Patient Testimonials
In late winter of 1996, at the age of 26, I was
diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). I started experiencing the
first symptoms
in November of 1995 after an extremely stressful period in my life. In
a span of two months, I came down with a serious case of
the flu followed by the unexpected death of my husband and ending with
a trip to the hospital for an emergency surgery on a
herniated endometrial cyst that I never knew I had. Up until this
point, I had pretty much never been sick. It was rare for me to
even get the sniffles.
After my diagnoses, my rheumatologist tried just about every non
steroidal anti inflammatory drug (NSAID) available to control
the pain but none of them worked. I was dead set against trying the
harsher drugs currently used so I dealt with the pain until
Spring of 1998 when it got so bad that I was having trouble walking.
Fear of becoming a cripple urged me to finally agree to go on
Methotrexate, which is a chemotherapy drug that showed an ability to
alleviate the symptoms of RA. The list of side effects is long
and includes hair loss, mouth sores, nausea and liver damage. In the
fall of 1998, my doctor finally found a dose that started to
relieve my symptoms. My condition was kept under control while I stayed
on the drug with some occasional flare ups. I was lucky
enough that I did not experience most of the usual, unpleasant side
effects. However, the main reason Methotrexate works on RA
is because it suppresses the immune system. (In RA sufferers, the
immune system starts attacking the connective tissues of the
body for no reason [at least that's what western medicine says] ). Now,
having a suppressed immune system means that you can
get sick with anything that comes your way. Not only was I sick but I
became ill with Mononeucleosis and a bad respiratory
infection that recurred every two months for about two years. Oh well,
I guess those are the breaks!
After remarrying, my husband and I decided we wanted to have a baby.
This decision meant that I could no longer take the
Methotrexate since it could cause birth defects or fetal death. In May
of 2001 , after being off of all medications for three months,
my symptoms started to return as bad as before. The same fear of being
a cripple prompted me to seek an alternative method of
dealing with my RA. I have always been a very holistic minded person so
I have always been certain that my condition was the
result of some sort of imbalance in my system brought on by stress.
Unfortunately, at the time RA showed up in my life, I had no
other avenues open to me.
I have always been disappointed with the way western medicine views
illness and especially the way they are only concerned with
curing symptoms and not looking for the root of the problem. After
dealing with my own condition as well as with the medical
conditions of my first husband, what I wouldn't give to have a doctor
admit they don't know everything and that their SO called
'cures' are almost as bad as the disease. But, in their defense, I
guess they only know what they are taught. But, then again, what
about the ones who are told about a wonderful treatment that not only
takes away the symptoms of a disease but that has no
bad health risks? They either look at you in a patronizing way and say
"Well, that's great if it works for you." Or they say "That's
amazing that you're doing so well, but, I have no information on that
subject and I can't condone the results." Most of them won't
even take the time to do a little research on the subject even if it
means sparing their patients pain or remarkably enough, ridding
them of their disease.
When a friend of mine (and fellow RA sufferer) gave me some information about JMT and what a difference it made in her life, I
did a little research of my own and decided that this was exactly what I was looking for. The treatments and what they targeted
made perfect sense to me. This friend of mine was traveling quite a distance for her treatments but I had an amazing stroke of
luck to find an actual doctor who practiced JMT only five minutes from my home. Maybe there's hope for western medicine after
all.
In July of 2001, I scheduled an appointment at Integrative Health Care
with Dr. Lisa Rhodes. After that I went basically once a
week for a year. I was relieved of most of my pain within the first two
months. I had rare, very minor flare ups during times of
stress up until about the sixth month of treatments but none at all
after that. I had a bout with my usual respiratory infection
when I first started my treatments but I did not get sick again until a
year later. Even then the infection was minor and I recovered
in one week as opposed to the usual two. I have not been sick at all
since then, not even the sniffles. I finished my treatments in
July of 2002 and I have been pain free since my sixth month of
treatments. I am not taking any sort of medication except maybe
for the occasional headache. I am trying to lead a healthy life and
keep my stress levels to a minimum.
After years of red, swollen joints and chronic pain as well as drugs and their harmful side effects, I am back to my previously
healthy self. Dr. Rhodes and the rest of the caring and dedicated staff in her office became my saviors.