Happy New Year, everyone!  I don’t know about you but I’ve got a good feeling about 2012!  2011 has been a challenging year for so many people in so many ways, and as you know from my previous blog post way back in August, I’ve had my own health challenge to deal with.  Nevertheless, I just have this feeling that 2012 is going to be better in so many ways…  (fingers crossed!!)

It’s been 2 months since I finished taking the steroids, and so far the platelet count has been holding up well.  After the initial boost from the high dose of prednisolone, whenever the dose was reduced every couple of weeks, so the platelet count would drop slightly.  Around the middle of October, a week after dropping from 15mg to 10mg, the count was down to 149 but about a week after that I had my second and final session of hypnotherapy with Greg Forde, who also practices at the Natural Therapy Centre in Lynn.

I’d never tried hypnotherapy before so wasn’t really sure what to expect but I found that each session was similar to a guided visualisation, or meditation.  Before my first treatment session we had a chat about what the drop in platelet count really meant for me, and in contrast to my thoughts about past disappointments, etc, Greg’s view was that this was about the deeper issue of self-worth.  The first treatment session therefore focused on unhooking the past from my present awareness and then visualising how I want to be from now on.  I then had homework, of course, listening to a recording of the session at least once daily to anchor the session into my subconscious.

The second session then looked for key events from my past that were affecting my self-esteem and sense of self-worth; those memories that act as a form of self-sabotage.  Dealing with these was in no way upsetting or painful; it simply involved a process of visualisation to take away their power.

As I mentioned earlier, the platelet count would drop slightly after each drop in steroid dose, but following my second hypnotherapy session the count jumped from 149 to 199, despite the dose of prednisolone halving from 10mg to 5mg!

My last blood test was the week before Christmas, when my count was 184, and people keep telling me how much better I’m looking, so I’m hoping that’s all confirmation that I’ve turned the corner from the events of last July.  As always, time will tell…