This new avenue posed a number of challenges which I would first have to overcome. As I had only gone as far as O Level for my secondary education, I now needed A Level for my University application. I returned home to Harare, and fortunately had the backing and support of my parents who welcomed me home and willingly paid for my A Level education and what would have been, six years of medical education. Due to my age, I could not go back into a normal school environment and therefore was privately tutored at home for seven months. The subjects studied were Physics, Chemistry and Biology, from O Level syllabus through to A Level. Most people felt that it was virtually impossible, yet with self-discipline and a determined effort, I conquered. Another obstacle followed. Application to a medical school in Southern Africa was out of the question without A Level Maths.
With the advice from the Dean of the University of Zambia, and with the subjects I had chosen, I had no option but to do my first year abroad and then apply for a transfer back to Southern Africa for my second year.
After several university applications, I chose to study at a University in Iasi, Romania, the G. T. Popa University Of Medicine and Pharmacy. Invaluable knowledge was gained, especially in the forms of anatomy and physiology. During my Easter vacation home, I was rushed to hospital which was thought to be a heart attack. I found myself in ICU for four nights at the Avenues Clinic with suspected Myocarditis. My uncontrollable heart rate and blood pressure led specialists to believe that I needed a pacemaker. Fortunately, steroids stabilised my heart and a pacemaker was no longer an option. My GP confirmed that I had had a nervous breakdown, for which I was prescribed antidepressants, anti-anxiety and sedatives. At only 24 years of age and in this condition, I returned to Romania to complete my first year of medical school and did a successful transfer to the University of Zimbabwe in Harare for my second year. At this point, my body was a wreck, I was skeletally thin and on a cocktail of drugs to keep going. On my last flight from Romania back to Harare, I experienced constant numbness on my right leg, from my knee down to my two toes.
I began my second year at the University of Zimbabwe. I had convinced myself that healing would mean getting fit which led me to being an avid cross-fit trainer. While training I damaged my back and wrist which continually worsened to the point that tying my shoe laces was a problem. I sought medical advice and was told that there was a possible lesion on the T6 of my spine which would more than likely require surgery. For my wrist, I was told to go and see a physiotherapist. For the numbness in my leg, the specialist said, if possible to just leave it, or if it worsened to come back and see him. This prognosis and diagnosis left me very disillusioned with the medical fraternity and even in a more depressed state than what I already was. This prompted me to do some serious self-examination. Is this what I wanted to be? A doctor who couldn’t help a patient with simple numbness and just refer to a physiotherapist? I began to question my career choice.
I did not opt for surgery and I never went back to the specialist, nor sought a second opinion. Based on my study of Human Anatomy and Medical Physiology, I chose not to see a physiotherapist. I had learnt that the body needed to be fixed as a whole and not in ‘pieces’. The body is a beautifully connected machine and needs to be addressed as a whole.
I continued feeling disillusioned with medicine and my body was getting worse with intense pain in my back. In general, the way forward in medicine is to administer drugs or whip out scalpels. Where is this awesome immune system that I had learnt so much about in Medical Physiology? Why was there such a massive lack of trust in it? Why weren’t we building on this trust?
A family friend suggested that I go for a treatment, namely, VHT (Vibromuscular Harmonization Technique) with Jacquie Simpson. I was not too enthusiastic with this suggestion but became more interested when I heard that it addressed the full body. I arrived for my appointment with scepticism but eager to hear her view. I was not sure of how the emotions were connected to the muscles, plus her theories and opinions were quite different to those that I had been taught in medical school. The fact that medicine hadn’t been able to help me thus far, I was curious to know more. I had my first one-hour treatment which was extremely painful and uncomfortable, to the point that I wanted to vomit several times. Still in doubt and unsure as to whether this was the best way forward … how could adding more pain to my already painful body be of any benefit? I booked two more appointments but had already decided that I would not be going back for more. The next morning, I woke to feeling in my right leg. I kept touching and feeling my leg to confirm that it was not my imagination. If this was the result after only one treatment, how much better would I feel after more? The next two appointments proved to be easier and I coped much better with the back pain. I continued my weekly treatments with Jacquie for a further 12 treatments and the result was 100% pain free in my back! With the reluctant assistance of my GP, I was weaned off all antidepressant and anti-anxiety medication. A few more months of treatment with Jacquie, resulted in a pain free wrist too. My body had taken a 180 degree turn and I was on my way to a new healthy body without drugs and scalpels, confident in the innate given ability that the body was created to heal itself.
During my treatments, a 17-year-old girl, named Shayne, who lived in Zambia, was a patient of Jacquie’s. She accidentally went through a glass door and completely severed the tendons and nerves in her leg. After numerous operations and procedures, the only possible outcome for this young girl, who was under some of the best neurosurgeons in South Africa, was to fuse her ankle. One operation would result in her becoming an invalid for life. An outcome that nobody would want to be faced with. As a last resort she started treatments with Jacquie and I was most fortunate to watch the progress of this young lady. I watched her move her big toe! I began to question medicine even more. Who did I want to be like? Those doctors with this extensive medical knowledge, who had given up on this girl? Or, be like Jacquie, without a background in conventional medicine but have the utmost respect, love, trust and faith in the body’s ability to heal itself and be able to make a difference in people’s lives? The answer was clear. I completed my second year of medicine, did a career change for the third time but this time, confident that this is what I wanted to do. For the record, Shayne is now on a sports scholarship in Australia.
With Jacquie’s advice, I went on to study VHT, after which I continued to learn from Jacquie. She has proven to be the best teacher and mentor that I could ask for. Never had I understood the energy and the ability of the body to heal itself as I do now. I am truly grateful and ever thankful to her for assisting me to progress from an ill individual to a healthy, pain free, drug free, person that I am today. I am most grateful to her for sharing her amazing knowledge of Myoreformation with me, of which I practice today.
Being given the priceless opportunity to go on a journey with an individual, being present and playing a part in their transformation as they get their health back, seeing how a body can attain to that health without the use of drugs or scalpels is something very precious and dear to me. It calls to mind the words of the Psalmist at Psalms 139:14, which says “I praise you because in an awe-inspiring way I am wonderfully made.”
I am proud to be a Myoreformation Practitioner and I look forward to continuing in this discipline of assisting people in the same way that it has helped me.
