Testimonial: Fused Discs & Depression

Joan Browne
Former Psychiatric Nurse
Kerry, Ireland

Without going in to too many details of what actually happened that day, suffice it to say that I injured my back twice, and that by 7 PM that evening at the end of duty, I could hardly turn my neck and had severe pain in my upper back.

I followed the routine of what most people who injure their backs do: rest, painkillers, anti-inflamatories, etc. After six weeks off work, I thought that this must all be in my head, and went back for two days. By the second day, the weight of my uniform on my shoulders was unbearable. It was then that I realised that something was very wrong.

So I began the next round of treatment: physiotherapy, orthopaedic consultants, rheumathology consultants, steroid injections, MRI scans, acupuncture, sitting meditation, yoga, osteopathy, home traction, etc.

The MRI showed four protruding discs in my upper back and two fused discs in my neck. Now, I felt that I had something to work with -- the problem had been diagnosed, so now we could fix it, right?! How naive.

After visiting a number of consultants of various qualifications, the answer was the same: because of where the problem was, the risk of surgery was too dangerous. I could end up quadriplegic. So after five and a half years, the advice was simply: Try and live with the pain as best as you can; you will never work again and will probably end up in a wheelchair.

I remember feeling so frustrated with the medical system, especially as a nurse. The system that I had trained and worked in for 12 years was letting me down. I was angry, depressed, in constant pain, and couldn’t see a way out.

By this time, the pain resembled having two bad toothaches on a constant basis. It affected my upper back, neck, and I also suffered from headaches and migraines. My mind was not clear from a combination of medication and pain. I had begun down the slippery slope of despair and nobody could do anything to help.

I was not able to work, so started reading quite a lot. After reading "Chi Kung for Health and Vitality" written by Grandmaster Wong, I contacted him via email. We had just been connected to the internet. And Sifu kindly responded very quickly. I remember the excitement of getting that email!

After securing a loan, I attended the January 2000, Intensive Chi Kung course in Malaysia. The whole setting in Malaysia was beautiful and everybody was so kind and helpful. I was especially struck by how approachable, generous, kind and happy, this gentle master was. But the greatest thing was that I was able to get more pain relief by practising his gentle art than I had gotten from all the other treatments combined!

What Sifu taught me there in Malaysia, I came home and practised. I stopped going to the Osteopath and only took pain relief when the pain was really bad. This varied, but it was perhaps twice a month -- a lot different from taking eight everyday.

The best was yet to come. By September of that year, I was totally pain free and I also felt a more content and happy person. Now the pain was gone, I had hope again and felt that I could do anything.

Three weeks after coming home from Malaysia in January 2000, I felt a very strong urge to go to the local Bingo, of all places. I begged my sister to go with me and borrowed the money from my brother. We had a good laugh as we hadn’t been there for years and weren’t able to keep up with the marking (well we were greedy and had two books each!). Finally the jackpot sheet came up and I was keeping a close eye on my sister’s sheet. She was getting very close. Suddenly I looked down at my own and found that I was waiting only for number 71! Next thing I heard was …………71 and yes! I had won the jackpot, which hadn’t been won for months. It was the exact amount of the loan that I had taken out to go to Malaysia!

In September 2001, I was very honoured to be given permission to teach Shaolin Chi Kung in Ireland and now have classes in Kerry, Cork and Dublin. Many of those who have attended both Sifu's courses and my own have overcome their chronic illnesses, e.g. Depression, Arthritis, Trapped nerves, Back problems, Psoraisis, Asthma, etc. And everyone has felt the total feeling of relaxation and peace.

As a former Psychiatric Nurse, I am especially delighted that Shaolin Chi Kung has so much to offer people who suffer from depression and other emotional problems. In Chi Kung theory, every person is made up of three components, namely jing (physical form), chi (energy), and shen (spirit). Chi Kung addresses the root causes of the disorder, not only by uplifting his spirit but also correcting his energetic and physical defects which eventually result due to his spirit being pressed down. Chi Kung overcomes these problems in a most simple, direct and effective manner.

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