Two Christmases ago I debated what step to take next, get a wheelchair or go
for surgery. After ten years of back and hip pain, repeated appointments
with two physicians, one orthopedist, and three chiropractors, I could
barely walk, could not climb up the opposite curb of the street let alone a
flight of stairs, could not stand up straight, could lift almost nothing and
found myself weaving down the hallway because I'd lost my sense of balance.
The hip pain was excruciating, and I would haul myself up a flight of stairs
by pulling against a handrail. I had to be careful of where I sat; unless
the chair or couch had very sturdy arms on which I could push down, I might
not be able to get up. I was drawn, pale, on medication for stomach ills
caused by the medication for the pain which didn't work anyway, and aging
faster than I wanted. I was becoming more and more isolated because I could
move so little, and I guess, a lot depressed, which I didn't recognize. The
pain and physical limitations had taken over everything.

Dr. Baker was my absolutely last resort, and I told her that. I wanted a
diagnosis and a plan, and she gave me both. Frankly, I had no other
non-drastic options, so I thought I'd take one more shot at something short
of surgery.

Dr. Baker was the only one of all those doctors who took an x-ray and found
the many contributing causes of the pain. I had a few compressed discs and a
few vertebrae that were fusing together naturally. I also had
osteo-arthritis which no one else had even considered, and after ten years
of doing less and less because of the pain, I also had no muscle tone. Just
picking up a pencil or a piece of paper from the floor had to wait until I
could do that with as little pain as possible.

A few months after beginning work with Dr. Baker a friend said she could not
believe how much better I looked, how much less drawn and happier. It's hard
not be happier when little things like sitting up for a few hours are now
possible and walking to the corner now seems like a realistic goal. The day
I realized I could face the opposite curb without being afraid of it was a
major marker in recovery.

Dr. Baker is the only one of all those doctors who took my complaint, and
therefore me,  seriously, and that is the heart of her practice and her
approach. Each patient is considered individually, not just as another set
of symptoms that can be addressed with the same pattern of treatment or
non-treatment, which was more the case for me.

I am not nearly where I need to be yet, but I am so much stronger and more
confident because I am no longer afraid to leave my home, no longer worried
about what physical limitation will get in my way. I can't imagine not
working with Dr. Baker, and I can't imagine how to thank her, either, for
the care and sensitivity she showed this hunched-over, apparently elderly
lady who hurt so much and who had been written off by all those other
doctors. And, just for the record, I don't look all that elderly any more,
either.


Maria Simpson