On 8 July I was in Leeds for the Forward Ladies Positive Women’s Day and it was one of those karma days in life. At 9am I attended Georgie Oldfield’s workshop on Stress Illness.
The previous day I had been to see my consultant neurosurgeon and was told that my MRI scan showed good alignment of the two cervical discs he had replaced in 2007 (on my 50th birthday – now that was a day to remember!) and that the nerve conduction studies showed no nerve damage in either arm. He told me that further surgery would be a last last last resort to resolve the pain I was feeling in my neck-arms-shoulders. This left me feeling crestfallen. I had chronic pain in my neck, constant headaches, tingling sensations down both arms to name but a few of my bodily pains (I hadn’t told my consultant about the pain across my back, in my left thigh, my right ankle or my left thumb).
At the start of Georgie’s workshop, she asked us to form a circle and for each of us to say something about our initial impressions of each other. One lady said that I looked wistful. How so very right she was. I was feeling maudlin. My thoughts were all over the place; further surgery on my neck wasn’t really an option…maybe I have MS or cancer or……
After the initial introductions I sat listening to Georgie speaking about stress related illness and in my head I kept hearing yes that’s me…and that…and that ….it was that Eureka moment in life and I suddenly realised that my consultant neurosurgeon has only been treating the pain/symptoms arising from my neck and not all of my other symptoms.
The very next day Georgie emailed a copy of the SIRPA recovery cd. On 11 July I sat and listened to the cd and made pages and pages of notes, as what Georgie was saying struck many chords and triggered many thoughts/memories.
I booked an initial-assessment with Georgie on 18 July and the following day the chronic pain in my neck-arms-shoulders had eased.
I signed up for the SIRPA Recovery Programme and between weeks 3 and 4 of the programme my pain break through occurred; any pain in my right thumb, my right ankle and my left hip eased. I have more rotation in my neck now than I have had for at least 5 years. The techniques work, and I feel younger than I have for many a year. I am making great progress towards a pain free life, which is just around the corner for me, ably supported by Georgie.

Nicola Farmer
11 October 2011