This is a synopsis of the Melissa Beaver fibromyalgia episode on “I Beat the Odds” on the Zliving Channel.
Melissa met Scott on a prom date. While they were dating Scott got a job in Dallas, Texas. A little later, they got married and moved to Dallas. Melissa got 2 degrees and become a kindergarten teacher.
Two years later, they moved to Virginia. Shortly after they moved, Melissa had two cases of pneumonia back to back. It really was extremely hard on her. She would wake up with a stiff neck and sore back.
After a couple of months, she went to the doctor and he gave her antibiotics and told her to rest. When that didn’t work, they tried several doctors who told them the same thing.
Finally, one doctor thought that she still had pneumonia since she was having difficulty breathing. He sent her to physical therapy. After she went to the physical therapist, the therapist thought that the therapy wasn’t helping and that she may have fibermyalgia.
Since she was turned away from physical therapy, Melissa turned to a chiropractor. On her second treatment she passed out from the pain and was almost convulsing. The chiropractor check her out to see if see was ok. He then sent her home.
After several more weeks, Melissa’s body aches, pain, and fatigue got worse. She remembered the therapist who mentioned fibormyalgia. She told her doctor about it and he just gave her more pain pills and muscle relaxers.
Then she found out that she was pregnant and she had a son. Because of the pain and fatigue, she was having a hard time caring for her son. During the next 2 years, Melissa went to several specialists. Finally, one doctor thought that she had multiple sclerosis ran an MRI.
Melissa took the MRI to a sports medicine doctor who saw something that he could not interpret. So he sent her fo a endocrinologist who thought she had fibromyalgia. For treatment, her doctor wanted Melissa to see a myofascial release therapist who was in Pennsylvania.
Melissa had to leave her family for several months. The treatments were severely painful, but they did seem to help her feel a little better. However, after 8 months, the therapist said I know that you are doing better, but this is not the answer.
Melissa went home and a friend told her about Reiki therapy. She was considering acupuncture, but she decide to try Reiki therapy.
During the first session, she felt a positive result, but she was told that she would experience some undesirable side effects for a while. After 3 sessions, she would feel bad for about a half a day, but then she would feel good for a week.
She was very happy. She was sleeping better, and feeling better. Everything was better. Although there is no proven cure for fibromyalgia, Melissa no longer lived with debilitating conditions.
