Liz Fletcher
Liz Fletcher sat down with Instructor Carranza in August 2013 to talk about the tremendous progress she has made toward eliminating long-term back pain. Describing how she started with Tran Vitality Essentials, she said, “I started coming to TVE because I was referred by my co-worker and I am so happy that she did [refer me], because I had been looking for years and years for something to help me with my pain.” Liz had suffered an accident when she was 10 years old, and had been in treatment for back pain ever since. She saw many medical doctors, chiropractors, and even had acupuncture treatments. Of the many pain medications she was prescribed, she says, “Nothing seems to work for me. I take pain killers, very strong pain killers when I have flare ups. That doesn’t work either; it’s kind of like taking sugar pills. It does nothing for
me. The pain can be excruciating, acute pain where I can’t walk. It affects my life because I can’t do anything for myself. I can’t even brush my teeth on my own because I couldn’t walk. I have to miss weeks from work, so that affects me economically as well.”
Liz had suffered an accident when she was 10 years old, and had been in treatment for back pain ever since. She saw many medical doctors, chiropractors, and even had acupuncture treatments. Of the many pain medications she was prescribed, she says, “Nothing seems to work for me. I take pain killers, very strong pain killers when I have flare ups. That doesn’t work either; it’s kind of like taking sugar pills. It does nothing for me. The pain can be excruciating, acute pain where I can’t walk. It affects my life because I can’t do anything for myself. I can’t even brush my teeth on my own because I couldn’t walk. I have to miss weeks from work, so that affects me economically as well.”
As her back problems morphed into sciatica, Liz’s pain only became more intense. She says, “As I’m getting older, it always comes back stronger.” Liz’s co-worker Angie has been practicing with Dr. Tran at TVE for many years. She had seen firsthand how much the TVE programs help not only general health, but with specific problems as well. She had urged her friend Liz to come to TVE for some time. It was only after learning that Dr. Tran also uses acupressure for short-term relief of back problems that Liz agreed to see Dr. Tran. “I came and I felt better [after] the first session I had with him for acupressure and Dr. Anh Tran recommended I attend his Natural Healing program. And I’ve been coming for a couple of months now and I can really tell a difference. I used to have to use a walking stick when I had flare-ups, and rely on other people to get around. I don’t have to do that anymore.” About using pain-killers, she says, “I haven’t taken any pain killers since I started coming here, not even Advil. It’s been very helpful; it’s helped my back. I can sometimes feel a little bit of a stretch there, but if I do Dr. Tran’s Healing Program, [and] I do the stretching and the exercises, it calms it down greatly.”
Liz was so amazed at how much Dr. Tran’s Healing Program helped her back in less than three months, that she agreed to be interviewed by Dr. Tiep Truong, a fellow practitioner of Dr. Tran’s Wellness, at TVE’s August information seminar. Dr. Thien-An Nguyen, a family physician, also provided some insight, saying Liz “probably has impingement of the nerve outlet. The spine shifted a bit; nerves passing through the hole [in the spine] will pinch.” Dr. Nguyen suggested that the problem was with vertebrae L4 to S1 or so. She says that when presented with back pain, doctors usually order an MRI, but there really isn’t any correlation between the results of an MRI and the pain experienced by the patient. Doctors recommend exercise and Ibuprofen to relieve inflammation. Dr. Tran’s program helps the spine come back into alignment to correct curvature and balance the gait, and it strengthens ligaments, she says.
Liz said Dr. Tran also helped with her Multiple Sclerosis; she has more mobility, is more flexible, and is not having as many muscle spasms. “…and I have received, aside from relief for my back pain, I have received many, many benefits. The major one is I can live day to day without having to rely on pain killers or on somebody else to assist me to do something. I used to be very, very careful about everything I did like every step that I would take. I was like ‘Oh, no, if I take the laundry out my back’s going to flare up.’ Because that did happen one time; I was taking laundry out and for the next two weeks, I couldn’t move. So I don’t have to worry about that anymore. I feel confident in my back and I don’t feel the pain. It feels stronger. I feel stronger too, not just my back. I’m really happy that I don’t live in pain anymore.”
