2 Years Symptom Free From Neck Pain and IBS After 20+ Years of Suffering!!

Hi, my name is Alan Yacavone and I am a Vice President at The New York Times. I recently submitted my personal and very miraculous TMS recovery story to the “Well” & “Modern Love” sections of the Times, which they are currently reviewing for publication. In the event that my story is not published due to the enormous volume of submissions they receive, I feel it is important to post about my success here, where my path to healing began. It was on this website where I found Laurel Steinberg, Ph.D., the TMS therapist that ended my 20+ years of excruciating “stress neck” and 5 years of disabling irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), both of which were completely ruining my life. This group’s courageous success stories were very inspiring as well.

Our work together has been life changing and nothing short of a miracle, as I am now over 2 years completely symptom free, and doing wonderfully in every area of my life: mentally, physically, emotionally and professionally. The days of not being able to turn my neck due to extreme pain and also being hesitant to leave the house due to fear of having an upset stomach at an inopportune moment are long gone. Today, I wake up energized and ready to live my life to the fullest including swimming three days a week - something I could never have thought possible just a few years ago.

My outlook on life is strongly optimistic, I believe the best is yet to come, and I have gained a wonderful friend and ally in Dr. Laurel, who has been fantastic at every turn. There was never a subject she couldn’t handle with grace, finesse, smarts, charm and humor. I have learned invaluable thinking skills and strengthened my relationship with myself. I feel strong and very proud of the person I am today.

I also want to thank this wonderful TMS Wiki forum for the encouragement and support I received, and also the late Dr. Sarno, whose theory and materials helped pave the way for me to be well. Finding this community and being able to get well spared me from a lifetime of pain and suffering and potentially having to explore the possibility of having orthopedic surgery, which I was offered several times. I’ll be forever grateful for being able to heal and I pray for everyone here who is suffering to find their path to healing. Never give up!

 

Congratulations on your recovery! This wonderful story made my nite. Dr. Laurel is my doctor too, wow!!!! She is a complete doll. I'm now a little more than 1.5 years migraine headache free, and am simply pinching myselver in joy every single day. Tell her hi from Sandy!!

 

Wow! Thank you for sharing. So inspiring.

 

Great story! So glad you shared! Thank you!!!

 

Thank you for telling us your story! I’m having a bit of a relapse and it’s nice to see activity here in the TMSWiki!

 

Yes! We have activity here! Welcome back!

 

Thank you Diana!

 

Seeing Eric's post reminded me of the toast Laurel and I had to our successful work and my full healing!