a debilitating disease that is known for the damage it leaves along nerves. It creates a range of symptoms that can come from problems communicating between the brain and other parts of the body.

An experimental new treatment was discovered by Italian doctor Paolo Zamboni late last year.

He believes that blocked veins in the neck and chest of MS patients lead to blood drainage problems and triggers the immune response that mark the disease. His treatment involved unblocking those veins with angioplasty.

A preliminary study of the treatment in 65 patients showed it improved the quality of life for many patients, and as long as the veins remained open, symptoms of MS were reduced and new attacks were halted.

That treatment is not available in Canada, and that explains the huge demand among patients to head to anywhere that can provide them the treatment, said Yasmeen Sayeed of Surgical Tourism Canada.

"The demand is unbelievable," she said. "I have had to stop putting people on wait lists because I have 170 already positively diagnosed across Canada and the U.S."

A patient can get diagnosed at False Creek Urgent Care Centre for some $2,300, she said. A similar diagnostic in Buffalo would cost $4,500.

A complete trip to India for a procedure in Bangalore would cost $19,000 for a single person, including a week of recuperation. For another person to accompany the patient, it would cost $24,000.

The procedure alone in Poland would cost $7,000 US.

Suzanne Jay of the MS Society says that until Canadian scientists can verify that the treatment actually works, they aren't willing to let patients undergo the procedure in Canada.

"I would caution people about leaving the country to take part in a procedure that hasn't been proven," she said.

That logic doesn't hold for Harrison.

"Most of the holdback seems to be we've got to do research, which would be great, if I have the time, but I don't have that time," he said.