| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Jackie
27 Posts |
 Posted - 07/21/2006 : 17:34:15
|
Hello All,
After messing around for years I decided to see someone about my pain...someone with the same view as Dr. Sarno. I was referred to Dr. Martinez...Baptist Hospital in Boston. Has anyone gone to him?
Jackie |
|
|
shocksystems
USA
8 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2006 : 18:05:44
|
Jackie:
I see Doctor Martinez as a patient now. When I first went to see Dr. Martinez I was not familiar with TMS or Dr. Sarno but described the years I had been suffering and brought the MRIs and X-Rays I had. After discussing things with me and reviewing my information he explained that there was nothing structurally wrong with my back. He explained that my situation was instead caused by muscles. He then started me on a "Back Boot Camp" of therapy, with the goal of demonstrating to me that I did not need to be afraid of hurting my back (it worked).
During the back boot camp therapy I ran into the Sarno TMS theory on TV and started my self guided education about him. I then had a follow up visit with Dr. Martinez. I suggested the TMS/Sarno theory that I had begun to believe and asked him his thoughts (he made me feel that comfortable, I find him very easy to talk with). Even though I could see there were some consistencies with what Dr. Martinez had said about muscles being the cause and my back being fine I was expecting him to laugh and debunk it (I did not realize he was a strong believer in Sarno and TMS theory). Instead we got engaged in deep discussion about Sarno and it was fantastic for my treatment. He answered a bunch of questions and has been encouraging me in my treatment.
I would like to say I am cured now but I am not. I am still at about the same pain level. However I am convinced I am making progress and I am a huge believer in TMS. I have had chronic pain for 20 years (or more) and I am only 38. I think my problem will not be quick to resolve. My struggle has been determining my sources of unconscious rage. However it has only been 6 months. It is hard to explain why but I am sure the TMS work will lead to the elimination of my chronic pain. I have never felt this positive about a cure before.
I would encourage anyone to see Dr. Martinez. In addition to the above he has exchanged emails with me and put me in touch with another one of his patients and this interaction has been helpful. If you would like to meet with me so that we can exchange our health/TMS treatments I would be eager to. I tend to think meeting and discussing the issue with others is helpful.
Cheers!
Jim
|
 |
|
|
marytabby
USA
545 Posts |
Posted - 07/21/2006 : 20:18:54
|
I have been a patient of Dr. Martinez's for over a year.
Sometimes he is brutally honest when he feels the symptoms are not TMS related and I believe they are. So it's a bit conflicting for me and I have to decide where to draw the line between self-diagnosis and letting the "expert" diagnose me. I am currently undergoing self-doubt about my TMS and am considering wrist surgery because he's not sure if I have TMS in the wrist but last year he thought I did. I am confused. |
|
|
|
art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2006 : 07:58:02
|
quote:
Originally posted by Maryalma8
I have been a patient of Dr. Martinez's for over a year.
Sometimes he is brutally honest when he feels the symptoms are not TMS related and I believe they are. So it's a bit conflicting for me and I have to decide where to draw the line between self-diagnosis and letting the "expert" diagnose me. I am currently undergoing self-doubt about my TMS and am considering wrist surgery because he's not sure if I have TMS in the wrist but last year he thought I did. I am confused.
To be honest (as always) it sounds like he's confused. What does he say when you point out that last year he thought the very same wrist with the very same symptoms was in fact TMS (if I'm understanding this right)? |
Edited by - art on 07/22/2006 07:58:24 |
|
|
|
tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2006 : 08:58:24
|
quote:
Originally posted by Maryalma8
I have been a patient of Dr. Martinez's for over a year.
Sometimes he is brutally honest when he feels the symptoms are not TMS related and I believe they are. So it's a bit conflicting for me and I have to decide where to draw the line between self-diagnosis and letting the "expert" diagnose me. I am currently undergoing self-doubt about my TMS and am considering wrist surgery because he's not sure if I have TMS in the wrist but last year he thought I did. I am confused.
Hi Maryalma8,
Sorry to hear about your pain flare-up. I too have had mixed and confusing dx's from TMS doctors. In my case, saying it was arthritis, then, tms combined with arthritis.
I'm afraid, that, at this point in TMS theory, dx'ing is more of a art than a science. I sometimes think that Sarno's students, (doctor devotees), sometimes go astray and lose their own faith in TMS when they venture out on their own and are surrounded by the "reality" of contemporary medicine in the hospital setting amongst their peers.
In THE DIVIDED MIND, Sarno mentions RSI and Carpal Tunnel many times and says it is TMS. I would reccommend you re-fresh your TMS perspective on the subject before jumping into anything as irreversible as surgery. Although I am "bugged" on an almost hourly basis to get hip replacement surgery, by "well" intentioned acquaintances, I choose not to, and instead, "manage" my hip-arthritis, through conservative non-surgical methods.
If you lose your faith, in TMS as a "cure" for your RSI, why not take a non-surgical approach. There are numerous books on the subject. Sarno makes a good point, that for almost a century, people were typing feverishly at typewriters and there was no epedemic of wrist pain. I believe, that's because, back then, people were too busy working hard to just survive, and had no surplus time, to feel stress and develop TMS.
TMS is a product of the modern era--too much time to think and get stressed, causing over-use injuries of the Gray Matter. People in "primitive" societies don't get TMS, they are too busy trying to survive, to have the "luxury" of TMS.
Maryalma, why go from the frying pan into the fire. Read some of Poly's archived posts and her bad experiences with surgery. Maybe do the pre-op PT, the post-op PT, take some percodan and skip the surgery part.
Austin-Gary, who founded this board, used to talk about, if you hit yourself with a hammer 8000 times, the damage is real--so stop hitting yourself with the hammer. Maybe you are using your hands too much and/or, with improper technique, and what you have is not TMS--or perhaps a combination of over-use and TMS. If you are hitting yourself with a hammer 8000 times maybe stop doing it and give it a rest.
I condition everything that I have said, with the proviso, that, I have absolutely NO knowledge of the particulars of your physical or emotional specifics, and am just shooting in the wind.
Good Luck,
tt
|
Edited by - tennis tom on 07/22/2006 16:43:28 |
|
|
|
art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2006 : 09:05:57
|
Hey TT,
Well said...Surgery it seems to me should be the last option, only to be entered into when all else has failed...
Things go wrong in surgery pretty often on a relative basis, sometimes drastically wrong...
If not TMS fine, there are usually other options.. |
|
|
|
marytabby
USA
545 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2006 : 09:19:08
|
Art, he says "well, maybe it was not TMS last year. Afterall, DeQuervain's tendinitis can come and go. Maybe it went and now it's back." To everyone else, this is the trouble, no one has said I have RSI. When I ask, well, what could have caused the tendinitis and the ganglion cyst, the answer is that the tendinitis could be a benign development that the tendon is rubbing the wrong way for some reason, and no one has yet given me info on the ganglion cyst. I looked it up and apparently it's again, a benign thing that develops on its own, not via RSI. So no, I'm not overusing my wrist or anything like that. I thought it was TMS last year and it went away on its own. Doc Martinez says if it's true tendinitis, it will show up on an MRI which it did, as well as the ganglion cyst which was never something I knew I had until now. So I have tried all the TMS work on the wrist this time, and three months into it, I can't get rid of it. I'm doing all the work, reading so many new books, re-reading all the old ones, posting here, talking to Rachel who has an RSI web site (even though again, no one said I had RSI). I can type, I can do things, I just constant excruciating pain and weakness and particularly when bending the wrist a certain way or say, when picking up a gallon of milk, and for three months now all my efforts are not working. If it is TMS, then it's as if my sub-concious will not snap out of it, even though I beat severe pain in my back and neck from TMS, as well as many other TMS maladies. This wrist will not give up its hold. I am now saying to myself, ok, so Doc Martinez says to go back to the hand surgeon. So I am entertaining surgery because I am so fed up and frustrated at this point and can't seem to shake it and I need some kind of relief. If it is TMS again, why won't it stop already when I got rid of it before way quicker? I know our mind does not use logic so that's unanswerable but three months is way longer than when I had it last year and I have beat far worse TMS stuff than this. All the journaling, reading, talking to my mind, etc. is not working so I am at a crossroads unfortunately. It's kind of akin to a few weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night in severe abdominal pain, and I posted here, thinking maybe this could be a TMS equavilent, and everyone said yes, it probably is. Turns out 18 hours in two emergency rooms later, they found I had a ruptured ovarian cyst - TMS theory shattered. Sometimes our maladies are not TMS. And I'm thinking that perhaps this wrist is one of those that is not. I don't know anymore. I am utterly frustrated and confused. Thanks everyone for your help.
|
Edited by - marytabby on 07/22/2006 09:27:08 |
|
|
|
art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2006 : 09:38:38
|
Mary, I hear you loud and clear. And of course I absolutely agree that not everything (or even most things) is TMS. (For what it's worth, I did not think your stomach situation was TMS)...What kind of wound me up again was hearing that Martinez had said last year it was probably TMS...I either had missed that or forgot it
I kind of wonder what would have happened if he'd backed up his initial diagnosis, whether perhaps this would have given you "permission" in a sense to get better...I'm assuming that it was only after he said it was TMS last year that it started to get better? But that's just idle speculation and not very useful
Since you've got a good track record of beating TMS via all the usual methods, I do agree that you've earned your doubts...
What does the surgeon say about his track record with this? Does he say there are other less drastic approaches that might be tried?
|
Edited by - art on 07/22/2006 09:39:34 |
|
|
|
marytabby
USA
545 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2006 : 09:43:00
|
| Yes, he says the alternatives are cortisone injections, which he gave me twice and each time I got relief for like 6 weeks at a time and then it came back. He then said, I cannot keep giving you injections or the tendon will deteriorate so your next option is surgery. |
|
|
|
art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2006 : 09:57:44
|
quote:
Originally posted by Maryalma8
Yes, he says the alternatives are cortisone injections, which he gave me twice and each time I got relief for like 6 weeks at a time and then it came back. He then said, I cannot keep giving you injections or the tendon will deteriorate so your next option is surgery.
I guess the only other thing I can say that might be useful is to suggest checking him out carefully if you haven't already. There's a website where you can check out doctors in Massachusetts to see if they've had any malpractice problems.. |
|
|
|
marytabby
USA
545 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2006 : 10:06:18
|
He's board certified and credentials are excellent via Harvard.
I doubt he's be allowed to practice at Harvard Vanguard if there were issues and I couldn't dig up any dirt on him online so I think he's fine. I also checked the MA.gov web and he was fine there. |
Edited by - marytabby on 07/22/2006 10:13:09 |
|
|
|
Allan
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2006 : 16:11:01
|
Mary.
My "impacted" spinal cord showed up on the MRI. Conclusion, a diagnosis of spinal stenosis. After a year of pain (TMS) I can bend over and touch my toes without end. Conclusion, what shows up on an MRI is not necessarily physical and rules out TMS. At least it didn't in my case. However, despite all of this it may not be TMS in your case.
Personaly, I would go with the surgery. This appears to be a very standard procedure that is not life threatening. What have you got to lose?
Allan. |
|
|
|
tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2006 : 16:56:56
|
Maryalma8,
How about trying to get a "consultaion" exam from Dr. Sarno? Although he does not accept out of state patients, maybe you could talk him into it, being a TMS devotee, in a quandary. Boston is not that far from NYC.
Good luck,
tt |
|
|
|
art
1903 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2006 : 19:45:37
|
quote:
Originally posted by tennis tom
Maryalma8,
How about trying to get a "consultaion" exam from Dr. Sarno? Although he does not accept out of state patients, maybe you could talk him into it, being a TMS devotee, in a quandary. Boston is not that far from NYC.
Good luck,
tt
Or even just a phone consult...Since you've got an MRI you can mail him, you could probably get an informed opinion just by telephone...
You know, if I haven't said so, I feel for you Mary...You've worked so hard at all this stuff and have made such great strides, only to have this thing come back at you, especially after so much time had gone by...I'd be beside myself...
|
|
|
|
marytabby
USA
545 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2006 : 20:20:59
|
Now you know how I feel, Art.
I am not only beside myself, I am completely at my wits end with it.
Allan, I understand it's pretty standard surgery, I believe you are correct. It's not even that big of a recovery. I feel I have to do what is right for me since all else on the TMS front has failed. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith and stop fighting in order to see for yourself what is real and what is not. I feel confident that I've given this 150% of my patience and hard work with the TMS concepts and legwork. I do not need to convince my brain anymore. My brain knows who is the boss, believe me. If it didn't I wouldn't have been able to get rid of the back and neck stuff. But anyway, the original subject of this posting was whether or not anyone knows Dr. Martinez and it turned into my wrist. So to get back to the original poster, yes, I have seen him and I have no formed opinion either way as to the TMS aspect of his practice. I have not gained much. |
Edited by - marytabby on 07/22/2006 20:31:41 |
|
|
|
h2oskier25
USA
395 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2006 : 14:27:48
|
MaryAlma,
I imagine you know of Nate McNamara's Site, www.conquerrsi.com
I started there, and that's how I found Dr. Sarno. I owe Nate a huge debt of gratitude, and I've told him so.
I had debilitating wrist pain for 7 years. No life. I did continue working though, so I got the crappy part of life.
Anyway, I rarely use the "R" word anymore, because I don't believe in it.
I have a really good MindBodyMantra I use specifically for my wrist pain. I'm going to e-mail it to you.
Please see my post about getting better
http://tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2242
Don't have surgery, don't have another shot.
Someone once said to me "RSI is ALWAYS something you are not facing."
The stomach thing threw you off your game and reminded you the body has true issues some time. I don't think this is one of them.
Remember, the brain can swell a tendon without breaking a sweat. I had swelling, believe me.
Beth |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Does anyone know of Dr. Martinez ?
