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The Miraculous Healing of
Kevin McManus -- (for May, 2008 issue of Holistic Health Magazine)
By Candice Russell
"I literally felt
paralyzed after shoulder surgery," says Kevin McManus, a businessman,
father and husband in
This frightening and
debilitating condition was hardly what McManus expected. He had done everything
that the medical doctors had asked him to do, undergoing procedure after
procedure and taking a variety of medications. "I had a series of
incidents and multiple surgeries," he says. "When I had rotator cuff
surgery, it was discovered that I had much more severe problems in my shoulder.
This discovery led to a complete shoulder reconstruction. Before this I had
major sciatica in my legs from previous back surgeries."
Regular spinal taps on his
lower back for eight consecutive weeks led to a total paralysis from McManus'
waist downward, lasting three days each time. "I had no use of my legs and
needed my friends and family to help me," he says. "The spinal tap
procedure, which involves sticking fluid in the spine, left me with a lot of
muscle cramping and spasms. One time I guess I stopped breathing and almost
lost my life. I had to undergo two more surgeries. My bursa was so swollen it
had to be removed and there was a double fusion in my back."
But the last surgery was
the final straw for McManus, who seemed to be getting worse rather than better.
He had been out of work at his job running the computer department for an
insurance company and risked losing it altogether with the prospect of another
surgery and long recovery period. Recuperating at home, he was surly, depressed
and tired, with no energy to be as nice and accommodating as he used to be to
his wife and teenage daughter. The combination of seven medicines he was
taking, including Dilaudid and OxyContin, didn't seem to be improving his
condition or alleviating his pain. Weekly visits to a pain management clinic
weren't working either. "The medication caused me to lose a whole year of
my life," says McManus. "It made me so irritable that I wanted to be
locked up by myself. I was miserable to the two most important people in my
life, my wife and daughter Jennifer."
Bound to a hospital bed in
the living room, McManus was at a breaking point as he faced an even more
uncertain future and two additional surgeries for his back and shoulder. But an
intervention from an unexpected source knowledgeable about his predicament was
about to change his life. His brother Keith McManus in
The thought of going under
the knife again made McManus desperate for a solution that didn't involve
surgery. The timing of the phone call was perfect for the man who admitted he
was at his wits' end. "My brother was so passionate," says Kevin
McManus. "He led me to a solution."
As Keith McManus sees the
situation, "My brother was up against a brick wall. His pain was so great
and he had no other choice, so he wanted to try something else. When he got off
the phone, he booked a flight to
From the patient's point of
view, Kevin McManus says, "It touched my heart that the doctor wanted to
help me. It was a miracle that within four days I was out of a wheelchair. It's
nothing short of incredible in terms of being able to walk again. I came home
on a Friday afternoon."
McManus learned later that
it wasn't the aches and pains in his shoulder and back that were his biggest
issues. It was the imbalance between mind, body and soul that Dr. was
trying to regulate. Getting McManus entirely off the smorgasbord of pain
medications he was taking proved to be key in restoring his health. "The
chemicals in my body were completely off," he says. "He detoxed my
liver and kidney. I don't like medication. Yet I had to take it. I hadn't once
felt addicted."
Having the constant support
of his brother was a huge boost in McManus' remarkable turn-around. "He
didn't go to work but would instead kneel by me and pray by my ear, which was
extremely powerful," says Kevin McManus of his brother's loving
dedication.
The process of getting well
wasn't fun. Violently ill and sick to his stomach, McManus stopped taking all
pain medication, as Dr. ordered. "He performed some sort of
manipulation under anesthesia on my bones or the structure of my back to bring
it into alignment," says McManus. "While he was working on me, I
could feel the pain leaving my body. The doctor was literally screaming and
sweating, like he was absorbing my pain. I didn't know what was going on."
From his Holistic Health
and Alternative Medicine Clinic in
Treating his lower back and
nerve damage in his right leg, Dr. gave McManus light sedation for a
procedure of manipulation under anesthesia. "He went home completely well
and restored to optimal health," says the doctor of his patient. "In
the aftermath, he continues activities and movement and the nutrition plan in
order to stay healthy."
By week's end, McManus was
a new man. "I had to go to the doctor in
McManus couldn't be more grateful for what his brother and Dr. did for him. "I feel like I'm on vacation the rest of my life through the experience of holistic health," he says. "I have a new outlook on life."
