Recovery Stories: Lucy Breeze

I was diagnosed with ME in 2003. In 2001, shortly after gaining a 2:1 BA in Modern Languages at the University of Central Lancashire I was taken ill (it's a long story) and ended up having major surgery on my stomach.  It took me six months to get back to normal and after so long out of circulation I caught 'flu as soon as I went back to work.  Six weeks later I got another bug - a virus of some kind.   That really knocked me for six and I ended up in tears at the doctor's surgery one day, I just couldn't manage to do much at all.

My doctor was very patient and understanding and she sent me first to a psychologist specialising in ME and then to a physiotherapist.   I followed the advice given to me by both of these and was able, with careful attention to my diet, lots of rest and a positive attitude, to lead a better life than most people with ME.  Luckily for me, I had met someone who really loved me, who stood by me and did everything for me.   My main hobby is ballroom dancing and though I had at last the man of my dreams who actually wanted to dance too, I just hadn't got enough energy to dance every dance with him.   Never mind, I did the best I could and joined in when I could, sat down when I could not.

One of our dancing friends gave me a cutting from the "Daily Mail" Letters page in November/December 2008.   The letter was from a lady who had recovered from ME using the Lightning Process.  I thought 'what have I got to lose?' so I went on to the Internet and found my local practitioner - Helen James of Bury, Lancashire.   I ordered the book written by Phil Parker to explain his method and read this over Christmas.  I felt that I had found the missing piece of my jigsaw and gave the book to my husband who, in my opinion, was 'stuck' and would, according to Phil, therefore also benefit from doing the course.

We then contacted Helen again and booked on a course together.   Helen talked us through the process to ensure that we understood fully what was involved.   We attended the course in Bury from 11th to 13th February 2009 and neither of us has looked back.  We travelled to Bury and booked into a hotel because Helen advised us that it was better to have a complete break from the normal routine. The following morning we went to meet Helen.  I was a little nervous, not sure what to expect, but I need not have worried, Helen was so welcoming and kind that I soon felt completely at ease and ready to learn.

Helen guided us gently through the first session and then told us what she wanted us to do.   We went to look round nearby Ramsbottom and had lunch there, following which we looked round the village and then went back to the hotel.  I found an immediate benefit on Day 1, following attendance at that first session in several ways. The first was in understanding, accepting and dealing with an issue I had had with my Mother since I was very small.   My Mother has been dead 17 years but I still couldn't completely shake off a feeling of inadequacy.  That first evening I realised with a shock that Mother had been trying, in her own way, to get me to be the very best.  Her method didn't work with me - it had the reverse effect.  I felt elated at this realisation and felt a literal surge of physical energy, like an electric current, running through my body.  I felt happier than I had for ages and at peace with my Mum.  Helen was quite right of course, had I been at home I would have been distracted and probably wouldn't have concentrated on the LP to the same extent.

An hour or so later, I realised something else.  I had been quietly fuming on the drive to Bury and throughout the remainder of the previous day - my husband had booked us both on a radio course.  I didn't want to do it and was annoyed with him for even thinking such a thing - he's the radio fanatic, the expert in our family.  I used to be a DJ in a disco but, apart from voice overs, have never had any desire to do radio work.  I did not tell him that I was annoyed but I imagine he may have sensed it.   That evening I did the exercises that Helen had taught us and began to feel that here was a challenge, a chance to learn something new and slowly I began to change my thinking about attending that radio course.

We completed the Lightning Process course with Helen on 13th February and when I look back now, it seems amazing to me that only 4 months have passed because we have fitted so much in the intervening weeks.   The first thing that happened when we returned home was that I had persuaded myself that I was really looking forward to going on the radio course and Paul suddenly changed his mind!   'No', I told him 'We're booked on the course, it wouldn't be right to pull out now. We're going!"  He looked at me in amazement.

From the outset I enjoyed the ten week course to prepare and present radio programmes with Preston FM Community Radio - I think Community Radio is a brilliant concept and that every town should have one.   We are now presenting regular, hourly shows and I love it.   I can't pretend it was easy - but every time I felt 'I can't do this' I simply ran the LP exercise that Helen taught us.

We also held a very successful dance and I did the LP on that too when we got home from Bury - Paul had been thinking of cancelling but we turned it round and had an excellent evening.  I was still going strong at 11.45 p.m. - whereas I would normally have been at home in bed by then.

Now I find that if I forget and edge towards negative behaviour over anything at all, then Paul suggests LP and I do the same for him. It was a terrific benefit having Paul do the course with me - he didn't realise that he had any 'issues' until the course began.  We both apply LP to every single area of our lives and since 11th February I can honestly say we have moved to the life we love.  

Love from Lucy