I am delighted to write this testimonial because I honestly believe you deserve all the praise in the world for the difference you have made to my life.
As you know, I have suffered from autoimmune disease for nearly 30 years and this has meant that my body attacks itself and, in my case, this has damaged my thyroid and triggered Rheumatoid Arthritis. I also have widespread osteo arthritis which has required several operations including a knee replacement. Over the past 30 years, I have felt myself slowing down, and the pain and stiffness gradually spread throughout my body to the point where there were days I could barely move or dress properly. Through all this I continued to work as I had bills to pay and children to raise and I needed to keep positive, especially as I received so little support from my GPs and the NHS in general. Mentally, emotionally and physically, I was a wreck and a far cry from the super fit athlete I’d been before my body broke down.
I was referred to a very pleasant orthopaedic surgeon who, over a 10 year period, carried out two foot operations, four arthroscopies and a right knee replacement. Sadly, the osteo arthritis persisted and no one could understand why I was always so tired, exhausted, suffering from ‘brain fog’ and constantly suffering from inflammation around all my joints and from my neck down my spine. When I was finally referred to a Rheumatologist, 7 years ago, it was the first time I had experienced any hope. Sadly, although I now take two quite powerful drugs for the RA which have enabled me to walk without the feeling of burning pebbles in the soles of my feet, they have several unpleasant side effects including mild liver damage and some hair loss so the positive aspects of these drugs have been reduced by the negative effects. On top of that, I really hate having to take so much medication and always worrying in case I forget any as the most powerful one, methotrexate, is only taken once a week. Over the past year, the only relief I experienced came from a monthly Swedish massage which at least helped to loosen my muscles and relax me mentally and physically.
My partner enjoyed several sessions with you during the past year and spoke highly of the benefits of your work but, I confess, I didn’t pay much attention. After all, autoimmune disease cannot be cured and everyone knows that RA just keeps on spreading through the body. I cannot get better, only worse and, if the drugs can’t help me, how can someone cracking away at my skeleton make any difference? Thank God, my partner was determined to steer me to you and he bought me my first three sessions to motivate me.
I had my first meeting with you in mid July 2015 and, following the assessment, I came away feeling quite positive because (1) you had recognised that my problems were long standing and quite complex (2) you explained in detail what you planned to do, including some acupuncture, which was unexpected, and (3) YOU were so positive that you could help me that I honestly believed that you might be able to do something to help me. Your love for your work and positive approach proved a bar better drug than all the paracetmols and ibuprofens in the local pharmacy!
To be even more precise, after my first session, during which you prodded and manipulated every painful rib and vertebrae and found every inflamed spot (and there were many!), I walked out afterwards with a spring in my step, a slight bounce in my knees and no sign of the physical and mental fog that had plagued me for several years! I was also carrying but not using my walking stick!
To say I was amazed and thrilled would be an understatement but you did stress I would probably hit plateaus at various times over the coming weeks so I shouldn’t get too excited. The reality is that I was extremely lucky. I had 13 intensive sessions over 7 weeks and never once hit a plateau. To date the mental and physical fog has never returned and, after each appointment, I felt some degree of improvement whether it was increased movement in a joint, pain relief/reduction or reduced stiffness. I can feel myself walking more erect and, as my physical condition improved, my mental and emotional wellbeing soared. I haven’t taken a serious painkiller since my treatment commenced and I want to keep it that way! One of the strangest ‘miracles’ you achieved was the elimination of my tennis elbow. I have been prone to tennis elbow for years and the pain in my right elbow had been spreading for several weeks. I mentioned this to you in passing and, within 5 minutes, you had done something to my neck, pulled and twisted the offending elbow and VOILA! The pain had completely disappeared!
I know that from time to time I will still experience the odd flare up of pain in a joint or foot because, as we both know, my osteo and rheumatoid arthritis cannot be cured (yet!) and flare ups are inevitable. So, I don’t expect to be completely free of all pain and stiffness. However, I have no desire to run a marathon and will be happy as long as I can stand for longer periods, walk in reasonable comfort and climb stairs without crawling up on all fours. I have already planned my maintenance sessions with you and these will include more acupuncture as I found this particularly helpful in reducing the intense inflammation in the soft tissue around my knees.
What more can I say? You have given me a new lease of life, both physically and mentally. I live on a farm and have been able to do more work in my vegetable patch as well as helping feed the pigs without every muscle and joint screaming at me. I am walking further and my twice weekly shopping trips which include arguments with bad tempered trollies are no longer a painful struggle. The only time I have used my walking stick since July, has been when I visited my massage lady as I have to climb two steep flights of stairs to reach her and the stick gives support. Ultimately, I hope that even those stairs will be easily accessible to me. The only other thing I could hope for is a complete cure but, I’ll be kind and give you a few more months to work out how to do that!
I’ll finish by saying once again, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for achieving in a few weeks what my various doctors have failed to achieve over far too many years. You have given me hope for a much brighter future and I couldn’t ask for more. I now hope this letter encourages other ‘disbelievers’ to give your services a try and maybe we should raise a petition to get the NHS to start referring patients!