From early childhood I never felt quite healthy. Also, I never got along well with my classmates or teachers at school because of an inferiority complex. I yearned and searched to find an answer to my troubles. Since I came from a religious family, I thought the solution to my problems could be found in church. So over the years I attended and joined several churches. They did bring comfort, but my difficulties compounded.
When I was fifteen years old, while horseback riding with a friend, I began to suffer severe back pain. I had to be lifted from the horse and carried to my home, where I was confined to my bed for three weeks before the pain subsided. For the next several years I experienced increasing severity of pain, and at more frequent intervals, until finally I was unable to walk.
X-rays revealed that bone tissue was missing in the lower three vertebrae of my back; this was attributed to a congenital birth defect. A spinal fusion was performed to stabilize the bone structure, and I was confined in my bed for about five months and required to sleep on a board. I wore a body cast for eight months and an orthopedic corset for several years. The back pain disappeared for a while, but some years later it resumed with even greater intensity.
