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Details
(ID=286)
Date:
Wednesday, 30 January 2008
Name:
Mr Stephen Gorham
Date:
30-jan-2008
Main Condition
Main Condition:
Face, neck and ear pain, feeling of something stuck in throat.
My Brief Story
Brief Story:
Hi! This testimonial is rather long so if you are busy I suggest you bookmark it for later. Then again I imagine that the fact you are here at all is because you are desperate, as was I, and probably do not have the will to be anywhere at all, so read on as your travail is nearly over.
My name is Stephen Gorham. I live in Bracknell UK and my story (or should I say nightmare) began late May of this year (2007). I was a happy individual with a good business and a lot of friends and on this particular day I was in my local pub with some of those friends when I felt something in my throat. It felt like a fish bone and I couldn’t swallow it. The following morning it felt more like a lump as though I had a golf ball stuck there, so naturally I went to the doctor who put his camera up my nose and looked into my throat. He said there was nothing there and told me I had a crycopharangeal spasm. He said it was a common symptom and to ignore it and it would go away. It didn’t, so the next diagnosis was acid reflux and I was put on a course of proton pump inhibitors but the problem persisted. I was sent for a barium swallow, which confirmed acid reflux, and was put on another proton pump inhibitor but that never worked either. By now my throat was sore and I had pains in my neck. Next was a full endoscopy with one of the UK’s top gastroenterologists but he found nothing. He informed me there was no sign of acid or that there had ever been any and told me my problem was anxiety caused by low seratonin. I visited a kinesiologist, osteopath, herbalist and nutritionist but my symptoms were worsening. By July I was experiencing extreme pressure down the left side of my face and neck and my left ear felt full. On 20.7.07 the symptoms got so bad that I passed out in my office and was rushed to hospital where I was told I had had a panic attack and was given valium to take for when the pain was too bad. I managed to drag myself through August with the aid of the valium but I spent the whole time scanning the internet for the miracle cure. By September my symptoms had increased and now I was experiencing painful pressure down both sides of my face and into my neck. My throat felt like it had barbed wire in it, I had a sensation of a clamp around my head and upper left arm, sinus pain and a tingling in my chest and left leg. I was in so much discomfort that I didn’t know what to do with myself but still I pored over the internet. Back to my doctor who accused me of being a cyberchondriac which was making my symptoms worse. He said I was stuck in an anxiety loop that I needed to break and he described anti depressants, but I only took one as it had me screaming up the wall. When I next visited my Doctor he gave me that “Not you again look” and told me again that there was nothing wrong with me and that depression can cause all kinds of physical symptoms. He also told me to stop searching the internet and reading other peoples problems but I ignored him and I am so glad I did. My family and friends were sick of hearing about my illness and they agreed with the doctor, however I knew my problem was not psychosomatic because I had the physical symptoms first. I continued to surf and it was while I was looking into TMJ that I came across Greg Buchannan’s website, www.upcspine.com. I read his story again and again and so many of his symptoms were the same as mine so I decided to try this Atlas Orthogonal method that he had experienced but the nearest practitioner was in Germany. Greg had said on his website that he had got some relief from a regular chiropractor before he discovered the Orthogonal method so I thought I would do the same and made an appointment with a local chap. He was very thorough and took several x rays which showed that there definitely was some misalignment of my Atlas vertebra. He also said that my shoulder and neck muscles on the left side were like rock so he put a herbal poultice on my shoulder to loosen them up. The theory was that the muscles were so tight that they were contracted and therefore pulling my throat out of alignment. That made sense at the time and I still believe he was correct but why were they tight in the first place? On my next visit he gave me my first adjustment using something called the toggle method which was quite forceful but it did result in some relief. The feeling of fullness in my left ear was gone, as was the pressure down the side of my face and neck but I still had the throat problem. On my third visit the chiroprator told me that I had lost the adjustment and repeated the toggle method only this time it hurt a bit and by late evening I was in quite a bad way. I was feeling giddy, the pressure had returned, I had a tingling feeling in my left arm and my left leg felt heavy. I phoned the chiropractor who said it was nothing he could have done. I suggested that he may have pushed the Atlas too far out and it was then that I discovered he hadn’t been adjusting the Atlas at all but the vertebra underneath instead. He told me to take some St Johns Wort and have a hot bath and I should feel better. He was right and I did feel better but it was just the calm before the storm because things then got really bad. I went back to Greg’s website and must have read and re-read every word on every page on every link, which is something I should have done in the first place. I discovered that there was more than one technique for precision adjustment of the Atlas and when I clicked on the practitioners link I found there was one NUCCA specialist in Europe and she was practising 35 miles up the road in London’s West End….enter Heidi Grant. I emailed Heidi listing my symptoms and enquired if she thought they could be caused by Atlas misalignment. Half an hour later she phoned and we spoke for twenty minutes. Heidi informed me that whilst she could make no guarantees, my symptoms were nothing she hadn’t heard before and were indeed known to be caused by Atlas subluxation. She told me to call her secretary if I wanted to make an appointment, which I did as soon as I came off the phone. My first appointment was arranged for the following Tuesday 9.10.07 at 11.00 and I was about to experience the worst weekend of my life. I had lost my appetite some time ago and by now I had lost thirty pounds in weight. I was so weak that everything was an effort and the valium was no longer taking the pain away.
I spent Monday night at my Mothers house as she lives closer to the train station and I never slept a wink. As I lay in bed the pain washed over me in waves and the way I now describe it is like wearing a steel balaclava that is getting tighter and tighter. My head felt frozen and I kept getting electric shocks down my arms and legs but it was the noises in my head that were the most frightening and in particular a kind of hissing noise like compressed air. I was convinced something was going to burst and kill me and you know what, I didn’t care.
The next day came and the weather was lousy. The rain was hammering down and it reflected my mood and as I sat on the train to Marylebone I read a couple of testimonials that I had printed off Greg’s website. I had shown them to my Mother the night before and she had asked me how I knew they were genuine? She said they could have been written by anyone and maybe these people were just after my money. Was she correct? Were these testimonials fabricated in order to sell an expensive procedure that wasn’t going to work? I needn’t have worried.
Heidi’s practice is in Cavendish Square between Harley Street and Oxford Street and not far from Marylebone Station so I decided to walk. I arrived in plenty of time and was shown into the waiting room where I was given a form to complete. Shortly after Heidi came for me and took me to her office where she asked lots of questions. At first she was concerned that I may have ruptured the artery that goes through the Atlas but several tests proved that wasn’t the case. Heidi pointed out how my neck leaned to the right with my head tilted to the left (I think) and that my left shoulder was so much lower than my right. My hips were out of alignment and one leg was an inch longer than the other. She then took the X Rays and asked me to come back in a couple of hours as she had some work to do on them and some other patients to see. I had some business to take care of near St Pauls, which took about that long, and I got soaked. The rain had not eased all day.
When I got back Heidi already had my X Rays on the light box and she told me I had a 2 degree sublaxation. She then said it was time to put it right and positioned me on a bench and did this strange manoeuvre to my neck just behind my left ear with the sharp part of her hand. It took about five minutes and then she helped me up and asked me how I felt. At first I didn’t think there was any change but then I noticed that the pain was not pulsing anymore and in fact it was less. Heidi asked me to swallow and for the first time in God knows how long I could swallow down both sides of my throat. I fetched a cup of water and the sensation of feeling cold water going down the right side of my throat was wonderful. It gave a sort of creaking sound and Heidi suggested that it was probably the muscles starting to work again. As I sat there the pain began to dissipate and embarrassingly I burst into tears. I guess it was partly the relief from the pain but mostly because I at last knew what was wrong with me. Heidi took the post adjustment X Rays and suggested I take a seat in the waiting room for half an hour as my body was undergoing a huge physiological shift. She pointed out that I could experience dizziness and perhaps I should take a cab back to Marylebone but I had already decided to float back. :) She also tried to tell me that I had been out of alignment for many years and the chances are the adjustment may not hold permanently and would need readjusting. However I was enjoying my new-found health too much to pay much attention to that. When I got outside the rain had stopped at last and the sun was shining…for me, and the first thing I did was get something to eat…I was starving. I walked back up Baker Street with a stupid grin on my face and was just about to cross the very busy Marylebone Road when London started to spin. It only lasted for ten seconds and a chap next to me asked if I was ok. I told him I had never felt better in my life; I guess he thought I was on drugs. By the time I got back to my Mother’s house every symptom had gone including some niggly problems I had been carrying around for twenty years or more. The following day I woke up feeling great and the same the next day but by mid morning I was starting to get my symptoms back although nothing like before. I phoned Heidi who said it sounded like I was losing the adjustment but two days is not unusual. I looked in the mirror and I could see that I was wonky again so I went straight back to Heidi only this time I didn’t leave symptom free like I did first time. By the time of my next scheduled appointment the following Tuesday I could see I had lost the adjustment again and although Heidi put me back in line I still wasn’t symptom free so I mentioned it to Heidi. She pointed out that it was perfectly normal to have a euphoric first adjustment but not subsequently. Apparantly it’s known as the Honeymoon. By the Thursday I was out again and went straight back for an adjustment and Heidi took another X Ray to check we were still on the right listing and we were. However, although I could see I was perfectly straight I still had symptoms and once again I left Heidi’s office perfectly in line but disappointed that I did not get that first adjustment sensation. I had been having adjustments twice a week but Heidi was going to the States for a conference and I would have to wait ten days. I was terrified of how bad I might get in that time but funnily enough I never got any worse.
On the 30.10.07 I went for my regular adjustment and this time my legs were just a quarter of an inch out and Heidi was pleased with my progress but I wasn’t. I still had symptoms. The same the following Tuesday and my disappointment must have been evident because Heidi reassured me and said that I needed to be patient. She reminded me that Rome wasn’t built in a day and that she wasn’t Harry Potter. She also explained that it was not her job to cure my symptoms but to get me in line and staying in line. Then my body could heal itself properly and it may take some time. A rule of thumb is a month of recovery time for every year of misalignment and there would be good days and bad days but the trend would be up. I have since spoken to two other NUCCA patients with very similar symptoms to me, who have made a full recovery. Both had sensational first adjustments but not so with the subsequent ones, and as Heidi said, it wasn’t until they were able to hold their adjustment that they began to heal.
Yesterday as I was on the train to London for my weekly adjustment I realised I had felt ok all week; not perfect but ok. I didn’t have an adjustment as I am still holding from the previous week. It has taken me just over a month to hold for a week and I know that is good. I know I will probably lose it again before it holds for good but I also know I have someone who will put it straight back. I have a long road ahead of me before I am fully recovered but at last I am on the right road
It has really helped me to speak to other people who have been through it all and recovered fully so if anyone out there thinks it could help them to speak to me, my email address and phone number are listed below.
There are a few people I would like to thank; Greg Buchannan for obvious reasons. Rhonda Tomasi, Sharon Brown and Carmen Herzog for their moral support, but mostly to Heidi Grant. Without her I shudder to think where I would be now. Heidi is quite right; she is not Harry Potter. Harry Potter is a fictional character who cannot really work magic, whereas Heidi can.
Stephen D. Gorham
Email: info@cash4cheques.com
Chiropractor's Details
Name:
Heidi Grant
Practice:
Cavendish Health Centre
Has own X-Ray equipment.
Street Address:
Suite 21 Harcourt House
19 Cavendish Square
Suburb/City:
London
Postcode/Zip:
W1G 0PL
Country:
UNITED KINGDOM
Telephone:
+44 (0) 207 495 2206
Fax:
+44 (0) 207 495 2206
Email:
heidi_grant@hotmail.com
Web Site:
www.nucca.org
Chiropractic Technique:
NUCCA
