I am 30 years old and I am from Gothenburg. When I woke up one morning in September, 2002, I could not get out of bed. My sense of balance was completely gone, so if I closed my eyes I would fall over, and I felt very nauseous. The doctors said that I had a virus infection wich had affected my sense of balance.
After four months my sense of balance was much better and my spells of nausea were now limited to the a.m. part of the day. Me and my girl friend were expecting our first child and I now figured that I would be recovered by the time of birth. But then it happened in a couple of days. The trouble with my sense of balance and my nausea came back while at the same time my hands and arms were greatly affected by co-ordination and control problems. I also began to slur when I spoke and I had double vision. I saw an emergency clinic and I was admitted to a neurological ward at the Sahlgrenska Hospital. They soon found that it was an inflammation to my nervous system. I was given cortisone injections which made my condition improve, but it only kept for a couple of weeks and then I was back at the neurological ward.
In the Spring of 2003 I went through several treatments with cortisone and cytotoxic drugs, with no lasting results. My condition was getting worse all the time. In August 2003 the doctors gave up trying to treat me. I was diagnosed with suspected primary progressive MS (multiple sclerosis). This diagnosis makes it clear that I can only get worse, without any chance of improving. Me and my girl friend went through a very difficult period in which you did not dare to look ahead, and I steadily got worse and worse. By that time my sense of balance and control of fine movements were so seriously affected that I was hardly able to walk with a rollator and I had great difficulty eating (my hand could not find my mouth). There was tremor in my arms as well as my legs and head, and I also found it very hard to talk (I slurred and it was hard for me to articulate).
In October 2003 a close friend of mine brought me along to a Qigong course in Kungsbacka. Before the course I estimated that I would be able to stand up for three or four minutes, so I was very sceptical as to whether I would be able to manage it and, if I did, would that be able to help me?
I joined the course, I stood up for two days with a chair in front of me with my legs wide apart and trembling, but I made it. As I left there, I figured that I would be all knocked-out for several days. When I woke up the next day I felt better and more energetic. All of a sudden I felt that I moved in a positive direction instead of feeling worse day by day. I started to practise at home, I joined the Evening Training and I participated in every course that was held in Gothenburg during the Spring of 2004. My sense of balance, the control of fine movements in my hands and legs, my speech and my double vision improved.
The great breakthrough was in the Spring when I dared to lift up my daughter (a little more than one year old at the time) for the first time since she was born. A little more than a month later when she had fallen asleep in my arms, I dared to carry her from our living room to the sleeping room.
In the Summer of 2004 I joined the Summer Courses in Kvänum. After half that period I was able to throw away my rollator and I could make do with a walking stick. After the Summer Course I felt much more stable and energetic. My sense of balance, control of fine movements and my double vision were much better. As I write this (in August 2004), nearly two years to the day since I fell ill, I make my way around with a stick, I have started to drive my car again, I can do domestic chores (when I feel like it) and I am about to start on a work rehabilitation program. My doctors now say that, since my condition is getting better, it can not be primary progressive MS!
What it is remains unclear but I do know that Zhineng Qigong has helped me very much and it is absolutely clear that I would not be this healthy today if I had not joined my friend on a Qigong course!
Per