So I am not better yet but I am feeling positive. There is still a lot of pain into my right foot and heel from the damage to the sciatic nerve in my right leg. Otherwise the wounds have healed and the leg is more or less whole.
I have been told that the nerve damage may take up to 6 months to get better as nerve tissue recovers very slowly. The other theory is taht the pain may not be from the knife damaging the nerve but from internal scar tissue. Here is what I am doing to get better, been on this routine for about three weeks...
ACTIVE
- Yoga and pranayama twice per day. When I wake up and before I go to bed. I do a set of asanas then 12 ujay breaths, 6 rounds of kaplabhati, 6 rounds alternate nostril breathing and 6 rounds sitali. Finish in yoga nidra and then recite the healing mantra.
- Chi Kung once per day. I do gathering and arousing chi exercises and stand in Wu Chi.
- Physiotherapy once per day. To strengthen the leg I have a series of lifts to do front and back. The physio says that strengthening the entire body will help so I am doing upper body exercise also. Sit-ups, push-ups and pull-ups.
- Other things I do ocasionally but not every day. Toning, Singing bowl, holding crystals over the wound, alternate cold and hot water, heat on the leg from a ehater or hot water bottle.
MEDICINE
- Am taking herbs for nerve strenthening. St John's Wort and Ginko Biloba with Lobelia which potentiates them.
- Am taking Spirulina, Ginseng and Lecithin for general aminos and strength.
- Homeopathic remedies I use are Hypericum Perforatum 30c, Ledum 30c (now discontinued) and Calc Phos tissue salts (General tonic for Capricorn)
- Was taking Tramadol for pain but have run out. Currently not doing any pain killers as I don't like the opiates, thay make me fuzzy.
- Am taking 400mg ibruprofen with every meal to help with the swelling in my calf and right foot (the nerve damage makes the foot and leg respond by swelling, its an automatic response and we have not figured out an alternative yet)
- Ocasionally when the pain in the foot gets too tirining I put on a capsicum patch. The path seems to create a pain very similar to the neural firing and when I take the patch off there is a few hours relief. This seems to be a homeopathic type effect. like cures like.
MIND
- There is an Osho BodyMind CD which is excellent. You externalise your illness as a guardian which has created a symptom as a means to communicate with you and protect you from something else. You then thank your body for being a servant and ask what it needs from you. Then you and the guardian try and come up with another mechanism for giving you this protection or information and letting the body heal.
- I also use a couple of hypnosis CDs for pain control. The relief is onlt temporary but they work well at night to help me sleep. The hemi-sync pain control & Constant Comfort by Richard Bandler. I prefer the Bandler CD.
THERAPY
- Am painting almost daily and find it soothing.
- Have started smoking 2-3 roll-ups per day. There is a lot of evidence that nicotine is good for nerves and the tobacco certainly has a soothign effect (it has lithium in it). I have smoked small amounts on and off ofr years so am not worried about becoming addicited.
- I dance pretty much every day. Music has been mainly chill-out, soul and trance with some pop thrown in. Favourite song: Christina Aguilera - Fighter. "After all you put me through you'd think I'd depise you but in the end I want to thank you, cos you made me that much stonger...thanks for making me a fighter."
- Have started a gratitude journal. Listing the things one is grateful for at least once per week really helps keep one's spirits up - research has show that this is a powerful way to increase one's level of happiness.
- Screaming sessions. Every now and then the rage and frustration get pretty strong and so I go outside and screm long and loud. The neighbours must love me...
TREATMENTS
- I consult with my GP quite often on the phone, just to check what might be happening and what may work. We are going to try a course of voltaren injections when I get back to Cape Town to see if we can soften the scar tissue in the wound site.
- When I can I get acupunture and dry needling for the pain. Have had 2 sessions so far and they give me about 3 hours pain free and drop the pain from about a 6 to a 4 for a day.
- Cranio Sacral Therapy ocassionally. I love this modality is goes really deep and I feel a big release every time I have it (have only gone twice so far). It also lasts the longest giving me relaxation and relief for up to 4 hours after the session with slighter effects up to the next day. I wish I could afford to go more often.
HUGE thanks to all my healers who havd been helping me so far - David, Daryl, Dean, Grant, Robyne, Rasada, Subodhi. As you can see I am not shy about trying everything possible all at once.
Special thanks to my girlfriend and my Mom. Crystal has been amazing, words cannot do justice to the amount of support, strength and love she has given over this time. My mom has been so generous helping out with time, money and concern.



