True Stories - Spine Condition













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Around Easter 1996 I was praying with two friends when one of them, David, said, "I think God wants to heal you." This was quite out of character for David and he didn't know what to do next so we just closed our eyes and prayed. I felt a dark shadow pass over me as if someone had walked past but when I opened my eyes, no-one had moved so I quickly shut them again. Afterwards, David asked me how I felt. "Fantastic!", I said. The pain had gone and for the next 6 or 8 weeks I had no pain and took no painkillers. I told the doctor at work and he insisted I saw the physiotherapist since I was still a bit stiff. She hooked me up to a TENS machine to stimulate the muscles. After 20 minutes I felt so ill I had to be sent home. As the treatment continued I got worse. All the pain returned and I was back to square one and very confused. Had God healed me or not? I was off for 3 months again and my own doctor was prescribing stronger and stronger painkillers.

Over the next few years my condition deteriorated. I was frequently off work for 2 or 3 weeks at a time and had very little movement in my neck. Driving the 40 miles to work was becoming increasingly difficult. I had changed departments and my new foreman, concerned for my welfare, suggested I start and finish earlier to avoid the traffic. This helped a lot but I continued to go downhill. By this time I was taking Remadine, the strongest painkillers I was permitted while still being allowed to drive. "Up to 8 tablets per day", the doctor had said. I was taking 14. I was very worried that I would lose my job because of my condition and the thought of the effect this would have on my wife and young family added to the stress.       More...

After 8 years of pain my career had ended, I was dependant on painkillers and I was still going downhill. The experts all thought I was incurable and I should just make the most of what I had.  In 1991, after several years contracting and running my own business, I started working for BNFL at Sellafield, looking after radio equipment, alarm systems, etc.   In February 1995 I was replacing some old cabling, pulling the cables out of a tightly packed duct. After one day of this I was getting pains in my neck. By the end of the week it had got much worse and I spent the whole weekend in bed.   On Monday I went to see the works medical department who promptly sent me home. The same happened on Tuesday. When they sent me home again on Wednesday I went to see my doctor who signed me off for a week, then three, then a month at a time for several months. In November I tried going back on light duties but this didn't last and after 2 or 3 weeks I was off again.