Difficult to Swallow

I got a call from a very shaky sounding lady who had been referred to me by her GP, for treatment of a condition known as globus hystericus.

Jane was everyone’s ideal typical English Joan Hickson/Miss Marple type grandmother; charming, elegant, and sharp as a pin. She was quite candid. “When people come to you feeling miserable, the worst that can happen is they still feel miserable tomorrow. I haven’t been able to eat or drink for four years. This is life or death for me.”

Direct suggestion gave only temporary relief and, as Jane had begun to regress spontaneously we agreed to try getting to the cause with some analytical work.

This is Jane ’s story.

Jane was born in 1919 and, during her childhood, lived in a basement flat by Westminster Cathedral. She said that the River Fleet ran the other side of her bedroom wall, and that she was always aware of it.

In 1927, when Jane was eight years old, the River Thames flooded. Some of the children who went to Jane ’s school lived in basement flats along Embankment. There were bars on their windows and the pressure of the water meant they couldn’t open their doors. They drowned.

Jane did not lose any close friends, but she remembered collections for food and clothing.

Time passed. In fact 73 years passed before the day disaster struck at the dentist’s. As is so often the case, it really wasn’t such a big thing. During a routine service some malfunction occurred with the suction and Jane began to choke on the accumulated fluids. It was a shocking experience and the point at which her subconscious, remembering the children who drowned in 1927, and the threat of the underground river next to her childhood bedroom, decided to save her from drowning by closing her throat.

The strategy was meant to protect Jane , but it was killing her.

Jane, one of the most delightful people I have ever met, kindly sent me this after the treatment.