Good afternoon, I moved to the VI @ 3 years ago because I couldn't deal with the climate in Maine. For the last 3 years I have returned to ME to go to the Neuro and PCP. This year I went back to ME in early Sept for all that.

I had an MRI then a neuro appt., all tightly scheduled. The neuro( who has MS ) after the exam that Copaxone is no longer working for me and perscribed Tysabri. I tried to wedge in the first infusion but ran out of time.

I 've had an appointment with a new neuro down here and he did a bunch of tests then we had a conversation about Ty. There are only 2 people on the island as far as he knows and we are both on Copaxone. His reaction to Ty was that he wasn't ready to RX it for me because the possible complications. I'm working on changing his mind.

There are no approved Ty infusion centers here so lately I've been trying to assemble my own team with limited success so far, but I'm not giving up as the alternative would be to fly to Puerto Rico once a month at a cost of $250+. I have a call into an oncologist to see if he is willing to help.

I've also been in touch with Biogen to see if they can help but the request has to be made by the doctors. Bummer. It's crazy, my insurance will cover it but I can't get anyone to prescribe and administer it. Tomorrow is my weekly hassle the doctors day so I'll see if I can make any progress. In he mean time I'll stick with Copaxone and hope for the best.

Any one have any suggestions? It's America's paradise in a lot of ways but not with medical care.

LOL @ not being able to deal with the climate in Maine! Ya think??? Maybe I should head to the USVI!

On the Tysabri thing, will your neuro prescribe and let you do it at an infusion center in the islands? Are there any TOUCH certified infusion sites there? Is there a site willing to become certified?

You can look up certified sites at www.msactivesource.com

I know a few people who have been prescribed Tysabri and they head south for the winter and they do half their year's infusion down south and half at home with no problems other than the initial setup.

I believe there's some information from Joelle about this on the Tysabri thread. She was kind enough to post what she had to do so others would know what road to take.

Let us know how it goes!

Oh man....I was already packing my bags cuz I thought this thread was gonna say that MS just doesn't work in the VI, all symptoms go away.... (you know, kinda like how planes don't work in the bermuda triangle.) Hey, stranger things have happened!

Oh, now that I think of it - we should all get on a plane and have it crash - like on LOST - no illnesses there, right?? (kidding of course)

Bombi - I hope you get it all worked out!! Fight for yourself if you have to!

~Keri