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.

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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.

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