November 13, 2024

[Music] hello everybody and welcome to um a very very special edition of Wednesday's reflexology wisdom I've got two wonderful people here with me uh we've got Kevin cuns and we've also got Gail bardrick now Gail attended um Kevin's webinar with the integrated reflexology Consortium um about his work with the MRI machines and with stroke well I'm not going to say any more about this because really I'm going to say over to you Kevin but Gail has got the most amazing story to tell so Kevin take it from here okay well Gail I understand you're a reflexology student you haven't actually been practiced you haven't ra actually gone into regular professional practice is that correct that's correct yeah yeah so you were confronted in um a recent situation with your mother in which uh let me just read a little bit of this we got this off the last time we talked to you it was Wednesday with events that would challenge your whole family Dale so you picked up your mother Dawn from the hairdresser at 1:00 she complained about having a headache by 3:00 she was unwell and you recognize the signs of a stroke the ambulance was called and she was admitted to the stroke unit of the A&E Department of the hospital right that's correct yeah okay so what happened uh while you waited for the consultant what did you know what was kind of the events that were going on at the time well she she was at my house obviously at the time and the ambulance had taken her away she'd been it must have been an hour before the ambulance got her there um all told about 45 minutes to an hour she when I arrived there my sister was there with her and she'd completely sort of she was in you know she'd gone by then as in couldn't speak was sort of out of it really and uh they she'd already had scanned on they put her into the um into where where they just obviously they watch them it's an observation just to to keep check of them I forget what the name of the place sorry I didn't mention it before but it's it's where they go at the beginning um and they keep keep track of them to see whether it's going to go one way or the other and what rooms to put them in you know and we went the consultant called us in uh myself and my other three other siblings and he and my husband was there actually and um he told us that the size of the hemorrhage was something that he didn't think my mom would recover from or was well enough to go and have the pressure relieved up at King's hospital he said they wouldn't with her age given her age she wouldn't be able to make it so they said we will leave her um in this hospital we could make her comfortable we can give her morphine we can put her in a side room if that was your wishes if she doesn't you know come around he said um but we can give her 24 hours to see what you know what happens over the course of 24 hours um it was quite a large Hemorrhage so he didn't have much he the odds were for my mom pretty low because they said that it she if she was lucky she would come out if she recovered from it she would come out more likely paralyzed down the left wouldn't be able to speak wouldn't be able to see um she has got some peripheral damage to both eyes left side so that has that is something that is still you know but but my mom insists she said keep saying it feels like it's getting better she feels like she's seeing more as the days have gone on um and I started I'm trying really trying to think of the room they put them in it's just where they're observing them to see where they go whether they need to be go straight back into emergency or foret what it's called like an assessment Bay type thing and he they held her there for a little while and while they were doing that I I was a bit rude but I walked out the consultant's room and I said no it doesn't because I'd already held my mom's hand quick before he I'd been into the meeting I could feel my mom I was pressing her hands and just on her fingertips top of her thumb I was just feeling that she wasn't she was to me she didn't feel like she'd completely disappeared so I mean I know obviously it's wish thinking when you know when it's your family um and so I said pardon you started right away then you you yeah started right away the minute I got there with my sister before the consultant called called us in I it was her hand that I got immediately hold of because I couldn't get to her legs at that point um they'd wrapped things you know these compression uh electrical compression socks around her so her feet were she was spasming to that yeah so it's quite difficult things to do so I just basically started on a on her fingers on her thumb all down what would be spinal on her thumb um top brain area basically I was just pressing anything even where I thought pituitary might be just to literally just try and get that a response from her and then when my sister went round and held her hands I went then went down the bottom started on her on her feet but her left foot had gone completely in at that point it was just it had got you know the muscle had gone so obviously and she was spasming so it was hard to get hold of her feet but while I was talking to my sister I said can you feel that and because she was you could see it she was she was responding but they were insisting that it's um spasms um so they put her I think immediately I think she went on to um uh seizure tablets uh anti-seizure I think the lever taset Tatam something like that um which she's on now um but yes so there seizure tablets that she's on and um can you not hear can you hear no it's okay I can hear it's fine okay he want to jab on no no tell us all about it this is good so so so then obviously I just kept going from hand to foot every time my sister and I swapped and my younger sister has she was saying the same thing she said honestly when you she could see it as well so I didn't feel like such an idiot although I was doing it you know in the assessment room and you've got all these nurses charging around you and doctors charging around you I still thought no because my you know I I did say to Kevin you feel like you've got nothing to lose by doing it and everything to gain because if you know something did change I you know I don't care whose way I was in at that point yeah may I ask what was the this response that you and your sisters could see well it was only one of my sisters the other sister wouldn't come in she wouldn't actually come into she was obviously very stressed and and sort of distressed by it really um my younger sister and I was pressing on her if I I wasn't touching her left foot funny enough at first I was all on her right foot um and that was the side that he told us would be okay so my instinct was like right just start on that foot um so I didn't really touch the left foot at that time um it was so flat the left foot anyway it felt flat you know the reflexes felt very flat um so on the right foot I would I was basically going up cervical um round to top just brain reflexes uh I started on vagus nerve as I was trying to to stay at the top area you know all the time um inside of the toe I was doing that area because I was just thinking CU her mouth at that point had dropped so I thought right anything round mouth jaw yes yes so on the bone of the toe so was pressing that just in really quite quite hard at that point yeah I know I know that that I was thinking if I'm gonna get in a reaction then I will press a bit hard um even though might and that's when I was thinking her right foot was pulling away so my sister said I see that and she swears she see it too so you know we were I I just kep saying look look I'm sure she's so then we swapped back over to the hand and then I went back up to the top and I said I'll keep pressing uh basically was all around her th tops of all of her fingers all the senses really um along all the the fingers yeah let me ask so you went for Comfort first didn't you you were just trying to comfort Your Mother by holding her hand yeah first Yeah well yeah and then it dawned on you yeah do some reflexology yeah do it I'm standing here like you know you know that gives me chill that gets me excited could I because you just clicked into gear yeah I know the feeling I've been there but you comfort you know you're holding her hand and you're going well why don't I go for working on her her reflexes brilliant absolutely brilliant it's trying everything is it you know I well there just told you they were going to put her in a back room and fill her full of morphine and we kind of all know that was our choice that that was our choice at that point it was your choice I understand that yes you know that it it sounded if you got that choice or no choice of anything really that's exactly that's exactly it there wasn't really an option to do anything else you know you I just thought I'm going to try my best then if that's what they're saying then what else you know you would yourself your own Mother's you yeah now am I right in thinking that this is very shortly after you had heard Kevin's webinar about stroke well I when you say that I I heard it first through you during the during the the course yeah and you'd mentioned the trials that were were going on and that sort of resonated with me anyway because my mom had already had a stroke three years ago a small one right uh which was a lot smaller than this one again it was a hemorrage so it was exactly the same thing that she's had um and it took my mom she wasn't uh she it affected different parts of the brain that one so she wasn't able to put a top on or you know dress herself and things like that it was bit and speech was a bit out and the mouth had to come this one um I just thought you know I'd seen what you'd said and I thought well in in the course then I'd read on on the AO what they said about the webinar which to be honest I didn't get on to I didn't actually watch it I read um what you'd said you know during the webinar so I hadn't actually seen hadn't been on there oh yeah but I sort of immediately looked you up because David had said that that was something that I'd looked at prior to this happening which was a probably weeks before it wasn't very long because I can't remember because this happened on the 26th of June and I think David I'm not can't remember when you we were doing the um trials all the you were showing us all the science trials all the papers how to research it it was that it was that lesson so I can't quite remember what what lesson that was it was very shortly after then it was shortly after so if I hadn't have seen that let me try to get a little time frame here just to give a people a sense of what you went through well you basically had that happen and you were in the uh A&E uh Department of the hospital uh so they told you the prognosis was not good right away pretty well yeah pretty much they scanned her and then called us in yeah that was straight away really we kind of know what you were thinking at that point you were in a panic but you had a clear enough mind to go ahead and do something about it yeah I mean that was difficult I'm imagine you just kicked into dear okay so how did the medical staff around you respond you told us about this I thought it was very interesting yeah they we had some that were in favor go ahead yeah that that was that was when further on I mean I thought they thought I was a total idiot actually in the assessment Bay because you you know they're charging around you know doing what they're doing and you're standing there they think massaging your mom's feet you know in hands and it just and I didn't say anything to them at that point way yeah they did they did want us out the way but also they they I think they recognized that we'd just been told what we've been told um and they told us to bring family so as I said we flew some family from gy they came over we had um um um people just all the F all the children you know everyone coming to see my mom within the next couple of days or next 24 hours we the immediate family came and then when she'd gone on for the next 24 hours um you know things changed more family came thinking you know it was all a bit strange but the the nurses were actually there were some and some some of the nurses were great uh there was a lady there um she was brilliant and she was really saying just go for it try it you know anything um lot of the Asian nurses they were the same um I have to say and I think I mentioned it today but like they the um the lot of the British nurses were very offish around you they be like okay I'm just going to give her her medication and you excuse me out the way but you know a lot of the Asian nurses just to carry on I was there through I was there for 24 hours over probably period my sister and I good week just one after the other in never stopped it didn't stop and I didn't stop doing a hand so every single moment I was in there I'd be on a foot or a hand all the time um even if I wasn't pressing the reflex my finger was on the reflex or my thumb was on the reflex because I thought I'm not going to let go until you know we see something um and then the consultant came in the second day or second night CU he was on nights this he came in in the night um he Lent over the bed and he went this was oh won't forget this he said no change and I went well actually yeah there has been she has she's you know I was trying to obviously put over that I could feel what I could feel but it's very difficult to say that to someone who's that you know in a professional it's hard to say that to him you feel a bit of a fool um go ahead yeah and then I was just gonna say during this time you slept in your car at one point yeah slept in the car um and in the waiting room in the car my sister and I one of them um and we were just swapping and she was you know we were just literally swapping from one to the other and then all through the night I would do it the same thing it didn't it it didn't stop but she was reacting she wasn't really sleeping because obviously they were putting there was drugs in her anyway so she was she was out for quite a long time for a good well I wouldn't say she was responsive for a good three weeks properly you know like chattering um she on the I've got it she spoke to my sister on the 29th she turned around and said hi hiy at two 12 o'clock in the morning I think it was 1 o'clock in the morning I think I've got it written on on her text and she turned Saturday was that June 29th I think it was Saturday june9 29th it was yeah and so she turned to she said hi hey my sister's name's Haley so she recognized her voice but she hadn't opened her eyes or anything um she was still spasming and still doing you know they still had the everything around her legs and they still so so it wasn't but she did turn and then on the uh what day did she open her eyes properly um I had to that was on the TW she tried to open her eyes that was it because I've got it I I write everything down on my pad what happened so um because it's just to keep track of how she was doing you know yeah doing really just so it was and the times so so my sister phoned me at 20 past 29 minutes past midnight and she said mom's just spoken that's like back in jumped out of bed went back in um I bet that was such an exhilarating moment to suddenly have that absolute breakthrough and it wasn't a spasm it wasn't a questionable one to actually say hi hey a nurse witness which the name a nurse was there as well a nurse was there Nurse she said she looked like my sister had won the lottery I bet yeah no I'll tell you Gail that I my part-time job now is learning neurology and she did several things there one of which is she recognized your sister face facial recognition is a big deal and then the fact she could form words and make a message that's a whole whole bunch of good stuff so that was amazing Turning Point yeah it was her voice actually Kevin she she recognized her voice because she hadn't quite opened her eyes at that time my sister said she's trying to open her eyes so that okay she got it from her voice yeah so that's just yeah that hadn't happened um and then on by the time she had the next day she'd sort of opened her eyes she was opening them more and more and more by the 30th on the next day the physio said we're going to put her in a chair and just see what we've got here you know to see how you know they craned her up put her in a you know they put her in the the straps put her in a cran put her in a chair um and but she was obviously really dropping to the left at that point but I didn't care cu the fact she was talking and she you know she' said me she' said something something um and then she was trying to squeeze her she told she she spoke again on that 30th and told my sister that she heard us talking she'd heard us talking all so we were like okay you know because you you don't know what she's heard in that first moment of them no no um and uh she'd heard she'd heard us talking and she tried to squeeze my my sister's hand at that point um this is what this was on the next day it all happened around my sister funnny enough and she's my young um so a lot of that happened when I'd left with her she managed to get the bits that you know the exciting that's so unfair isn't it yeah isn't it but um but then I just you know I was like they're doing it again um and then on the the 1 of July was the first time we thought she was sort of recognizing because she laughed because someone said you've been asleep a long time and she she laughed and she said yeah I do like my sleep and that's what she said on the first so to go in from them saying she's going to be totally paralyzed um you know in her mouth down more likely she would be brain damaged and you know it was quite it a lot that they said would happen had we have not kept on and on and on and on I'm wondering if you know would she have been put in aide room and you know if we hadn't have been there how many people does this happen to can I just check she'd had the stroke she got put into the side room she's no she was in she was in an assessment room at that point they asked us if they would she would like us to make her comfortable right but basically she was made comfortable so to speak because they couldn't operate they couldn't take relieve the pressure because so there wasn't much they could do and you then just went that's it then I'm giving reflexology literally all the time you were there and you did not give up didn't give up no it's every day and I have been doing this since she was three weeks in the hospital and she started walking in or rather sorry not walking she was sitting up in there feeding herself she could use knife and fork um she was obviously the mouth had gone we didn't see any signs of the mouth once she woken up and started talking there was no drop on her left side they kept the consult come in said can you keep pushing my hand trying to find the weakness there's not weakness on either side no side um she's equally on both with the first stroke which was slot smaller I did mention it was about size of a walnut I'd say the first stroke three years ago this one it was sort of bit like an orange that sort of size B sort of a lemon shape if you mean but it was the sort of size of an orange on the scan I'm trying to get a hold of the scan still It seems impossible but I will get a hold of them I just keep pestering pester and pester um yeah our our research team would really like to see those yeah I'm going to get a hold of them These Guys these guys can actually read scans unlike myself yeah yeah you can see I mean one of the um the therapist down at the where the unit they moved her to after the hospital she was there for free she was there for a month just over a month at the hospital I think then they moved her to a unit um and she just done better and better and better there every day she was up walking you know um she's now at home living with me um and I do I do reflex ol on her every single day um it does change and Vary now because she got um two um Hospital required infections one in the unit one there so when that started I straight onto bladder straight you know everything there kidneys um she yeah she got two infections in there so they cleared um trying to think what else happened in there and then as we came out of the unit re on she came out there how long she's been here for about three weeks maybe four weeks now to me um I think we're on our fourth week and she came out the unit and she said thank you so much to the the staff in there and they said you've rehabilitated yourself dwn we haven't had we really feel as though we haven't had much to do with you um and in actual fact I've um I think I've got some clients funny enough when I start practicing because there was a lady in there who suffers from long covid and she's had chest infection so I've been doing her well I did her feet once and she would like to carry on I think with it and um yes another nurse asked me when I'd be practicing for her son so I the nurse wants you to work on her son yeah she's asked me if I work on her son ex she's an Asian mhm yeah what would you say to others that are in this situation I would say don't hesitate just get if if you I would say go for a reflexologist if you you know if you can because I I was David knows I was almost sort of skeptical when I first started the course because I started it as thinking it was more maybe massage you know I i' looked into it but not I'd never had a reflex ology myself I started my daughter because she's got long covid and she's had it for quite a long time been quite un well but she's you know she's progressing now quite well unfortunately she's not really doesn't really let me on her feet all that much a little bit but I started it because of that and you know I'm just thankful if I never practice I've I feel as though I've helped my my mom you know with what I've done so so for me I would say to anybody have a go because you have nothing to lose and everything to lose really and you know yeah yeah to gain yeah everything to gain yeah you know the fact my mom might not have made that yeah I don't know I can't say it I can't say it's certainly not down to me but I feel as though her recovery it's help is definitely helped her cope with it with the medication she's on a lot of medication so even if it helps with that I think at the time though in the assessment room I just everything was in it my energy was gone into her it was you know that was everything I could have given at that point absolutely I've always had a sa go ahead no no no go on Kevin I was I was going to say I've always said you know it's hard to measure touch the A Mother's Touch is so valuable now I know a daughter's touch is really valuable yeah well I think it is just touch on the feet as well because if I hadn't have done that I wouldn't have noticed that's another thing I wouldn't have noticed any reaction at all you know yeah because there was one nurse came in she said no that's definitely a reaction I said well consultant saying it's a spaz she no your mom she said I can see it she was there um as well saying to me carry on carry on so the nurse could see something very different to just a spasm yeah yeah yeah she said she said it well well um and yeah and and I just literally and that was every day for I mean I'm still doing today excuse me I think I've missed one one night where she stayed at my sister's so I haven't done it that night um and then that's it the rest I'm still doing it every single day for her Gail by the sound of it I think you deserve a night off yeah yeah tomorrow she goes again tomorrow so tomorrow I'll do a reflexology during the day well you know I saw her P you sent me her that lovely picture of your mom yeah and I thought she looks just perfect I mean she looks great she still has some effects from the stroke she's still yeah the uh peripheral vision memory so still that's something I'm trying to figure out uh memory is to help yeah it'd be great that's what we're finding out with all the brain scan we're doing is it's affecting areas yeah it affects areas that are connected to memory yeah memory and what was the other one you mentioned um her eyes peripheral vision that's something that she yeah there's uh there's a whole going on there too yeah yeah they're the two things really her speech is perfect um there's just just memory and vision at the moment um she's walking well she walks my stairs up and down up and down Ah that's just what I was going to ask about walking yeah she walks my stairs we walk to the park um she is in the wheelchair if we want to push her around you know because obviously some places she she's really fatigued a lot of the time um but every day every day there's a little bit more you know she can stand in the shower now where she couldn't she um you know she washes herself she brushes her teeth she does everything she'd been doing that since she was in the unit which is over a month ago and they actually said we're not really doing much for you um and um and they were great in there as well and that's where the people that came in and said we'd like you know can you do are you practicing yet because I'd like my son to come see you and I just as I say the reception is there so say I might got bit of trade there if I ever to um if I ever finish my course but um you better I'm trying my best I'm trying my best to get it done Got Fabulous fingers you have Gale I'm trying trying to do it to work right away but um but there's a lady at the unit that's really very very interested and she took Kevin's name and Stefan name as well and she's looking up herself and she's really really interested in it um one of the therapists there uh but they all are um well cross your fingers we have a new new measure uh new member of our research team and she is uh hopefully she's going to sign up but she's with Kings College oh okay yeah so we we talking College Cambridge yeah wow that's great that's that's going to really add some weight to the research not only having a neuroscientist such as Stefan but another researcher from Kings College Cambridge they are going to have to sit up and pay attention they really really are had I not mentioned that it it you know yourselves doing the research that you're doing she was really really keen and interesting to know about this herself you know she's as as the team she's one of the team leaders she's one of the therapists there um and they are all very keen if there's research to know about it you know as I say they're trying to look it up their themselves at the point that point so if there was something think somebody here as well you know with a bit of weight behind them that well that's you know I mean the way I put it the okay so we have to be realistic this is a wonderful story fantastic story but the scientists it's anecdotal evidence so what we're trying to do is nail it down so that there are the facts and they can't dispute those because they're it's black and white I've looked at the brain scans they're amazing yeah they actually expected only a small part of the brain to light up in response to you know working on the feet as Stefon put it it lit up like a Christmas tree and there were robust signals in parts of the brain you talk about memory and so forth yeah those areas responded very well but this is what spreads the word success stories such as your own I mean I've known a lot of people who just went oh well too bad that's the way it is but you weren't going to be given that answer I and if people have they given the chance you know some people were there in that assessment room just lying there by themselves and oh no that's what yeah some of them people have just been brought in you know because it was middle of the day really thing so you know a lot of a lot of the people there had nobody with them and you know the same thing been said to their family and there was no one to get to them what happens to them you know you've got to have that that chance haven't you you know they that's there's the goal a reflexologist in every stroke assessment room yeah well believe me we're working on I think we're all working on that aren't we be brilliant brilliant anything isn't it you know you're the human beings that deserve you know to be able to get a chance yes they do anything anything for a chance you know yes well that's thank you Gail that's fantastic I really appreciate you you uh spending some time with us uh we'd love to hear and how's your mom doing right now she's brilliant she's downstairs she's just eating a chili yeah she just had a chili um yeah she's really really well she's doing great right now she got obviously we got lots of other you know appointments to to to keep up and uh because she does have a pace maker as well which was fitted last year for I'm not quite sure what the reason was they didn't really know get the time fitted over that case she might need it when she gets older yeah she's really doing great 80 years old that's amazing she's 80 yeah yeah she's 80 she was 80 in the hospital she's doing really really well this has been such a success story it really really has um Kevin I am just so grateful to you for the work that you're doing that you're highlighting with stroke um it was just so fortuitous that Gail also heard about this at the same time um you know it's those small little things that spread like wildfire yeah I was we saw a friend of ours yesterday and Barbara we knew her 40 plus years ago and she introduced us to Jimmy who was a quadriplegic and that's when we first saw the signs when we were working on his feet his hands would move that started our journey 4 44 plus years ago to today where we're actually getting to see what happens inside the brain but that's the inspiration comes from people like Gil yeah absolutely y so everybody I really really hope you have enjoyed watching this Wednesday's reflexology wisdom Kevin thank you so much for actually being the Catalyst for getting this all started Gail you have been just wonderful just for automatically knowing what to do you heard the story that Kevin was telling you you'd I think you were telling me all you could remember at one point you remember Barbara in here because Barbara we're a team and she of course yeah no no Barbara's Barbara's made a lot of this coales so I don't want to leave her out no no no you're absolutely right yes and thank you David for introducing me to theology you know I'm dealing with Scientists right now and you're going yeah but there's the human side of this yeah you know Absol yeah so that's the part that I'm into yeah yeah so everybody thank you very much for watching this Wednesday's reflexology wisdom this is reflexology in action for you it really really is true stories um of brilliant outcomes um that we see in our therapy so thank you for watching stay well and stay safe [Music] oh [Music]