Open letter to the woman who saved my life

This is my letter to Annie Hopper, founder of the Dynamic Neural Retraining System, the treatment programme which made it possible for me to recover fully from severe food sensitivities, multiple chemical sensitivity and chronic fatigue syndrome

Photo by Ian Redd

Dear Annie,

Eight months ago I “met” you for the first time while watching the DNRS DVDs. As you explained the theory behind DNRS and how it works and gave examples from your recovery and that of others, my initial scepticism started to melt away. By the time I finished watching the DVDs, I just knew that if I worked hard at this, I could “retrain my brain, transform my health and reclaim my life”, as the DNRS programme promises.
 
And even though all my scepticism was gone by then, the programme has given me so much more than I ever dreamed of. I have achieved things I would never have thought possible. Sometimes I have to pinch myself when I find myself doing things which a year ago would have seemed completely unthinkable.

It’s all thanks to you that I can now spend time with my loved ones again without ever needing to worry about how ill I might be afterwards. And that I’m back at work full-time. That I can eat all sorts of foods that I couldn’t even think about before. That I’m energetic every day and can go wherever I want, including abroad. That I can train regularly again and that I got to take part in a 5 km running race exactly 6 months after starting DNRS. And most importantly that Dermot and I are once again full of hope for a happy life together.

Saying that you saved my life might sound dramatic. On a physical level, my illness wasn’t life-threatening. But when I read this in your book Wired for Healing, I could relate completely:
“To be honest, my will to live at times was not very strong. This was surprising to me as I considered myself to be a very emotionally strong and stable person. Thoughts of ending my life were like dragons that I had to keep at bay, sometimes on a daily or hourly basis – just so I did not have to endure another day of sickness, pain and isolation.”

It’s hard for me to believe now that there were times before DNRS when my will to live was so low, even though I was one of the “luckier” sufferers of these sorts of illnesses. Luckier because I received nothing but support from the people around me and because I was diagnosed in less than a year from when things became really bad. Life is so beautiful that I just can’t imagine feeling like that now.

Photo by Rene Rossignaud Photography

But a year ago my life was completely different from what it is today. I was housebound, unable to get out of bed most mornings and able to eat only 8 different foods. 

So thank you for all you’ve done – not just for me but for my husband and loved ones too.

Thank you for showing me that I could hope for a better tomorrow and that I didn’t need to go on living a life of restriction, avoidance and fear.  

Photo by Ian Redd

Thank you for writing this in your book – which has remained engrained in my mind since the day I read it over 8 months ago: 
“May you always look at the world in the way you did when you were first able to do something as your renewed self.”

Looking at the world in this new way is amazing. Thank you for giving me the possibility to see the world through these new lenses and for giving me my life back. Thank you for saving me.

Meeting you on Skype a couple of months ago was one of the most overwhelming experiences of my life and I really look forward to the day that I finally get to meet you in person.

Much love always,
Johanna x x x