Chapter One

Susan was sitting expectantly in front of me, hoping for a miracle. As her story unfolded during our preliminary interview, I could see why she thought a miracle was the only possible answer to her problem.

Having suffered excruciating back and leg pain for more than seven years, she had reached a stage where she felt hopeless about her prospects for finding relief or resuming a normal pain-free life. Although she was once a vibrant nurse who had literally run about the halls of her hospital tending to patients, her pain had reduced her to a shell of what she had been. Now, thoroughly debilitated by chronic back pain, she couldn't go to work. She was bedridden seven days a week; her husband even had to carry her downstairs when she wanted to get out of bed.

The pain interrupted her rest, to the extent that she hadn't had a good night's sleep for years. All the activities she once enjoyed were now out of her reach: going to the movies, playing golf, taking vacations, driving, or even riding in the car. Her persistent pain had taken her life away.

As you might expect, Susan had run the gamut in her search for medical help. She had seen physical therapists, orthopedic surgeons, acupuncturists, chiropractors, and various pain specialists. Five years earlier, an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan showed herniated disks in her back, and as a result she had undergone back surgery. But the pain soon returned. Another MRI showed more degenerated disks, so she had another back operation. After that, the pain again got better for a few months-only to return worse than ever.