Sarah, a retired teacher at her late 60’s, had an injury a year ago that left her with a restricted range of movement and occasional pain on her left arm.
It all started on a quite Saturday afternoon; her friend and grandchildren joined her on a nice and easy bush walk. On their way back, Sarah and her grandson where holding hands, cheerfully running through the moderately downhill slope. All of a sudden one of Sarah’s shoelaces got caught up.. she lost her balance and fell down.
Upon landing on the ground her first concern was about her grandson, who was pulled down by her fall. Once he confirmed he was okay, Sarah attended to her excruciating pain; it was incredibly intense and she felt as if she was going to pass out. The pain from the left arm radiated to the whole left side of her body, the rib cage and the shoulder. The first thought that crossed her mind was: ‘it might be broken…’
Luckily her friend caught up with them fairly quickly; with a significant pain and much effort Sarah managed to get up and they walked slowly back to the car, while Sarah being completely absorbed with her pain.
They quickly drop the grandchildren back home and then drove straight to the emergency room. The doctor checked her arm and sent her for an x-ray, which confirmed a broken bone in her upper left arm. Luckily it was a straight forward fraction which required no surgery. The nurse placed her arm in a sling and to her surprise and joy, Sarah was sent home to recover.
There was not much sleep happening on the first few nights; the pain was unbearable and finding a position that didn’t trigger the pain was very challenging. Sarah had to learn to function with the broken arm…
Six weeks went by and the recovery was still not completed. Now Sarah had to manage the physical limitations and the frustration for the healing pace falling short compared to her expectations.
At that point Sarah decided to accept the situation and focused on appreciating the progress that was made. She incorporated in her healing process Homeopathic remedy, Physiotherapy sessions and Thai massages. Over the span of a year, she gradually made progress; she returned to working in the garden, carrying more of her groceries and excessing daily. However occasionally she had to stop or reduce her activity as some movements triggered a strong pain. It looked like the recovery process had reached a plateau.
This was when we started our EFT work together; we spent three consecutive sessions where we turned each and every stone in this story. We worked on the ‘shock’ feeling when she fell down, the sensation of her grandson’s hand in her hand and the immense pain she experienced once she hit the ground. The pain triggered feelings of deep sadness, even a whole year after the accident. Sarah acknowledged what a difficulty experience this has been and brought lots of compassion to herself and her journey to date.
During these sessions the pain eased off a bit, it shifted locations but was still present and could be triggered by specific movements.
The next thing that we targeted was the post accident recovery process. Sarah occasionally visited her Physiotherapist as well as her Thai Masseuse. On one particular occasion she recalled that her Thai massage therapist demonstrated a set of exercises; when Sarah tried to perform them, a sharp pain was triggered. The therapist told her in a clear and decisive voice: “Well, given the accident was about a year ago, at your age, the restriction of movement probably won’t totally go away”. Sarah was overwhelmed by the certainty in her voice and a sense of surprise mixed with disappointment washed over her. Her immediate thought was: ‘I’m not that old yet’.
When we checked what was her certainty and trust in her ability to completely heal, it was 50-50. It looked like the words of the therapist had left an imprint on her. Therefore we spent quite some time tapping on the therapist’s prognosis and released any emotions related to it. Sarah made a profound realisation during that session that helped her see the reasons behind this prognosis. She was able to choose her attitude towards it, and then set her healing goal independently of it. This brought a sense of calmness and contempt to Sarah. She felt like she was at the driver seat again.
At our next session together, Sarah was in a good space in regards to any related emotions and thoughts about her accident, the healing process and the prognosis she heard. She had a clear plan of action which included exercises, messages and self tapping if and when required. Sarah indicated that she was ready to tackle other issues that called her attention. And so we did.
A couple of months later, I heard from Sarah again; this time it was just a quick update call. On her recent appointment with her Thai massage therapist, she laid down on her stomach as usual and the masseuse worked on her back. When the session was over the masseuse told her: “Today, I really focused on your right side to support your healing from the accident you had”. To her surprise Sarah corrected her and gently mentioned that the injury happened on her left arm. “Really? your left side looks very normal now” said the puzzled therapist…
Sarah was thrilled with her win!
To date Sarah continues to work in her garden, goes on camping trips, walks and fun activities with family and friends.
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