I went through the Spine Rehabilitation Program in 1997 and it changed my life. I still use the skills they taught me to manage my pain and live a full life. Before the program I was truly lost and had hit rock bottom.
I was run over by a tractor when I was 10 years old and ruptured a disk in 1989. I had seen so many doctors who didn’t believe my pain was real. But in fact I was in constant pain, on disability, isolated, depressed and hopeless. This was all taking a huge toll on my family. My wife got fed up and called the UI Spine Center. She handed the phone to me and that was the first step to my new life!
I had to figure out why I was in constant pain and how to live again, and I was not interested in short-term solutions or pills to just mask the pain. When I got to the program, I knew that God had put this in front of me and the information was there for me to use or not use. I decided to use the information and change my life.
The UI Spine Center is so supportive both during and after the program – they really care and they are there for you. They understand and believe your pain is real and have the tools to teach you how to manage your pain.
When I got to the Spine Rehabilitation Program, my fears disappeared. I was relaxed and started to learn how to manage my pain. I was a student, not a patient. Students come to learn and apply knowledge – patients come to be fixed. I came to learn and live again.
No one can make your pain go away completely, but they can teach you how to manage it so that pain does not rule your life.
It feels great to be back in the driver’s seat of my life, working full-time and doing all of the things that I love to do again. I am so grateful to the UI Spine Center for how this program has changed my life that my wife and I volunteered to give talks to encourage new rehabilitation groups for seven years after I graduated from the program! I love to tell people about how this program changed my life because I know how bad being controlled by pain can get and I know that there is hope for you.
|
