“As I sighed with relief he said, “We’ll have you dancing on the table, Norma.” I almost believed him!”
This is a well rounded story of physical, mental and emotional success – more or less – and also simply people helping people with the words we have to offer each other. I had to walk on water, and Norma had to dance on tables. After about 6 months, I think we each managed a bit of both. Also, a very well written story I might add as one might expect from a school teacher!
I have suffered from a dodgy back for many years, and had become adept at ‘managing’ it: which actually, I now realise, was a euphemism for ‘putting up with it.’ Less easy to live with was the recent onset of sciatica which was so severe that I was having difficulty walking more than a couple of hundred meters. Add to that the sudden and totally unexpected ending, by email, of a thirty-year relationship, a pain in my hip that had me worrying about hip replacement, a growing problem with balance, increasingly bad posture, low energy and an excruciating pain in one of my toes that woke me most nights, and I guess you could say I’d become a bit of a mess! The end of the school year could not come fast enough.
“The collapsed relationship? Yes, that still sucks. But I’ve coped much better than I ever would have thought possible, and have even managed to find some positives in the situation.”
Yet when my daughter said she would like me to make an appointment to see Neil, I didn’t exactly leap at the chance. I am not, alas, in the first, nor even the second flush of youth, and my previous experience of chiropractic is a memory I’d gladly erase – a sleazy, lecherous old man, making lewd suggestions as he subjected my back to terrifying and painful manipulation which effected no improvement whatsoever. My daughter, however, is persuasive to the point of bossiness! So last November, with no noticeable good grace, I made an appointment at Spinewave.
“I have had no more problems with balance.”
Enter the lovely, soothing Pip, who took my call, and, of course, Neil – a gentle, softly-spoken man, warm, but thoroughly professional. He was (and is) an attentive listener, and clearly knew what he was talking about as he explained the relationship of the nervous system to wellness. He inspired immediate confidence. I told him that according to my daughter, he was the next best thing to God, and that I expected him to walk on water at the very least! Towards the end of that first visit, he asked me to stand with my feet hip-width apart and close my eyes. I could feel myself beginning to fall backwards. Neil touched the back of my neck so gently that I scarcely felt it. It took maybe twenty seconds. Then he asked me to close my eyes again. This time, I was rock steady. When I expressed my astonishment, he merely smiled and said quietly, “That was a bit of water-walking!” Must be true, because since then I have had no more problems with balance!
“The pain in my hip has gone from constant to intermittent to infrequent.”
Neil ordered x-rays, and when I returned to discuss them he put my mind at rest about joint replacement. My hip joints were worn, but “not that bad.” As I sighed with relief he said, “We’ll have you dancing on the table, Norma.” I almost believed him! The sciatica quickly disappeared, and in the five months or so that Neil has been looking after me, I have had no major ‘episodes’ with my back, the pain in my hip has gone from constant to intermittent to infrequent, my posture has improved so much that the other day one of my Year Ten BOYS told me I looked ‘stunning’ (sigh, if only!). The pain in my toe has completely vanished. Both Neil and Pip were amused by that, but clearly neither of them has ever had a toothache in their toe! That, or some equally agonizing alternative could be arranged, guys! The collapsed relationship? Yes, that still sucks. But I’ve coped much better than I ever would have thought possible, and have even managed to find some positives in the situation.
“Now going for my adjustment seems as natural as going to the local on a Friday night.”
Now going for my adjustment seems as natural as going to the local on a Friday night – and no more expensive! I would recommend the Neil and Pip team to anyone. I’m STILL not in the first flush of youth – that’s a challenge that Neil is still tackling! – but, hey! Care to dance, anyone?
Norma
