In August 1977 I was admitted to a Veterans Administration Hospital suffering from severe pains in my back. After an X-ray was taken, I was told that a disk in my spine had disintegrated. This had resulted in a condition called osteomyelitis, accompanied by severe muscular spasms. Several times a day I was given a strong narcotic drug and a strong depressant, and a sleeping pill was administered every night.
When my illness occurred, I was a class-taught Christian Scientist, and I had the help of Christian Science practitioners at various times. However, I was more interested in getting rid of the pain than in really working out the problem through spiritual truth. When the pain continued, I dismissed the practitioner and went to a chiropractor, as I thought a bone might be out of place. I also began to take pain relievers. Neither brought results. When I could no longer raise myself from my bed, I asked to be taken to the hospital.
After I had spent three and a half months under heavy drugging, the doctors informed me that because addiction threatened, the narcotic drug would be discontinued. I then asked that the depressant and sleeping pills no longer be administered. Next I called a Christian Science practitioner. This individual had kindly visited me several times, and we had talked over the phone. Now that no medication was being given me, I requested Christian Science treatment.
