“Tiger, tiger, burning bright,” by Jana Fothergill
In 2007, I was diagnosed with severe spinal compression in my neck. The MRI also showed a variety of other problems associated with an arthritic build up of bone. This had apparently been going on for years since having a horse riding accident when I was young. By the time I had the MRI, my range of motion had gotten so restricted that I had to put both hands on either side of my head and use my arms if I wanted to turn my head on my pillow at night. I was also in a lot of pain.
After the diagnosis, I consulted a neurosurgeon about my problem. He told me I had serious changes in my neck and would need major surgery fairly soon. He said, “When the pain gets to be more than you can bare, when you pick something up and then involuntarily drop it, or if you become incontinent, call me and we will operate within 6 hours.” He also said that since I was relatively young, the surgery would probably have to be repeated in 15 years.
Printing a lithograph
This all sounded pretty scary. Some months before, I had watched a pain management veterinarian completely heal one of my German Shepherds, Paako, of a serious injury. The vet had used prolotherapy. So I called him and asked if he thought my problem could be helped by prolotherapy or if he had any other suggestions as to alternatives to surgery. He thought prolotherapy could perhaps be of great help and told me to find a doctor who worked on humans.
I found New Mexico Pain Management and it was one of the very best decisions of my life. After a year of once a month treatments, I now have about 90% normal range of motion in my neck. I rarely have any pain at all. In late 2010 I had a second MRI to see how my neck looked. The Neurosugeon who diagnosed that MRI told me that not only did I not need surgery at that time, he saw no reason for me to ever need surgery. Personally, I find this remarkable.
Jana training Paako vom Baerental, whose injury was healed by prolotherapy.
But my neck is not the only part of my body that NMPM has fixed. About a year after the treatments of my neck were finished, I developed very severe plantar fasciitis. This had actually been made much worse by a regular podiatrist giving me too many cortisone shots to my heels. The result was severe pain. After a walk of about two miles, the pain would be so bad that I envisioned cutting my feet off at the ankles. Since I love hiking throughout our wonderful state and also breed and train German Shepherds, this loss of ability to walk, hike and run was not acceptable. So I went back to NMPM. After a number of treatments, and switching me to modern orthotics, I now have no problems with my feet at all.
The next part of me that needed work was my back.
I have Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in fine art, but have made a living doing commercial art since graduation. Once I turned 60, I decided to go back to school and try doing fine art again. My area of concentration when I was young was printmaking, that is, woodcut, lithography and etching. UNM has a great printmaking department. So, I am now taking one printmaking studio class a semester. I quickly learned that the long hours of standing and bending over presses and processing areas were killing my middle and lower back. It was clear that I could not continue taking these courses unless I got my back problems taken care of. Of course, I went back to NMPM, and my problems were once again solved.
Because of NMPM, I am now able to lead a very active busy life, doing what I want to do despite my age. I am a very happy and satisfied customer.
