My latest article in Health and Healing magazine is about a case of chronic pain, and last resorts.
“As a shamanic practitioner since the mid 1990s, I’ve seen many difficult cases and instances of remarkable healing. One of my clients had an experience with chronic pain that illustrates the power of the work, and is an example of why I’m grateful to be in this field. Ernie Schoenfeld has a doctorate in public health. He has worked at the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for over 30 years in various positions, including Senior Associate Dean and Lecturer in the Department of Health Policy and Administration, and as Senior Advisor to Dr. William Roper, then dean of UNC School of Medicine, who is now serving as interim head of the UNC System.
About eleven years ago, Dr. Schoenfeld got up from a rowing machine with “unbelievable pain” in his left leg. He could barely stand up. Over the counter medication didn’t help, so he went to his doctor who gave him some other medications. He said, “I took those for a short time and there was no effect whatsoever. The pain was so bad that I could neither lie down comfortably, nor walk without extreme agony.”
Over the next several weeks, Ernie methodically sought relief from medical professionals. He was sent to several physicians including an orthopedist, who ordered an MRI that showed severe stenosis and scoliosis. The doctor suggested surgery would be difficult to perform, and was unlikely to bring lasting relief.
Dr. Schoenfeld recalls the doctor saying: “You are just going to have to learn to live with this.” So, he reports, “at the recommendation of the orthopaedic surgeon, I went to an anesthesiologist, who said a steroid shot would relieve the pain. It didn’t, so I went to another physician who is licensed both in traditional western medicine and eastern medicine. He did several sessions of acupuncture. None of those helped.”
Wishing you a peaceful heart,
Mara
©2019 Mara Bishop