Case Study: Maria

Stroke victim: Left paralysed down her left side

"I met Pan two years ago, after a trip with my boyfriend to Thailand. We had enjoyed the experience and seemed like a good idea to give him, as a present, a Thai massage that would remind us those nice days spent in the country. Pan was the only native masseuse in London area, which made me thought that there was, probably, no one more authentic than her to bring back those nice memories.
I had already heard about Thai massages before, but I never thought they were going to turn out to be so helpful in my life. Or maybe, it's better to say that I never thought that Thai massages would lead into my mother's last glimmer of hope on her way to recovery after the stroke she had suffered last June.
Pan was one of the multiple options I had in mind when my mother was in hospital, but being in Spain, the distance seemed to be a insurmountable problem. However, I decided to talk to her and it was a great idea, since she told me her own experience: her mother in law had been in the same situation and, after only two weeks of massages, she had started to recover the mobility and walk using a stick. This didn't seem to be my mother's situation, as the doctors in Spain told us she had lost her musculature and it seemed unlikely that she could walk again. As shocking as this could sound, we decided not to surrender and ask Pan's opinion anyway. She said she could try to help and, although could not ensure any progress, it wouldn't harm her in any way, so it was our personal decision whether to rely on her or not. We had few choices left so we finally decided to fly my mother to London. And it was totally worth trying.
Pan has been really helpful in this recovery process since the first day. After analyzing the situation, she stated that the left part of my mother's body was paralyzed and had a touch similar to "jelly". However, after only half an hour of massage, she started moving her hand. The following day she called her master in Thailand and he told her to apply some hot Thai herbs in the injured area so that the muscle could be rebuilt as the massages were ongoing. It was amazing to see her progressing so fast, giving us hope and, at the same time, strength to keep trying.
Pan demonstrated to be a professional by adapting her skills to this specific situation, and not only she provided a great service as a masseuse, but she also proved to be a kind and sympathetic human being by taking care of my mother twenty four hours in her own house for these six days. She would lend her own bed to my mother, even if this meant sleeping on the floor, she massaged her from seven in the morning until sleeping time and she provided nutritious food and energetic drinks all over the process.
This went on for six days, starting on Saturday 8th of September, because we had to go back to Spain and start rehabilitation by Social Security, but Pan would have been more than happy to keep on working with her until her final recovery. In those six days, my mother made big progress with her "supposed to be paralyzed" extremities: she can open and close her left hand by now, touch her shoulder while the hand is leaning on the bed and even bend and stretch her knee. She can also stand up more easily... and I am sure this is only the beginning.
All this improvements would have never been possible without Pan's incredible job. She has proven to be, not only a real professional, but also a warm human being, whose kind manners have helped us all during these hard times. Her contagious desire to improve and her endeavour made my mother strong enough to face this challenge, so that we can now reflect ourselves in her attitude and find the will to keep on fighting."– Silvia - daughter of Maria