HOE --AN INSPIRED AMPUTEE CALLIGRAPHER

Meet Hoe, whom I met on my recent trip to SE Asia to teach mirror therapy ... one of the most amazing people on the face of the earth. --Moira Judith Mann

Hoe, a 42-year old double upper limb amputee is a self-taught calligrapher who started practicing the art twenty years ago after an industrial accident in China severed her left arm and her right hand.

 Hoe straps a calligraphy brush to her right arm stub and then, as she reports, uses her phantom hand to guide her strokes.

 Hoe produces calligraphy by donation from a street stand in Malaka, Malaysia, supporting two daughters going to university in China with her earnings.

Even twenty years after her accident, Hoe experiences phantom limb pain, particularly in the remaining stub of her left arm. End The Pain Project has taken steps to relieve this pain through various methods, including Farabloc and an EMF band.

Hoe has great dignity and focuses on perfecting her calligraphy style. She hopes to inspire other amputees through her efforts.

Hoe explaining her calligraphy at her street stand in Melaka, Malaysia.

 Hoe and Moira Judith Mann, Co-Founder of End The Pain Project in December 2011, Melaka Malaysia.

 

In February, 2012, Shannon Nill, an upper arm amputee from Oregon, displays the calligraphy created for him by Hoe in gratitude for an EMF band donated by Nill that helps her sleep. Nill uses the EMF band for sounder sleep as well.

Mirror Therapy Training at Three (VIC) Veterans International Cambodia Physical Rehabilitation Centers - 12/2011 -01/2012

This is an account of a recent mirror therapy training trip taken by Moira Judith Mann, Co-Founder of End the Pain Project to Cambodia.  The results indicate that mirror therapy to alleviate phantom limb pain for the many amputees in Cambodia will be spread by the 29 physiotherapists who participated in the workshops.  ETPP Workshops in other third world countries with large amputee populations can be made possible with your support.

Khuonh Barang, 24, lost his leg above the knee six months ago in a road accident. He suffers phantom limb pain which he feels in the toes and sole of his phantom leg and most of the time he feels heat at the same places.

Physiotherapists at the Veterans International Cambodia Physical Rehabilitation Center in Kratie, Cambodia, prepare Khuong Barang for a Mirror Therapy session. They explain the purpose and instruct to Barang.

 Song Sit, PT Clinical Mentor instructs a Technical Coordinator at Kratie Physical  Rehabilitation Center with initial assisted Mirror Therapy movements.

Song Sit explains the suggested schedule for Barang for self-administered Mirror Therapy. Barang was given an instruction print-out with his native language to follow each day.

Khuonh Barang reports that after 20 minutes of concentrating on the mirror image of his intact leg, he no longer feels hot in the sole of his phantom foot and that the pain was highly reduced.

The day after the initial Mirror Therapy, Khuonh Barang reported better sleep and seemed in higher spirits than the day before.

 

 Physiotherapists at Kratie VIC Physical Rehabilitation Center studying Mirror Therapy. Song Sit, a PT clinical mentor for the three clinics of Veterans International Cambodia, is a regional member of IASP.

Mrs, Em Poth, a diabetic who recently had her foot removed, learns about movements to use in Mirror Therapy.

 A positive response to Mirror Therapy was reported by the diabetic amputee to the clinical staff at Kratie Center.

 Physiotherapists at the Kien Khleang Physical Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled, practicing Mirror Therapy. The object is to experience the sensations that come up when concentrating on the mirror image for twenty minutes. This will enable them to understand the process that their clients will undergo.

Ms. Um Naikim, a Prosthetist and Orthotist, uses ETPP Table Top Mirror Tent for practice at Kien Khleang National Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled,.

 Mr. Wa Sarun, a bench technician  at the Kien Khleang Physical Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled and an amputee, was sceptical about the benefits of Mirror Therapy prior to working with a mirror.

 After one session, his experience convinced Mr. Wa that Mirror Therapy was effective in subduing an almost constant pain he has endured since stepping on a land mine.

 Mr. Mao Sophan, a prosthetist and Orthotiest in Kien Khleang Physical Rehabilitation Center, is practising mirror therapy using an inflated glove for slow movements in front of a mirror.

 Mr. Ull Meng Hour, Site Manager of the Prey Veng Physical Rehabiitation Center stepped on a land mine in 1984 and still suffers periodic bouts of phantom limb pain.

  
Mr. Ull had positive results from his first session of Mirror Therapy. He concentrates on the mirror image of his intact leg using a distortion-free unbreakable plastic donated by the non-profit charity, End The Pain Project.

 Prey Veng Physical Rehabilitation Center. clinical staff concentrating on mirror images.

 Physiotherapist, Prosthetist and Orthotist at Prey Veng concentrate on mirror images.

 Other Physiotherapists at Prey Veng concentrate on mirror images.

Bouth Vorn, 53 years old, stepped on a land mine in Prey Veng Province seven years ago. He received a small grant from VIC to establish his motor and bicycle repair shop.  At least two times a week his sleep is disrupted by severe tingling pain in his phantom large toe that spreads to his stump.

 Mr. Bouth’s eight-year-old daughter, who might be of some limited assistance when Mr. Bouth, a widower, practices Mirror Therapy at home.

 Mr. Bouth experienced some relief the first time practicing Mirror Therapy. Though he did not believe the method would work, at the end of the session he experienced some changes that convinced him to continue practising.





 

BBC NEWS MAGAZINE DECEMBER 5, 2011 CITES END THE PAIN PROJECT

In the December 5, 2011 article "What Phantom Limbs and Mirrors Teach Us About The Brain" by Stephanie Hegarty of the BBC World Service, Hegerty cites the recent work of End The Pain Project in Vietnam in the BBC News Magazine.

The mirror therapy workshops were staged in Can Tho, Dong Ha and Hanoi in November and December 2011 for one hundred physicians and medical practitioners.

A comment from the article:

"The work of ETTP is also inspiring, especially because the equipment needed is not over-priced. The previous ad I read for mirror boxes had a starting price in excess of £100!"

Mirror Therapy Success Story at Amputee Resource Centre, Richmond BC

The first ETPP success in eliminating Phantom Limb Pain with Mirror Therapy at our new Amputee Resource Centre in Richmond, B.C was recently achieved.

The amputee, Maria W., movingly recalls her experience in her own words:

"MY NAME IS MARIA AND I'M 57 YEARS OLD.  IT'S BEEN SIX YEARS SINCE I HAVE HAD MY ABOVE KNEE LEG AMPUTATION DUE TO COMPLICATIONS FROM  CANCER TREATMENTS.

I HAVE ENDURED PHANTOM PAIN FROM MY STUMP FOR YEARS.  IT HAS BEEN A CONSTANT, CHRONIC IRRITATION.  I WAS ALWAYS RUBBING  MY STUMP TO THE POINT OF WEARING OUT MY PANT LEG. I DID SOMEWHAT GET SOME RELIEF FROM  MY MICROFIBER BLANKET WHICH I USED WHEN GOING TO SLEEP, BUT I STILL AWAKENED MANY TIMES DURING THE NIGHT.

I WAS AT AN AMPUTEE SUPPORT GROUP MEETING WHEN MADELEINE ANDERSON ANNOUNCED TO THE GROUP THERE WAS GOING TO BE A TREATMENT FOR PHANTOM PAIN, WITHOUT THE USE OF DRUGS.  I WAS UP TO TRYING ALMOST ANYTHING THAT MIGHT HELP ME.

IT WAS A 5-WEEK SESSION WITH MADELEINE AS MY COACH.  THIS TREATMENT CONSISTED OF MIRRORING FOR 15 MINUTES TWICE A DAY BY PLACING A LONG MIRROR NEXT TO MY HEALTHY LEG AND VISUALIZING THAT IT WAS MY LEG I  HAD REMOVED. 

THE FIRST TIME I DID IT, IT WAS SO OVERWHELMING.  I  DIDN'T REALIZE HOW MUCH I MISSED MY LEG.  IT WAS LIKE A BIRTH OF A CHILD!  I WAS IN AWE AND DISBELIEF. WOW, IT MADE ME FEEL SO GOOD!

IT WASN'T TILL MY 3RD WEEK THAT I REALIZED I WASN'T RUBBING MY LEG AS OFTEN AS I WAS USED TO DOING.  BY THE 5TH WEEK, I WASN'T EVEN RUBBING MY STUMP AT ALL, UNTIL SOMEONE WOULD ASK ME HOW MY TREATMENTS WERE GOING.

I STILL DO MY MIRRORING EVERYDAY AS I REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING TWO LEGS  IN THE MIRROR.  I'M TAKING MUCH BETTER CARE OF MY GOOD LEG TOO.  I'M MOISTERIZING AND POLISHING MY TOES MORE OFTEN.

I KNOW THIS MAY SOUND A LITTLE NUTTY, BUT UNTIL YOU EXPERIENCE THIS TREATMENT YOU WOULDN'T KNOW HOW TO RELATE TO MY EXPERIENCE.

I'M SO VERY THANKFUL TO MADELEINE WHO KEPT ME FOCUSED AND GAVE ME SUPPORT. THERE IS NOTHING TO LOOSE, BUT EVERYTHING TO GAIN. BY TRYING THIS TREATMENT.

MY SINCERE THANKS TO MOIRA AND MADELEINE, CO-FOUNDERS OF THE END THE PAIN PROJECT FOR THIS MUCH NEEDED AND MOST WELCOME THERAPY."

--MARIA W.

NOTE:If you have your own Mirror Therapy success story to share, please forward it to info@endthepainproject.org and we will post your story on this blog.

NPR's Brain Candy Interview: V.S. Ramachandran's 'Tales Of The 'Tell-Tale Brain'

Listen and read NPR's Brain Candy Interview: V.S. Ramachandran's 'Tales Of The 'Tell-Tale Brain' given on Valentine's Day, 2011.

Donate To End The Pain Project Through The Giving Effect

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List Your Items on eBay Giving Works for End The Pain Project

End The Pain Project is now listed on eBay Giving Works. Turn your eBay listings into a force for good.

With each listing you can pledge to donate from 10% to 100% of an item's final sale price to End The Pain Project and get a pro-rated fee credit on your Insertion fee and Final Value fees when your listing sells.

If you're ready to dive right in and create your first eBay Giving Works listing, eBay will walk you through the steps you'll need to follow. Before long, you'll be an expert!

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