'Tears but these tears were of relief, not from depression, fatigue, confusion or the exhaustion of living with pain, but as my referring doctor said 'an end to a nightmare I had been living, for the past 16 years'.

Results from blood tests performed in an American laboratory confirmed that I had been suffering complications from a single celled parasite located in my stomach.

Apparently, the parasite lives off gut secretions so I wasn't gaining full benefits from the food I was eating. Six months of treatment I began to slowly improve. My referring doctor informed me that it would probably take at least 12-18 months before my body would fully recover. Unfortunately, this recovery period did not seem to apply to my situation.

I was informed that the parasites had caused release of harmful toxins into my system, which caused major imbalance affecting both my physical and mental well-being.

Depression complicated by incessant emotional highs and low caused me to be up and down like a roller coaster ride. Depression and exhaustion would trigger major mood swings, emotional intolerance, sudden uncontrollable crying, neck pains and rigidity of my spine.

I would gain temporary relief with the help of chiropractic and physiotherapy usually requiring some form of treatment every 3-4 days and on many occasions daily treatments were required. This cycle of depression and spinal pain continued for over 12 years. If I didn't perform stretching exercises at least 3 times every day, I would quickly collapse into stiffness, uncontrollable pain and depression.

Constant massage, physiotherapy stretching and spinal manipulations eventually caused my spine to become increasingly unstable, by this time I was constantly needing some form of treatment attention. No one gave me any answers that identified what my actual problem was. My condition was becoming so intolerable that even simple activities such as walking to the tram stop would suddenly triggering muscle spasms and my back would again go out of alignment causing more pain and depression.

The increasing episodes of spasms would make me exhausted and I was finding that I was having to take more and more time off work to recover. My nervous and emotional system was not coping, I was becoming increasingly fatigued, no one seemed to understand my condition and no one was giving me any hope, until I met Dr Hooper.

I think I have now had in the vicinity of about 130 Hyperbaric Chamber sessions followed by physical therapy which includes acupuncture and vitamin injections. These treatments have breathed life back into my compromised body. I feel as though the treatments and in particular acupuncture, have retrained my neurotransmitters both physically and emotionally. The pain from the spasms have gone and my spine now feels much more stable.

There have also been many other changes to my overall body and system. My allergies are fading away, I can now concentrate, my attention span has improved incredibly, my work performance has improved dramatically, my memory has improved out of sight. I can function mentally again, thank God. Clarity of mind has returned and the haze and memory fog that I have tolerated for years has finally disappeared. The pins and needles in my hands and feet have gone and my sense of well-being and stamina continues to grow. The emotional crying which, was at times totally uncontrollable has stopped, depression has gone and the emotional roller coaster I was constantly experiencing have now levelled out and my self esteem and confidence is returning.

I feel that I have my life back again, I am now socialising again, I am coping with work without bursting into tears. I can now get through the day without having to have cat naps sitting on the toilet at work or having to sleep in my car at lunch to get me through the day. I don't need a sleep when I get home from work. I can now walk to work. I can now plan what I want to do on weekends and know that I will be able to meet arrangements. Over the years I was becoming a recluse.

I'm no longer a victim, just surviving from day to day, which is all I was doing for years. I can plan my future, I can start over again and create the world that I want around me, make up for all the years I have lost and recover from the many other things that I have lost along the way. I no longer feel like a victim, because that is what I was for the past 18 years."