Article April 7, 2008 Issue

UNDER GOD'S UMBRELLA

A LIFE-CHANGING HEALING OF CHRONIC PAIN

BY PHOEBE LAWSON

ABOUT 13 YEARS ago, before I knew anything about Christian Science, I'd been diagnosed with debilitating "cluster" migraine headaches. These went on for more than a decade. My life went something like this: I would take about 23 pills a day to manage the constant pain I was in, and was very regimented about what I ate and drank, believing that this could prevent the onset of alarming symptoms. But none of these efforts really seemed to help.

Daily, I tried to avoid the migraines with over-the-counter pills. Then I had to switch to prescribed narcotics for pain relief, and after each episode had passed, there was a period of recovery from the side effects of the medicine. I would lie in bed three days out of a week with the curtains drawn to block out light, unable to care for my young children, who often roamed the house until my husband came home from work.

On the weekends, when I felt well enough to leave the house, I went to horse shows where one of my daughters rode. I'd been an avid horsewoman my whole life, participating in many competitions and owning my own horses. So this sport was something I'd never been willing to give up, despite the fact that it involved rigorous physical exercise. I had a friend at these shows who was a Christian Scientist, and I would tell her all my woes. When she told me that I could be permanently healed of the migraines, I thought she was nuts! Prayer could be used as treatment? Instead of medicine? You must be kidding! I thought.