Case of the Month
(Note: Stock photo above, not a patient, of course)
This month's most amazing story was a woman who came in recently with thirty-five (35) years of symptoms. She had pain, fatigue, digestive issues and other issues. Over the years she had been diagnosed (mis-diagnosed) as fibromyalgia, CFS (chronic fatigue), mono, helicobacter, adrenal insuffiency, hypothyroid, leaky gut syndrome but without any signficant relief with treatments for these conditions.
Then 13 days before she saw me she was searching on the internet for an answer, for something different, something that had not been part of her awareness. She found an interview with John Stossel, on a TV show called 20/20 with John Sarno, MD. She watched it and immediately grasped that this was her answer. She felt that the explanations rang true for her and she turned off the computer with hope.
That same day she started to feel a lot better. By the time she was able to see me in the office 13 days later (having found my name though the recent book I published, which she read, Think Away Your Pain)... she was a new woman.
Her symptoms were 98% better, she had gained some weight, and her skin glowed. What an amazing recovery in such a short period!
Our visit focused on the erroneous diagnoses of the past, a careful review of her prior laboratory testing, imaging, etc. She had all the typical tender points (6/6 even the extra 2, so 8/8). Her personality type and childhood history was very typical of this condition.
The remainder of the visit focused on a personalized strategic plan for her to be able to stay healthy, stay focused on this approach, deal with emotions in a more healthy way. I did advise a specific psychological referral to a skilled therapist in the TMS field who could work with her. She was open to this because she had come to realize that this was rooted in psychological issues she had long avoided.
Amazing recovery... and all from education (video, books) and self-awareness. She got better even before she saw the doctor!