Article August 11, 2003 Issue

Full circle: a return to Christian Science

Reliance on prayer precludes the need for recommended surgery.

By Donna Smallwood

Late On A Friday Afternoon, the back pain I had been experiencing grew worse, and began spreading down my right leg. My doctor agreed to see me, and my husband drove me to her office.

In a moment's short examination, the doctor diagnosed my condition as sciatica and gave me a shot of cortisone directly to the affected area. The excruciating pain from the injection nearly sent me through the ceiling. The doctor told me that one can't get through life without experiencing lower back pain and sciatica, and prescribed a painkiller. She added that if the pain did not subside in a few days, I should see a physical therapist.

That afternoon was the beginning of a saga that spiraled on for six months. I began physical therapy that was very painful—sometimes just climbing on and off the treatment table was agonizing. After a few sessions, I stopped visiting the physical therapist in favor of a recommended chiropractor. He estimated that he would be able to relieve the sciatica in about five or six treatments. However, at the end of that period I was still in pain and moving about in a very restricted manner. He said that there was nothing more he could do for me. Next, in the continuing search for a healing solution, I went to a well-known university acupuncture/massage center. But here, too, each treatment left me barely able to move around.