Sometimes a Car Accident can Just Ruin Ones Day with the Hassle and Stress But Other Times it can Change Ones Life

Sometimes a Car Accident can Just Ruin One’s Day with the Hassle and Stress

But Other Times it can Change One’s Life

Active mother, career-woman and female powerhouse discusses her challenges

and how she overcame the odds during Feminine Empowerment Month

(Pinellas Park, Fla.) March 1, 2010 – Sometimes a car accident can just ruin one’s day with the hassle and stress of it all but other times… it can change one’s life forever. Joann Bullock, 53 years-old from Pinellas Park, was once an active mother, career-woman and female powerhouse – traveling, working out, taking body pump classes, spin classes, kayaking, walking regularly and participating in 5-Ks, until one day her life changed.

Bullock and her husband were driving on I-4 when traffic stopped and a utility van plowed in the back of the car, pushing everyone on the road forward. That was the day that Bullock knew her whole life had changed. In the moment, she was only concerned for the two additional passengers in the vehicle but when the dust settled it was she who had the highest price to pay.

“I loved gardening, working in the backyard, shoveling dirt… I couldn’t even do that. I couldn’t type on a computer, it hurt to put my head down or bend down. Pain would shoot down my arm and it was horrible… so bad, I was in tears for the longest time. I went to see doctors, sitting there crying… my whole life had changed,” said Bullock.

For Bullock, even walking was painful. She couldn’t ride her bike because turning her head to look back was painful. Her range of motion was extremely limited after her accident. Bullock opted for a laserscopic spine surgery, which was intended to be a minimally invasive laser spine procedure. “I don’t know really what they did but it seemed to make it worse. They wanted to stabilize my neck with rods after that,” said Bullock.

Bullock went one year with the debilitating pain.

It wasn’t until someone recommended Bullock to see Charles Friedman, D.O. of Pain Relief Centers in Pinellas Park that her life would slowly come back to her. “I had no help or relief from my pain until I saw Dr. Friedman,” explains Bullock, “it made a huge difference.”

“Joann is one of those women that deserve admiration, certainly empowered and ready to take on the world. It was so rewarding to be part of giving her back her ‘oomph’,” said Dr. Friedman.

“After receiving this treatment I was working in the garden and yard and playing with the dogs again. I wasn’t able to play with the dogs before that.” Bullock was a career woman before her accident as well. She was a consultant for a casino ferry that went to the Bahamas. She was required to drive four hours to and from West Palm Beach but that task became impossible for her. “They let me go. I just couldn’t do it,” she said. Driving in the car was painful for Bullock. She couldn’t manipulate the steering wheel or turn her neck too much without excruciating pain, until seeing Pain Relief Centers. “We took a three-week road trip and I was not in pain at all. It was completely manageable,” said Bullock.

Bullock got her own spin bike for home so she could resume her spinning. She walks four to six miles nearly every day and began weight training again from home. “I would never have gotten this far if I hadn’t done the treatment,” said Bullock. How did she do all that yard work before? Bullock’s adult children would do some yard work and shopping for her – she had to ask them all the time for help. Although she says they were happy to help, “The kids are supportive…to a point,” she adds. Now, empowered and independent again – she can “do it all herself.”

Not only did Bullock get her life back but she and her husband have traveled to Europe twice – something she wouldn’t even have dreamt of doing last year.

“I want to encourage women out there that may have experienced an injury-accident or have pain to not be disheartened. Get up, get out there – find the solution and be the strong woman you were before that accident or injury knocked you down!” said Bullock, “If I could do it, any woman can.”

About Pain Relief Centers:

Pain Relief Centers are multi-specialty practices that use a combination of innovative and minimally invasive treatments that help relieve patients’ pain and improve their quality of life. Pain Relief Centers’ Board-Certified physicians utilize advanced technology and interventional therapies to diagnose and treat pain effectively. Pain Relief Centers’ comprehensive approach ranges from osteopathic manipulation and nerve ablation to minimally invasive spine procedures. Pain Relief Centers treat a variety of conditions such as neck and arm pain, back and leg pain, complex regional pain syndrome, degenerative disc disease, failed back syndrome, herniated discs, and spinal stenosis. Pain Relief Centers works with patients to improve their pain and return them back to their busy lives.

Visithttp://www.pinellaspain.com/or call 727-518-8660 for more information.

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