I was asked to a cookout at a friend’s house and met Ron, one of her neighbors, at the party. At first glance, he had the look of a hollow eyed man that you see hanging around the corners downtown. His face was careworn and he had a depressed, miserable look to him. He managed a wan, toothless smile when I was introduced to him, and then he returned to picking at his plate of uneaten food.
I don’t know how the subject came up but he began telling me he went to the V.A. because he was having difficulty swallowing. They told him he had an ear infection and gave him antibiotics. That was 2 weeks ago and he hasn’t been able to eat or drink much since. He was in terrible agony every time he swallowed. He even went to the emergency room at one point because the pain was so intense that he couldn’t even drink water. I told him I could show him something that MIGHT be able to help him. At this point, I think he would have stood on his head if he thought it would help.
We adjourned to his apartment next door and I carefully explained the EFT process. We went through all the points and I tapped along with him. After telling me some of his history, of alcoholism, his wife’s suicide, some terrible war memories, PTSD, insomnia and other assorted ailments, I realized he was in need of professional help. He said he was being seen at the V.A. for his problems. (I am a former Psych Nurse, so I really understood him.)
So, as he brought up some of these issues, we tapped generally using the set-up “Even though I have this memory…” I felt it would give him some practice in the tapping procedure and it might free up some of his energy. As we tapped and he became more comfortable with the process, I decided to tap on his inability to swallow.
His eyes nearly bugged out of his head when for the first time in 2 weeks he could swallow without pain after one round of tapping. After tapping on forgiving the doctors for not being able to help him, he smiled at me and said he didn’t believe it.
His whole countenance had changed. Gone were his furrowed brow and painful expression. He said even the trembling in his hands was better, holding out a barely moving hand. He said he couldn’t write because of the “shakes” and now that had improved as well.
He was hesitant to try eating because he was afraid that the pain would come back. I explained if it did, there might be something else that he had to tap on, as I had explained earlier. He seemed to understand and went to test the healing.
He very gingerly took a sip of water and looked at me with gratitude. No pain! He smiled and decided to eat a piece of cheesecake. I could see that the pain had not returned. Even though he was essentially fasting for 2 weeks, I will never forget the look of sheer pleasure he had on his face when he took that first delicious bite of blueberry cheesecake and swallowed without pain.
Jan Luckenbach
