Masseuse to Physiotherapist

I'm constantly amazed and blessed by my patients. I love medicine because I get to meet people. They give me joy when they are better and I'm touched by their resilience.

Grace * is incredible. I first met her more than a month ago . She had severe upper and lower back pain with constant fatigue. Grace had visited several healthworkers seeking help but she is was not getting better. She has a condition called Fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is a condition where patients have musculo-skeletal pain in several parts of the body but can't find an anatomical reason for the cause of this pain. When you do investigations , nothing is found. It is an unpleasant feeling because no one believes them that they are in pain and some people think that they are pretending.

Fibromyalgia affects quality of sleep. They don't sleep well and because of this they are constantly tired. Hence their work is affected. They sleep but don't wake up rested. This leads to sleep disorders and some are very cranky and irritable. For many of my patients, they are releaved to hear that they are not insane and that what they are feeling isn't imaginary. Those with good family- social connections recover / cope better because they are able to cope better and they are not alone in this journey.

Grace is such a person. The first time I met her, every thing was painful. She works as a masseuse in a tourist hotel. She had been working as a masseuse and frequently met many patients with back pain. Pain was something very distant to her and only associated with work. Unfortunately she also started to have pain. Grace fully understands what patients go through. As she had physical therapy she realised that she can have more impact on many people. She has decided to go back to school and study to become a physical therapist so that she can help more people. She realised that she can give back to society because she has been blessed and she is better.

Grace* Identity change to protect her privacy.