Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021)
Beloved Grand Eagle
A TMSWiki.org podcast on Steve Ozanich’s book The Great Pain Deception, Chapter 5, How I Became Pain-Free will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 9 pm (Eastern time), and you can check in a half hour earlier. Here’s how to join the discussion:
Steve says his back pain began when he was in his early teens. A doctor diagnosed it as due to abnormalities in his back’s structure and said he would need to be operated on. For the next several decades and much pain he visited pain clinics, chiropractors, surgeons, and other health practitioners who diagnosed his pain as slipping and herniated discs to arthritis, fibromyalgia, and other physical problems. These medical reports led to him worrying about the cause of his pain and it intensified.
Steve wanted to avoid surgery because, as he says in Chapter 4, “I had witnessed my wife being paralyzed by a much less invasive procedure than I was about to have. In addition, of the dozens of people I knew who had had back surgery, it hadn’t worked for any of them.”
Steve said he was rather skeptical that TMS was causing his pain, but decided to give Dr. Sarno’s theory a chance. He spent days lying in bed from back pain, reading the Sarno books and trying to more fully understand TMS. Each day he would read and re-read the sections on mild oxygen deprivation and try to get out of bed and walk. He managed that but there was always pain. It was hard for him to fully believe what Dr. Sarno wrote, that “you cannot hurt yoursef,” because although you can feel the pain, it is not structurally-caused but emotionally-caused, by repressed emotions which in Steve’s case was rage.
Some people say they become pain-free almost immediately after reading Healing Back Pain, having fully accepted the theory that it is TMS-caused, but for Steve it was a long process. After half a year and still in pain, he wondered if he was naïve in following Dr. Sarno’s advice. He said instead of giving up, he bought an abridged audiotape set of the book. “This was a priceless step on my healing journey,” he says.
He found that hearing the tapes, listening to the doctor’s own voice, to be a more powerful sense than reading the book. “In my case, hearing was believing. We need to hear that we are safe – connected and doing okay. I needed to hear it from Dr. Sarno directly. On one of the audiotapes he was telling me I would be okay – much as I would expect to feel during a visit to his office.”
[Remember the times when we were young and hurt ourselves or were worried about something, and our mother comforted us, assuring us, “Everything is going to be okay”? Those were healing words.]
Steve’s healing did not happen instantly after hearing the tapes. Again, it took time. TMS healing cannot be rushed. It takes its own good time.
He began mentally going over all the possible reasons and repressed emotions for his pain. His list was long, and began with the phrase “paralyzed wife.”
After feeling some improvement in his back pain, Steve suffered a major setback. He couldn’t move his legs or stand. He couldn’t even crawl without pain. He began to have structural doubts again, which didn’t help his recovery. You have to believe 100 percent that your pain is TMS from repressed emotions. Even 90 or 99 percent won’t be good enough.
[I found this to be true in my own recovery, when I remained 10 percent believing my back pain was caused by aging, since I was 82 years old. When I firmly told my unconscious mind my pain was not structural but psychological, I healed.]
Steve wondered if walking was really helping heal him, but followed Dr. Sarno’s advice that it was necessary toward healing to be as active as possible. “That day was the pinnacle of TMS in me,” Steve says. “I will never forget it; to this day it continues to motivate me to always move forward and never give in to doubt – a fortification of my faith.”
Steve says he fought his doubt with the help of a Nike commercial he saw while in bed watching television. The words Just do it! were an inspiration. “Those words sent a shock wave of sudden determination through me.”
He lifted himself out of bed, stood up, and when pain ran down his legs, he no longer cared about it. Dr. Sarno said he would not be hurting himself by standing and walking. He decided then, it was all or nothing. He could hardly walk, but he made up his mind to get into his jogging clothes and shows and go outdoors and run. He could hardly tie the laces of his jogging shoes, and had not jogged in ten years, but he just did it.
He ran a mile around his neighborhood, while listening to Dr. Sarno’s inspirational voice on the headphones of his portable tape machine.
The mile he ran that day was, Steve says, “The start in the proper direction. The road that I began to run on that day was the road to recovery.
“Never yield to pain. If you do, you give in to your unconscious motivation for it.”
That’s it for now. Steve’s further steps toward becoming pain free are in his book and will be discussed in Tuesday’s podcast. Forest, Herbie, Becca, and others at TMSWiki.org/forum hope you will tune in.
If Steve can manage it with his busy schedule lecturing about TMS and his book, he will join in as he did last week and talk and answer questions.
- If you are connecting via telephone, dial 1 347 817 7654. When prompted, enter the meeting number 18311499 .
- If you are connecting via your computer (using the Fuze Meeting application), go tohttps://www.fuzemeeting.com/fuze/48fb7aa8/18311499 and follow the instructions from there.
Steve says his back pain began when he was in his early teens. A doctor diagnosed it as due to abnormalities in his back’s structure and said he would need to be operated on. For the next several decades and much pain he visited pain clinics, chiropractors, surgeons, and other health practitioners who diagnosed his pain as slipping and herniated discs to arthritis, fibromyalgia, and other physical problems. These medical reports led to him worrying about the cause of his pain and it intensified.
Steve wanted to avoid surgery because, as he says in Chapter 4, “I had witnessed my wife being paralyzed by a much less invasive procedure than I was about to have. In addition, of the dozens of people I knew who had had back surgery, it hadn’t worked for any of them.”
Steve said he was rather skeptical that TMS was causing his pain, but decided to give Dr. Sarno’s theory a chance. He spent days lying in bed from back pain, reading the Sarno books and trying to more fully understand TMS. Each day he would read and re-read the sections on mild oxygen deprivation and try to get out of bed and walk. He managed that but there was always pain. It was hard for him to fully believe what Dr. Sarno wrote, that “you cannot hurt yoursef,” because although you can feel the pain, it is not structurally-caused but emotionally-caused, by repressed emotions which in Steve’s case was rage.
Some people say they become pain-free almost immediately after reading Healing Back Pain, having fully accepted the theory that it is TMS-caused, but for Steve it was a long process. After half a year and still in pain, he wondered if he was naïve in following Dr. Sarno’s advice. He said instead of giving up, he bought an abridged audiotape set of the book. “This was a priceless step on my healing journey,” he says.
He found that hearing the tapes, listening to the doctor’s own voice, to be a more powerful sense than reading the book. “In my case, hearing was believing. We need to hear that we are safe – connected and doing okay. I needed to hear it from Dr. Sarno directly. On one of the audiotapes he was telling me I would be okay – much as I would expect to feel during a visit to his office.”
[Remember the times when we were young and hurt ourselves or were worried about something, and our mother comforted us, assuring us, “Everything is going to be okay”? Those were healing words.]
Steve’s healing did not happen instantly after hearing the tapes. Again, it took time. TMS healing cannot be rushed. It takes its own good time.
He began mentally going over all the possible reasons and repressed emotions for his pain. His list was long, and began with the phrase “paralyzed wife.”
After feeling some improvement in his back pain, Steve suffered a major setback. He couldn’t move his legs or stand. He couldn’t even crawl without pain. He began to have structural doubts again, which didn’t help his recovery. You have to believe 100 percent that your pain is TMS from repressed emotions. Even 90 or 99 percent won’t be good enough.
[I found this to be true in my own recovery, when I remained 10 percent believing my back pain was caused by aging, since I was 82 years old. When I firmly told my unconscious mind my pain was not structural but psychological, I healed.]
Steve wondered if walking was really helping heal him, but followed Dr. Sarno’s advice that it was necessary toward healing to be as active as possible. “That day was the pinnacle of TMS in me,” Steve says. “I will never forget it; to this day it continues to motivate me to always move forward and never give in to doubt – a fortification of my faith.”
Steve says he fought his doubt with the help of a Nike commercial he saw while in bed watching television. The words Just do it! were an inspiration. “Those words sent a shock wave of sudden determination through me.”
He lifted himself out of bed, stood up, and when pain ran down his legs, he no longer cared about it. Dr. Sarno said he would not be hurting himself by standing and walking. He decided then, it was all or nothing. He could hardly walk, but he made up his mind to get into his jogging clothes and shows and go outdoors and run. He could hardly tie the laces of his jogging shoes, and had not jogged in ten years, but he just did it.
He ran a mile around his neighborhood, while listening to Dr. Sarno’s inspirational voice on the headphones of his portable tape machine.
The mile he ran that day was, Steve says, “The start in the proper direction. The road that I began to run on that day was the road to recovery.
“Never yield to pain. If you do, you give in to your unconscious motivation for it.”
That’s it for now. Steve’s further steps toward becoming pain free are in his book and will be discussed in Tuesday’s podcast. Forest, Herbie, Becca, and others at TMSWiki.org/forum hope you will tune in.
If Steve can manage it with his busy schedule lecturing about TMS and his book, he will join in as he did last week and talk and answer questions.
Did Steve O have nerve pain in both legs? Mine in on my left SI joint the most, but both sides of my back hurt, both hips, outter legs, butt, into the toes. Tightnes, Pinching, tingling, burning etc. also my arms are affected. Ive been recovering using dr sarno techniques, trying to ignore the pain and hill walking each day etc, never pain free but much better. My problem is i haven't found anyone with my symptoms on this forum which has kept my fear alive and so are my symptoms. Mine seems more like nerve pain so i will do a nerve test in 3 weeks and will post my results. I fear si joint dysfunction which is not TMS related or is it? Thank you for everyone's help so far...
I've been searching for someone with my symptoms so I can relate to them and stay hopeful. Yes I am absolutely lonely, isolated and sometimes desperate to get my old life back. I was an acrobat and professional dancer, I performed and competed. My life was split in two, a performer and a mother. Alexandra the dancer has died, now days I am a stay at home mom. My "dancer" friends are gone, it's been my choice to stop all contact with them, it destroyes me to not be able to join them on stage. My stage costumes and makeup has been put into storage, my body has changed, i dont recognize myself sometimes. In my past I have battled drug and alcohol addiction and eating disorders, I never went to any meetings or asked for help because the super woman i thought i was could always win the battles, until now which is why i decided to reach out to all of you in this forum, ive asked for help and i recieved it...Thank you . I .have never been abused by anyone other than myself, I pushed my body and mind to exteemes with out a break for years. I am finally learning to take care, rest and love my body, and my soul. Pain has made me a better person and better mom with more compassion, patience, and love. When I heal I hope to help others specially my mom who is not strong enough to fight her own battle so for now I'm fighting for both if us...Thank you everyone who responded .
