CASE STUDY E
Wayne Williams
Injured neck and back in a MVA, 3 years off work
Wayne Williams injured his neck and lower back in a MVA in 2002. At baseline assessment, he was certified unfit for work and was determined to have disc replacement surgery to reduce his pain and return to the workforce. Wayne did not feel that he could return to work with his current pain.
Wayne had difficulty adjusting to his painful injury and suffered from severe depression, anxiety and stress. He also considered that he was very disabled - perhaps more disabled than his physical limitations warranted. His main pain management strategy was medication, since he did not have any active physical or mental ways of coping.
The AlphaOne Personal Achievement Coaching (PAC) sessions focused on strengthening and stabilizing strategic body regions. As the program progressed, Wayne became less passive (waiting for someone to fix him) and began to take a more active role in managing his own pain. A number of legal issues seemed to be barriers to Wayne's return to work and continually contributed to flare-ups and distress during the program. He realized that his distress was flaring up his pain and as a result he focused on resolving these. He also utilized various stress management strategies to good effect.
By the end of the program, Wayne had reduced his medication and developed a range of active pain management strategies. He had less perceived disability and less psychological distress. He showed substantial improvements with his core and lumbo-pelvic stability, and increased confidence with functional movement. Wayne's tolerances to sitting, standing, walking and driving had increased by using the pacing principles. He was less pain focused and committed to actively manage his pain.
One of the main goals of the program was to increase Wayne's confidence in his ability to manage his pain and functional abilities/skills rather than to rely on medication and seek further surgery. By the end of the program, he had decided, for the next 12 months, to regularly practice the AlphaOne strategies that he had learnt. During this time, he said that he would not think about the possibility of surgery. Wayne found work by the end of the program as a teacher's aide 12 hours per week.