Originally, I was opposed to Clear Passage. The price tag was high and it had very mixed reviews on my Facebook groups. Still, it was the only treatment out there at the time with any medical backing. The founders of Clear Passage, Belinda and Larry Wurn, developed their techniques in response to Belinda’s issues and debilitating pain from abdominal adhesions. Since they were both physical therapists, they spent years developing their techniques.
The main office is in Gainesville, Florida, which is a little over four hours from my home. I saved up for the treatment. My insurance wound up covering around half of my total cost of treatment. Grand total for the remaining fees and my hotel ran me around $5000.
Clear Passage – Day 1
The office was lovely and filled with staff that quickly put you at ease. I had two different therapists. Yes, you pay out the yin-yang, but it was amazing to have someone who will just let you talk about your struggle with adhesions and work together with you towards a solution that works for you. They carried out a ton of tests the first day. I was impressed by how much knowledge each of the therapists had regarding the human body. It was very light-touch the first day. She mentioned that my Coke-induced diarrhea method wasn’t the best idea. I guess I’m causing several other problems, besides just getting fat.
Day 2
This day was much more intense! They are very good at letting you decide if something is too much for you. I respect that. I had pelvic therapy today, which was totally awkward. Part of the theory of Clear Passage involves putting pressure on parts of the body for several minutes. Having a stranger with a hand in my hoo-ha for that long was uncomfortable and odd. At first, conversation was challenging, but I asked questioned and learned a lot. For some reason, the fact that she had an Australian accent made it better. I don’t know why, but British and Australian accents can make any topic seem perfectly normal for me. I’m trying to think if I had a teacher or something with an accent that makes me go back to a happy place. Maybe it was just watching Mary Poppins. Maybe it is the terms used – sitting on your “bum” has a nice ring to it.
After the pelvic part was done, the rest was much better from a comfort standpoint. More pressing and holding various parts of my stomach. Tomorrow, my husband will come and learn some techniques that he can help me with from home.
Day 3
Happy birthday to me! Nothing like spending your 50th getting your stomach smooshed all day. Today I skipped my morning Coke and had a few sips of coffee. I thought that this would be a great time to try out going off the Cokes since they would “fix” me (afterwards, I caved and had a small Coke, though). They worked to show me methods I could use at home. They also showed my husband methods. It was a lot of pressing with the whole hand and keeping there for at least 2 minutes. For the second part of the session, the therapist mainly worked on my back. I have adhesions there as well and the abdominal ones pull through there as well.
That evening, my brother and his wife drove up from Orlando and took me to dinner to celebrate my birthday. I ate a good bit. By the time I got home, my stomach hurt and I was pretty miserable.
Day 4
I drank a Mexican Coke this morning instead of the huge one. My stomach was pretty bloated. I haven’t had a good bowel movement since Monday afternoon. I am now wondering if this was a total waste of a huge amount of money. I feel worse than when I started. I don’t feel it is working. I think they could see the disappointment in my eyes. They reminded me that my body was going through a lot, my diet was off, and I should give it time. I left feeling very frustrated. I’m drinking tons of water. I’m walking. I’m scared that nothing is working.
That night, I was still in pain. I ate half of my dinner. We did go to a cute comedy show that helped take the edge off the pain by getting my mind off my lack of bowel movements. I was starting to get desperate. I kept drinking water. Before bed, I had a glass of wine to dull the pain. It helped minimally. I balled up in the fetal position and felt stupid for what I considered a pricy mistake. My husband reminded me that it might take time. The therapists had mentioned that, but I didn’t want to listen. I had envisioned that the twenty hours of therapy would certainly be enough to fix me.
Day 5
The next morning, I decided to drink two Mexican Cokes. I felt a little guilty for it, but I really was getting fearful of the lack of bowel movements. I went some. Not enough, but some. There was a difference. It wasn’t the flush out experience that results from my huge Coke. A slight glimmer of hope was there. When I arrived at Clear Passage, I was still feeling things weren’t working. While there, though, I went a few more times. They again reminded me that everybody was different and that it might be quite some time before I noticed real change. Both therapists recommended that, in addition to the home follow-up program, I should work on changing my diet.
The week after leaving Clear Passage was amazing. I was having normal bowel movements for the first time in years! I was following their guidelines. Lots of self massage on the belly, hydrating well, lots of walking. As time went by, the impacts faded – mainly because I didn’t continue with the follow up well. Life happened. I do not feel like it was a wasted experience. I now have so many more techniques to help me. I got confirmation about what I feel like is going on inside my body. I had a week of someone listening who completely understood my pain and fears.