Susan Gaudet’s Journey Through Pain

How Community Acupuncture Restored Peace in a World of Pain

The day that Susan Gaudet slipped on a small patch of black ice was the day her life changed forever. “I knew immediately that I was hurt,” says Gaudet from the dining room of her Falmouth, Maine, home. She had no idea the incident would start her on a decade-long path of medical intervention and the search for relief from chronic pain.Unbeknownst to her, Gaudet had sustained a spinal cord injury called Cauda Equina Syndrome, a serious condition caused by compression of the nerves in the lower portion of the spinal canal. The injury left her unable to walk, unable to feel the lower half of her body, unable to control her bladder and bowel movements, and in a state of chronic pain.In an instant, this young mother of three – who’s youngest was only 3 at the time – was changed forever. She was told it was unlikely that she would walk again.For the next ten years, Gaudet traveled through the conventional medical system, which has treated her condition in many important ways. She can walk and drive again, she works again, and she and her husband continue to raise their three girls at home. But the severe nerve pain persisted, and Gaudet had no bladder or bowel control, which seriously affected her ability to function normally in the world.“Every day is still quite challenging when it comes to things that are simple for others and not quite so simple for me,” she says.Gaudet’s team of specialists continued to offer painkillers to address her chronic pain, but Gaudet did not like the side effects nor the cost of her conventional treatments. Not only that, but the system of medicine she found herself trapped in was not giving her a sense of hope. She felt as though she had plateaued, so she started hunting for alternatives.“I found Wildwood Medicine through an acquaintance who had significant medical issues,” she notes. “She too did not find Western medicine particularly helpful – she was being offered a lot of prescription pain medication.”Gaudet, who had never tried acupuncture in her life, decided to try Wildwood Community Acupuncture in hopes of finding relief. “I went three times a week for the first month and found that things were really starting to move,” she recalls. “It was almost as if I had my life back.” Gaudet’s bladder control improved markedly, and her nerve pain started to subside.In addition, at Wildwood, she discovered an alternative medical team that was taking a genuine interest in her recovery. Gaudet was stunned by the personal touch she found at Wildwood. “In the conventional medical world, no other doctor had ever stopped me and put their hand on me and said, ‘You’ve got this.’”“Wildwood is a blessed little place – a small oasis of peace. I love knowing that I am going there because I can just shut off,” says Gaudet. “After the acupuncture needles are in place, it’s so peaceful. It’s hard to explain the level of comfort that comes from it.”Gaudet continues to visit the community acupuncture clinic several times a week and she continues to see improvements and to feel hopeful and optimistic about her path to recovery.“I feel like I won the lottery finding Wildwood,” she says.