Osteoarthritis Pain uncovers unresolved grief

Stella (not her real name) came to see me in September 2008 because she had osteoarthritis in her right knee, and swelling due to a Baker's cyst (a benign swelling found behind the knee joint); and she had quite a bit of pain. Her family doctor told her all that the only thing that could be done was to take analgesics for the pain, and ice on the knee. She could also have a steroid shot in the knee.

Stella was taking the analgesics, and her stomach was feeling terrible. She wanted to know if she could get relief with EFT. I told her we could work on the emotional components of her pain and arthritis and that it might or might not be a one minute miracle. We've been having sessions once a week since mid September 8and are now in mid November), her pain was at a 9 and her leg was quite swollen from the knee down to her ankle when we started.

Some of the phrases we have tapped on include:
Even if I have this burning pain in my right knee…
Even if I was dismayed to hear I had develop osteoarthritis…
Even if I have osteoarthritis…
Even if the doctor smiled as she gave me the diagnosis…
Even if the doctor told me this will never be cured…
Even if the doctor doesn't want to be bothered by my symptoms…
Even if my knee is sore when I wake up in the morning…
Even if I can't sit crossed legged anymore…

We were not getting much relief, when she mentioned that when she called her mother, to share what the doctor had said, her mother was ecstatic!

Even if my mother was happy that I developed osteoarthritis…
Even if I can hear the glee in her voice…
Even if I'm scared I'm going to end up as crippled by arthritis as she is…
Even if I swore I wouldn't be like her, and now I have her disease…

We also tapped on her "worst" mother memory. At the end of the session, Stella's pain had gone down to a 6, and her leg was still swollen.

By now, I was intrigued on why we were making so little progress. The next session, I invited Stella to close her eyes and imagine she was going inside her knee. She drank an "invisible shrinking potion" (she's a Harry Potter fan) and went into the knee accompanied by Professor Dumbledore as backup support. She described the inside of her knee as a cavern that was very red, with a pipe that was tied up in a knot and leaking some liquid goo that was just lying there.

Even if the cavern looks very red….
Even if the pipe is tied up in a knot…
Even if the pipe is dripping liquid goo…
Even if this liquid goo is just lying there…

Then I asked what emotion she felt as she looked around. She said she felt she was choking, and there was sadness.

We tapped for the choking and the sadness, and what came up was a memory of her dad saying goodbye to her and telling her that he and her mom were getting a divorce, and she had never cried and kept it all in. Stella had been 7 at the time, she didn't have anyone to talk to and felt she had to be brave.

We tapped on:

Even if Daddy is saying goodbye, I was such a good girl.
Even if I was so sad, and confused and lonely…
Even if I didn't want Daddy to leave…
Even if Daddy looks so sad…
He's holding his hat in his hands…
Even if I was brave, I now choose to express my sadness.
Even if I was choked up, I can now express how I feel…

Stella was connecting for the first time to all the feelings she had buried about the experience, and expressing them as we did round after round.

Even if I am so incredibly sad…
Even if I feel so hurt…
Even if I feel so lonely…
Even if I feel that I did something to cause this…

After this session, the pain went down to 0, and the swelling was reduced by 80%. Also, she said that the inside of her knee now looked pink and shiny. There was a lot less goo on the floor, and the pipe looked straight and normal.

We have continued working on that event, and included her relationship with her mother during her parents divorce. Stella can now go up and down the stairs without pain, and she can sit cross legged for short periods. She still has some swelling on her knee; the Baker's cyst has not completely disappeared, there has been a huge improvement and we're still tapping!