I have been in private practice for twenty years as a board certified foot and ankle surgeon and Podiatrist and have seen many interesting cases during that time. Still, the case which I am about to share with you is beyond anything that I ever expected to encounter in the practice of medicine.
It was July of 1997 that I first saw Dawn Roberts (assumed name) in my office. She was 19 years old, mildly overweight, and was depressed because she was still getting over the loss of her mother in August of 1996 due to Kidney failure as a complication of diabetes. Dawn came to me with a complaint of aching and throbbing pain in her right heel that was worse upon arising but was occurring all day now. She had tried rest, ice, Advil and heel pads but the pain did not subside. Her medical history was unremarkable and her physical exam was positive for tightness of the arch tendon (plantar fascia) on the bottoms of both feet and flat arches. Radiographs revealed a moderate sized right heel spur, (excess bone formation) as a result of the arch tendon pulling excessively on the bottom of the heel.
Over the course of five months, I treated her with a series of cortisone injections, physical therapy, Celebrex (another pain medicine), massaged her arches and taped her feet to provide more support for her arches. I also took a plaster cast of her feet to fit her for custom arch supports. In most cases, supporting the arches with taping and custom arch supports would decrease the pull of the arch tendon where it inserts into the heel, thus reducing the inflammation and resultant pain. Still, the pain did not get better; it even got worse to the point where she wished to have surgery. In January of 1998, she underwent release of her plantar fascia with removal of her heel spur as an outpatient with no complications. One week after the surgery she was doing fine, there was minimal swelling, no remaining discoloration and the incision was well healed. Her post-operative course was uneventful until the fourth week.
On the fourth week, Dawn started to experience shooting pain down from her ankle (medial tarsal tunnel) to her toes. She had not complained of this pain prior to her surgery. She exhibited tingling sensation with palpation over the tarsal tunnel area (which we call, technically, a positive Tinel's sign). . I injected her Posterior Tibial nerve with a cocktail of anesthetics (6 cc of .5% Marcaine, 1cc of Celestone), and 1cc of vitamin B-12 to help break up the pain cycle and reduce the inflammation.
One week later, I saw Dawn and she continued to have burning shooting pain from her ankle to the ball of her foot. The injection had only helped for 1-2 days. After trying a series of two more injections without success, she was getting very frustrated and wanted surgery. I thought that perhaps the heel spur surgery had unmasked her tarsal tunnel syndrome that had always been there, although I was not sure. I ordered an electromyogram (EMG) and nerve conduction velocity (NCV) studies and they were normal. Still, normal EMG and NCV studies do not rule out tarsal tunnel syndrome and in the end, it remains a clinical diagnosis -- in the practice of the art of medicine. I decided to be aggressive as she perceived her pain to be an 8/10 (10 being the worst it could be) and it was getting so bad she could not even sleep despite taking Vicodin ES for pain. With Dawn's consent, I performed a complete surgical tarsal tunnel release of her right ankle as an outpatient in May of 1998.
The surgery went great and during the first 3 weeks post-operatively she was healing very well. Her incision was well healed, and there was minimal swelling. Her pain had gone down from an 8/10 to a 3/10 and she was able to sleep. However, in the fourth week she started to regress as she had after her heel spur surgery. Her pain came back with a vengeance. She now perceived her pain as a 10/10. About 4 weeks later, her ankle and foot begin to swell, and her skin became dryer, pale, mottled and appeared a little blue. Her total clinical picture now unveiled a diagnosis that is usually recalcitrant to treatment, called Regional Complex Pain Syndrome.
Over the next three years, I continued to see her every single week for emotional support if nothing else but also had her see many different specialists, including a neurologist, neurosurgeon, orthopedist, psychologist and consultants at two different pain clinics. Dawn was taking a number of medications including 40mg Oxycontin per day, 400mg Neurontin four times a day and Paxil for her depression but she was not responsive. Her pain became severe enough that I guarded movement in her right lower extremity by putting her in a removable below the knee cast and dispensed crutches. Dawn was unable to bear weight on her right foot without excruciating pain and she exhibited severe pain with just the lightest touch of her skin (allodynia) from midway down her right leg to her toes. Dawn was depressed, frustrated, and in a constant state of agony. As a physician, I tried to be objective as possible but seeing such a young woman suffering, my patient who became worse after two surgeries, I felt emotionally drained.
In December of 2001, I saw Dawn in my office and there was no change in her condition. She still had Regional Complex Pain Syndrome involving her right lower extremity, from her mid-calf to her toes. I asked Dawn's permission to try spiritual healing -- a gift that had come to me very suddenly and unexpectedly eight months earlier. I told her briefly that I had become more spiritual and had been having success applying spiritual healing to many of my patients. Dawn was raised Catholic and even though I was Jewish, she had complete trust in me and gave her consent.
I reclined her table and made Dawn as comfortable as possible. I told her to close her eyes and relax. I began by lightly placing my hands on her shoulders and reciting the Priestly Benediction, the three-fold blessing from the Torah, the Old Testament. My son had read the Priestly Benediction as his Torah portion during his Bar Mitzvah and I knew it was a blessing I was to recite for my patients, mentally or out loud, during my healing sessions. The Priestly Benediction helped me connect to my own inner divinity and become a channel for the Divine healing energy.
As I recited this holy and sacred prayer in Hebrew, Dawn suddenly opened up her eyes. Her eyes had changed from being oval to a frightening serpentine shape and her facial expression also transformed to being very angry and threatening. A masculine deep voice arose from Dawn's mouth and angrily blurted out profanities. She made it clear that she wanted me to shut up.
I was stunned by her verbal attack but I was calm and kept my composure. A friend of mine, Dr. Jim Uhl, a nontraditional clinical Psychologist and ex-Jesuit who specialized in Spirit Release work came to my mind. He had given me some advice on what to do should I ever confront a situation such as I was now facing. I also had my cassette recorder for dictation in my coat pocket and I turned it on to record.
I was surprised how calm I was as I asked, "What is your name?" He blurted out profanity and moving his (Dawn's) upper body and head toward me, said, "You're scared, aren't you?"
Intuitively, I stepped closer. I was still unusually calm, serene and peaceful. I knew I had Divine assistance. I told him, "There is nothing to be afraid of. Now what is your name and why are you bothering Dawn."
He blurted out his name in a language I could not understand as he attempted to get out of the chair to attack me. Before he could arise totally from his chair I said with authority, "I am casting a golden net over you, you cannot move!"
I then imagined a golden net around this demonic being. I had been taught to do this by Dr. Jim Uhl. Immediately, he lay back on the chair and seemed frustrated. I then asked this entity (or other personality or whatever I was dealing with) several questions. I asked why he was bothering Dawn, if he was the reason behind her pain, and what he wanted from her. He was now cooperative and spoke to me in a quiet but sinister tone.
He told me that Dawn's mother had been a brittle diabetic and it affected both her kidneys. When her right kidney was on the verge of total failure, she needed a new right kidney or she risked dying from renal failure. Dawn had been too scared to donate her kidney for her mother and her mother ended up dying from renal failure. Dawn had been very close to her mother and after her death she carried the burden of guilt heavily upon her. This made her vulnerable to the dark entity to become part of her. With pride, he told me that Dawn attempted suicide twice before and the entity showed me the scars on both her wrists. He wanted her to die but he enjoyed her suffering and he put the thoughts in her head that she deserved to suffer to redeem her from the sin of not sharing her kidney for her own mother whom she loved so much. Her father had had her see a psychiatrist but Dawn would always act normally, as the dark entity or dark side of Dawn would stay hidden. He told me that Dawn kept all of this knowledge of her past from me as she was ashamed. She was full of shame and guilt and this made him happy.
Suddenly, there was a knock on my treatment door and my nurse came in to tell me I was getting backed up with patients. The entity immediately stopped talking to me and Dawn had her eyes closed and appeared relaxed. I told my nurse I would be right there and she left the room. I told Dawn I would count to seven and when I reached seven she would awake and be back and grounded in her body. At seven, she opened her eyes. She had no recollection of what had transpired, even when I questioned her directly if she remembered what she had had said. After I got caught up seeing my other patients, I returned to Dawn again and explained what had happened. She could not believe it but when we listened to parts of the recording I had made, she was just shocked. I told her that I did not know what I was dealing with as this was not my area of expertise!
I wondered to myself whether she had a multiple personality disorder or other psychiatric disorder. I did not know. Maybe this demonic entity was something that she created in her own mind and brought it to life or maybe it was indeed real. Either way, this dark energy that she was carrying around was very real and was creating havoc with her on all levels: spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical.
I did not want Dawn to be left alone and risk her attempting suicide. I admitted her to the hospital for pain control, IV antibiotics for a wound she developed on the ball of her right foot and for a psychiatric evaluation. I also asked her if I had permission for Dr. Jim Uhl to help her in any way he could and I explained a little about his work in Spirit Release. Dawn gave permission. She was willing to try anything to get rid of her pain and go back to living a normal life. She wanted to release her victim consciousness and embrace life once again.
I spoke To Dr. Uhl about Dawn and my encounter with the demonic entity or another personality of Dawn. Dr. Uhl suspected that she had brought into herself a dark spirit and scheduled a time to release the dark entity on Monday at 11am with a colleague of his, Shelia Henson, a medical intuitive. Sheila is also able to communicate with Archangel Michael and with disembodied spiritual entities. I was invited to attend the session and made changes in my office schedule so I could be there. Dr. Uhl also explained to me that he does not have to have the patient physically present as this is done in the spiritual realm and is unlike the exorcisms the Catholic Church performed or what was seen in the movies.
I arrived at Dr. Uhl's office on Monday, January 21, 2002. Over the weekend, Dawn had seen the psychiatrist, who was of little help as her other, dark personality/entity stayed hidden. The psychiatrist thought she just had depression as a result of her chronic pain. Dr. Uhl appeared to be our last chance. I met Shelia Henson who was very nice. When I shook her hand, I noticed how warm it was. Her energy was really flowing. The three of us sat in a conference room and Dr. Uhl turned on a tape recorder. After the session, he always gives the tape to the client.
What followed was pretty hard to believe. Dr. Uhl brought Dawn's higher-self into the room. Physically, Dawn was not present but spiritually she was there in the room, although I had no direct way of proving this. Shelia had her eyes closed as she spoke to Dawn in a very loving and peaceful tone and told her there was nothing to fear, that we were all here to help her. Shelia brought in Jesus and Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. She then made contact with the dark entity and both she and Dr. Uhl asked him several questions including his name, what year he was born, where he had lived, why he has attached himself to Dawn and other relevant details.
After the question and answer session, Dr. Uhl told the entity that he must depart and go into the light where his loved ones are waiting for him. He had been deceived by Satan -- told that he would be judged and sent to Hell if he went into the Light but that was not true. He told the entity to look deep within himself and he would be able to see a light within himself. He was a part of the Light, of the source of all and it was time for him to return. He was told again, he would not be judged for life on Earth is about experience and learning lessons. It was time for him to go back into the light and he would be escorted by Jesus and the Archangels. As Dr. Uhl conversed with the entity, he never raised his voice, speaking to him in a very confident, professional manner. The entity agreed to leave and he was escorted into the Light.
Shelia then scanned Dawn's body and with the help of channeling Archangel Michael, she stated she was seeing sick cells of her heart. The tissue, the cells located in her upper right heart were sick and were not firing right. She raised her right hand up and said she was applying golden healing energy over the right upper heart to help heal the sick cells.
Shelia then saw Dawn's wound on the ball of her foot and described it perfectly even though she had no idea of Dawn's medical history. She also saw that her right foot and ankle were swollen and painful and she raised her hand up and applied golden healing light to the area. She then spoke to the higher-self of Dawn and told her she will go on to heal, now that she is free of the entity which had been blocking her life-force energy. She also told her to release her guilt, that her mother is fine on the other side and loves her and wants her to be happy. Shelia then thanked Dawn's higher self for being there and invited her to return again to her physical body. The session was over, and the tape recorder was turned off.
After the session, I did not know what to think. Did all of that really happen? I walked to the parking lot and before getting in my car; I phoned Dawn at the hospital and asked her if anything unusual happened in the last hour. She was surprised I asked that question for she told me that she had just awoken from a dream. I was just floored when she told me what the dream was about. She told me in chronological order all that had happened during the spirit release session! I saw her in the hospital later that day and her pain was improved to a 4/10. She appeared in much better spirits and it was nice to see her finally smile. I discharged Dawn from the hospital the following day.
One week later, I saw Dawn in my office and scheduled her as the last patient of the day so I could spend extra time with her. She was doing better. Although her right leg pain was still present, it remained a 4/10 rather than a 9/10. Dawn was still ambulating with her cam walker. Her right foot and ankle were still mildly swollen with 1+ edema and the right extremity was cooler on touch than the left. There remained tenderness and excessive sensitivity (hyperesthesia) along the posterior tibial nerve within the right tarsal tunnel area.
Now that she had her spirit release work done, I wanted to try another spiritual healing session for a two-fold purpose. First, I wanted to make sure the dark energy of the imagined or non-imagined demonic entity was gone and secondly I wanted to see if I could further facilitate Dawn helping herself on the spiritual level which would then help her on all levels: emotionally, mentally, and physically.
As a spiritual facilitator, my goal was to help Dawn free herself from her self-imposed prison, walls built not of iron and concrete but of shame and guilt. To free her once and for all, I would serve as the bridge for her to discover and open the inner door to her true self, her divine indwelling essence. To help her release her emotional pain, I planned to use 'Energetic Diamond Rebalancing' or EDR, a spiritual facilitation modality that came to me in meditation.
Dawn gave me consent for the healing session and I had her close her eyes as I brought in my spiritual guides as well as Dawn's to assist in her healing and help create a sacred and safe space in which to work. I asked Dawn to relax and to breathe in the golden divine healing light through her nose and exhale the energy that no longer served her through her mouth. As she did so, I closed my eyes and focused on my breath as I cleared myself of all thoughts so I could be an open vessel to receive. I imagined the healing energy coming through me from the crown of my head and my aura to my heart. At the same time and with intent, I breathed in my own inner Divinity, allowing it to expand deep from within me to fill my lungs, heart and entire being. I felt the energies of all my chakras melding together with my heart chakra as one and being expressed outward to form the structure of a diamond. This was a diamond of unity, compassion, understanding, peace and all that is of love. I stood behind her head and shoulders as I stepped into my divine will and imagined the diamond over her, seeing her in the center of the diamond, a diamond portal between the material and spiritual dimension.
With my hands placed on the front of her shoulders, I recited the Priestly Benediction and this time she remained very relaxed and comfortable. I told her she was safe, that she was loved and there was no judgment. By creating a sacred, safe space for her and bringing forth the Divine healing energy to her, she would then better be able to go within and discover the light of the source of all within her. As a spiritual facilitator, I wanted her to reconnect to her own inner true self since our greatest healing occurs when we come to find out who we really are.
In this sacred safe space, I asked Dawn to bring to the front of her consciousness all her emotional pain involving her mother. I told her to allow all the pain, all the guilt, shame and fears to come up to the surface. It was time to let the destructive energy go as it no longer served her. I told Dawn to breathe in through her nose the healing light of love, joy and compassion for herself, while I held the Diamond over her in my mind's eye.
In her exhalation through her mouth, I told her to breathe out all her guilt, shame, fears, anger, sorrows and all the pain that no longer served her as I visualized the gray energetic haze emanating from her, flowing into the diamond portal to be transmuted to light and come back to her as light. Tears were rolling down Dawn's eyes but she was doing well as she brought forth all of her emotions and was releasing them through her breathe. I encouraged her to cry as much as she needed but to bring forth all her emotional pain and thank it for the lessons it had taught her and also encouraged her to give it permission to be released from her.
Dawn had been fed by the energy of victimhood long enough. It no longer served her needs and she was ready to transform herself to become the creator of her own reality. I was filled with joy as I saw her breathe out the painful energy of the past that has been embedded in her subconscious mind and emotional and mental body alike. Dawn was ready; ready to release the past and live in the present, to be propelled by a new future. And I would help her any way I could. Healing her past, breaking down her self-imposed mental walls would finally allow her to be free and come to a deeper understanding of all that she has gone through.
I stood at her side as I placed the back of my hands a few inches from her body in her emotional field and helped facilitate releasing the energy that no longer served her in the diamond portal. I started at the level of her first chakra and worked myself up to her crown chakra. As I did this, I imagined each of her chakras opening up to expel the energies that were ready to be released from her present lifetime and past lifetimes as well.
I then asked Dawn's spiritual guides to assist in the release of her spiritual cords, cords that have been attached to people in the present and past that have been draining her power. It was time for Dawn to be empowered and take responsibility for her life and give her power to those people only with her permission. It was time to sever all of those spiritual cords for her highest good. Moving my hands across her, I severed her spiritual cords from head to toe and when I was finished, I clapped my hands and said, "You are free; all of your spiritual cords are severed, you are no longer the victim but the creator of your reality."
Dawn's tears had stopped flowing and her eyes remained closed. She appeared very relaxed, very peaceful now. With the palms of my hands facing her, I allowed the divine healing energy to come from the Source of all, through my heart chakra, through the Diamond to Dawn. I saw the divine healing light filling her in all her dimensions with total love, joy and compassion. I began to feel Dawn's divinity come through her to me and I too was feeling a tremendous sense of peace and overwhelming joy. When you give, you always receive.
After the session, I allowed her a few minutes to rest and become fully grounded in her body. I gave her a glass of water to drink and told her to drink 8 to 10 glasses of water daily over the next two weeks as it would help with the cleansing process. I had her get up and walk and she felt very light on her feet. All of her pain of her right foot and ankle was gone; she was at a 0/10 for the first time since I had known her. I was able to palpate her right tarsal tunnel area and the sharp pain and tenderness was absent. She was walking down the hallway with me at her side with just her socks, without her removable cast and crutches! She was so happy, as was I. It was just amazing.
Six weeks later, Dawn was experiencing shortness of breath and her heart was beating very fast at times. She saw a Cardiologist and her tests showed she had atrial fibrillation; she had disease of her SA node, a part of the heart that regulates the heartbeat. These were the sick cells that were not firing right in her upper right heart that Shelia had seen! After a minor procedure to remove the misfiring cells, she was fine.
Four weeks after the spirit release session, the wound on her right foot was healed and she was still ambulating without a walker or crutches. Her swelling was diminished and her right lower extremity was no longer cool or painful to the touch. Her pain was still absent, her mood elevated without signs of depression and she was like a new person. I last spoke to Dawn in January of 2004 and she was doing great, without any complaints of her right foot and ankle and finishing up school to be a nurse. I was so happy for her, Dawn had emerged from the darkness and into the light. Below is Dawn's written testimonial of what happened after the spirit release session:
WRITTEN TESTIMONIAL FROM DAWN ROBERTS ON 1/21/02
In August of 1996, I lost my mother. She was the person I loved most in this world. Living with an alcoholic father and brother whose tempers were very unpredictable, her and I had fostered a bond that most mothers and daughters are unable to achieve in a lifetime. We did it in 18 years. I had put off a promising college career at Notre Dame to stay close to home so I could care for my mother in whatever times she had left. However, I was hoping it would have been longer than 1996.When my mother died that day, it was like a piece of me died along with her. Being raised by a mother with an undying faith in God, that was whom I turned against. I hated God for taking my mother away from me. Before she died she tried to tell me that I shouldn't blame or hate God, He loved me. But I wouldn't and could not listen. All I could see was the person that meant the most to me in this world was suffering the most horrible pain a person could and God was standing there watching and doing absolutely nothing. After she died I let God know exactly where I stood with Him. It was at that point that I quit praying, going to the mass, and refused to even discuss the G-word with anybody. He took my mom away and I wanted restitution.
But at this time it wasn't Just God I was angry at, I was also angry with myself. The last six to eight months of my mother's life she had went into renal failure and needed a kidney. I remember it vividly: each time the doctors came in, they would talk about a transplant, donors, and painful dialysis. Each time I sat there and didn't say anything. Here I was a healthy, young person, her daughter, and never once said, take my kidney. I was scared. I was watching my mother die and I didn't know what to do. After she died and I received the death certificate, there it was in black in white. The cause of death was renal failure. At the time the only thing I could see was that I, her loving devoted daughter, had killed her. Over the next five years I would have to live with that guilt that I put on myself. Not only did I feel that God had let her down but that I had also. The one thing growing up I never wanted to do was let my mother down. Now when she needed me the most, when she was in pain, I had let her down in the worst way.
Over the next five years following her death I couldn't stop thinking about my mother and how I had let her down. I emotionally beat myself up. Not only was I feeling bad emotionally but I was not feeling so good physically either. Dr. Gaynor was doing everything humanly possible to relieve my pain and get me better, but nothing was working. As each year passed, it seemed like I was getting worse physically and emotionally. But Dr. Gaynor wouldn't give up. There were plenty of days when I felt like giving up, as I'm sure there were for Dr. Gaynor, but there was always a little part of me that wanted to keep going no matter how bleak things looked.
Then about eight months ago, I started to notice a change in Dr. Gaynor. He seemed to possess a more caring, understanding manner with me. He knew that spirituality was important to me, as I knew it was important to him. He seemed to have a more spiritual side to him, almost mystical in a way. Looking at him he has this warm, white, glowing light surrounding him. It was a side of Dr. Gaynor I had never seen before, so I wasn't sure what to make of it at first. But it allowed for me to have a line of open communication with him that we had not had before. Actually, it made him a better doctor because he was able to connect with his patient in a way that he was not able to before. By Dr. Gaynor being able to connect with me, he was able to find out the things that I was not getting better, that in and of itself was worth it to me. By my guilt of not giving my kidney to my mother, I was punishing myself by hurting myself because I felt I did not deserve to get better.
I realize that what you have heard might sound a little off the wall. Let's face it, medicine is based on science, and this sounds a little "unscientific". I wasn't sure what to make of it. Dr. Gaynor had a recording of our conversation and I don't remember a thing. But something happened. Just like what happened on Monday January 21, 2002 during my dream. Dr. Gaynor knew exactly who was there, what their names were and what happened even though I was the one that had the dream. Well, maybe I should start from the beginning to give you a better picture of what happened in my dream.
THE DREAM
Around 11:15 am on Monday, January 21, 2002 I was wide-awake flipping through the channels on my television in my hospital room. When without much warning I laid my head back and shut my eyes and thought I fell asleep, even though a minute ago I was wide awake and watching television. In the "dream" I awoke in Dr. Gaynor's office, but there was all of this bright light in there. While standing there I came face to face with myself, but it didn't seem like me. This person was me and was on the black side of the room. I looked around and Dr. Gaynor was there and he was wearing these black pants and shoes and this dark jacket. Looking around the white side of the room, since that was the brightest there was this big grey wolf-like dog and there was another animal that I couldn't see that well except that it had big black eyes. Behind me was this woman with glasses on her head, dressed hippie-like with a very soft, soothing voice. The man, whose name was Raphael, was also awash in the brilliant white light. All of those individuals were praying, but at first all I could hear was the 'mean Mary' say she wanted to stay, that I needed her. Then warmth started to form in the middle of my chest and a white light came shining through my chest. As that was happening, my right foot started to do the same thing that my chest did and I felt this heavy, black feeling leave my body and a white, good feeling take over. When I woke up it was 12:30 pm. The pain in my right foot was almost gone, which never happens. I had talked to Dr. Gaynor later and told him about the unusual dream I had. If I thought the dream was weird, Dr. Gaynor's response was even more. He knew what time I had had it, he knew about the wolf, the woman, even what she was wearing down to the glasses on her head, Raphael, and he was there and what he was wearing. He even knew where the warmth and light started in my body and where it traveled to next. The clincher is, the guy even has it on tape because he was nowhere near the hospital when I had the dream.
[1] DPM: Doctor of Podiatric Medicine
[2] DABPS: Diplomate American Board Podiatric Surgery
Steven Gaynor, DPM, is board certified in foot and ankle surgery. Dr. Gaynor sold his Podiatry practice to pursue his passion in spiritual healing. Dr. Gaynor is an international speaker and author of From Physician to Healer, A Doctor's Encounters with Spiritual Healing. He is also the founder of his spiritual healing method called, "Energetic Diamond Rebalancing" that came through in his meditations. Dr. Gaynor is the founder of Center for Light, located in Lake Worth, Florida, where he also sees clients.
http://www.centerforlight.com/
Steven@centerforlight.com
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