Like many others at that time of year, he’d had some cold and flu symptoms. There was nothing odd or unusual about it to begin with. He was off colour for a month or so; went to school for a few days, got worse, tried to go to school again and felt worse.
All the time we expected his illness to pass, if only he could rest and take it easy for a while. But as time passed he became more and more tired, and then he also got stomach pains. After a while it was impossible for him to go to school. He was much too tired and had no energy. He began sleeping up to 17 hours a day, had constant stomach ache and starting to dislike sounds.
Powerless
As parents we realised that something was wrong and started getting worried and impatient. After a month or so we took him to the doctor. He had just about every test it was possible to have. In return we received several A4 pages of test results, but nothing was found to be wrong. The only thing they showed was that he had had mononucleosis some time ago, but there was no way of knowing whether that had been four weeks or several years ago. The doctors had no other advice than to take it easy and see what happened.
Weeks became months, and there was no sign of improvement. He only wanted to sleep and rest. For us as parents it was terrible to see our child become paler and paler, thinner and thinner, and have no energy. We felt totally powerless and scared about how long it might take him to recover, if he ever were to recover.
Could it be ME?
His father has a sister who has struggled with ME for many years, and we often wondered if that might be the problem. All the time we wanted something concrete to relate to, something which would give us assurance that our boy would get well, and tell us how long it would take. One day we imagined the worst, which to us was ME, while on other days we comforted ourselves by thinking it was all the aftermath of mononucleosis. It is difficult to know whether our concern about ME might have impacted the way we treated our son. In hindsight we realise that we often focused on and asked about his energy levels, sleep and tummy ache. Not a day passed when we didn’t ask him how many hours he had slept, how much tummy ache he had on a scale from 1 to 10, and so on.
In hindsight we see that we often focused on and asked about his energy levels, sleep and tummy ache.
After a while we got an appointment with a paediatrician in the public health system. Further tests were taken, but nothing showed up. Also, they were unable to give him a diagnosis. Their only advice was to let him continue resting and taking things easy, and for us to accept that this might take time. If there was no improvement after the summer holiday, he could see a psychologist, if that was wanted or needed.
Worn out by everything
The only thing we could do was to take good care of him; try to keep his spirits and hope up, thinking that perhaps things would get better tomorrow, or next week. For several months he spent virtually all his time in his bedroom, except for the meals, which he had with the rest of the family in the kitchen. We were getting more and more worried, as he naturally became more and more frustrated, afraid and fed up with the situation.
Many friends and parents got in touch, asking how he was doing and whether he would like the company of a friend, but he was too tired. One day we tried to take him and his best mate to the cinema – not a very energetic activity. But as soon as he sat down in the car after the cinema, he fell asleep, and he couldn’t even say goodbye to his friend when we dropped him off. All energy had been spent, and he was even more tired than usual for several days afterwards.
At times we tried some activities that would break with the usual routine and give a change of scenery. Once we went into town to visit a café. Although it was only a short walk, he ended up being carried on his dad’s back. Walking made him far too exhausted.
To make up for not going to school, he now had an AV1 robot, so that he could follow the lessons when he felt able. He missed his life – friends, school, football and everything else that had been normal before. We applied for this robot through the Gjensidige Foundation, and it arrived in our letterbox just a few days later. The robot meant that he was less isolated and could follow lessons to some extent. He could also communicate with his school mates. The robot made his days a little less boring.
The doctor recommended LP
We googled and discussed our situation with many people, and that was how we learnt of the Lightning Process course. It was recommended by a doctor who had himself been an LP instructor previously. He said he had never seen anyone get worse from the course, and if it had been his son, he would not have hesitated. We also read some negative publicity concerning the course, but chose to ignore it. We had no doubt – this was something we simply had to try. Our son was very sceptical, however. He had neither the desire nor the energy to participate, but we decided to give it a go anyway.
Our son was very sceptical, however. He had neither the desire nor the energy to participate, but we decided to give it a chance anyway.
The course was well adapted for both children and adults to understand what was being communicated. Our son became really keen and participated eagerly in the course. After only the first day, we brought home a very different boy from the one we had seen in the morning. He talked non-stop, was in really high spirits and ready to play football and use his jet skis, all of which had been unthinkable that same morning!
The sparkle and energy returned
It was fantastic to watch how he now had the sparkle and energy to be active. Incredibly, there was no backlash for him having spent many hours at the course and then being busy in other activities. He was fully motivated to return to the course the next day, and after the course, both the fatigue and tummy ache disappeared.
This course gave him the tools to turn around and stop the thoughts that told him he was worn out and had a tummy ache. One part of the course told us as family members not to ask about or focus on his ailments. In hindsight we see that we often had asked him how he was feeling, when he was ill. After the LP course we stopped asking how he was feeling. He used and believed in the techniques he had been given at the course, and we watched him getting better and better. We are still not certain what made him fatigued, but we suspect it was the mononucleosis that put his body out of action.
He used and believed in the techniques he had been given at the course, and we watched him getting better and better
We had a terrific summer, and once again he was able to do whatever he wanted. He hung around with friends, played football, climbed mountains, went swimming and enjoyed himself. When school started after the summer holiday, it was as if he’d never been ill. It was with great pleasure we decided that it was time to send back the robot. We are deeply grateful for the help we received at the LP course, and grateful that we didn’t wait any longer. Our boy has got his life back!
The mother who wrote this, would like her family to remain anonymous. The photograph is genuine and was taken after the boy recovered.