Free The Slaves
Free the Slaves liberates slaves around the world, helps them rebuild their lives and researches real world solutions to eradicate slavery forever.

Kendall Ciesemier
Kendall Ciesemier is 14 years old. In 2004, she began working to raise money to help AIDS orphans in Africa through World Vision, an international relief and development organization working to promote the well being of all people - especially children. Kendall’s first goal was to raise $60,000 and she recently raised her goal to $1 million.

Hilary Lister
Hilary was not born quadriplegic, in fact Hilary was quite the sporting child. However, Hilary was diagnosed with a degenerative disease, which would slowly limit the use of her body as she became older. Tempted in her darkest moments to end her pain and suffering, an introduction to sailing in 2003 provided a fresh impetus and transformed life for Hilary. In 2005, Hilary Lister made history by becoming the first ever quadriplegic to sail solo across the English Channel.

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Welcome to my website!

My name is Shannon Nelson. I am an auntie, a friend, a former dental assistant, a student, and I also happen to be a quadriplegic.

A good friend of mine and I decided to create this website after a remarkable experience. We just knew that we couldn't keep something that exceptional to ourselves, knowing that it would bring real hope to countless people who, like myself, live with chronic pain.

Even though I do like the word "inspiration", I would like to think that this website is going to be more useful and helpful than inspirational.

I broke my neck in the Summer of 1995. I have been a quadriplegic ever since. Despite my disability, I enjoyed relatively good health for a few years after my accident (although I was emotionally distraught for about a year).

I started having serious health problems (such as recurrent bladder infections) in late 1999. Since my body cannot handle pain as a regular person's would, it goes into a state called dysreflexia: my blood pressure goes sky high, my head feels like it's going to explode, and my heart feels like it's going to jump out of my chest.

By 2001, I could no longer handle the frequent hospitalizations, and following my doctor's advice, I had bladder surgery. The infections stopped, but the pain persisted. In addition, I also started to experience severe lower back pain. Within months, I was no longer able to get up in my wheelchair, I was completely bedridden. I fell into a deep depression.

I have been prescribed pain medication after pain medication. I was even given botox injections in my back to paralyze the muscles that were shooting off pain. Nothing worked. My doctor finally told me that there was nothing else that could be done for me, and that I should "learn how to live with pain". Talk about a life sentence!

My best friend started looking into alternative medicine out of desperation. She spent countless hours doing thorough research on every promising option (by the way, she and I are very skeptical of anything that cannot be scientifically proven). After a few weeks of intense research, she decided to order a book called "The Biology of Belief" by Dr. Bruce H. Lipton. She read the author's background and found out that he was a world-renowned cellular biologist (not just a wishful thinker). Reading Dr. Lipton's book is how I came to understand that our thoughts create our feelings and our feelings create our health. Even though it did shake me to the core, and despite all the scientific evidence presented in the book, I was still somewhat skeptical (believe me, it's not easy to become hopeful overnight after a decade of misery).

The next book we read was "The promise of energy psychology" by David Feinstein, Donna Eden and Gary Craig. We found it enlightening! We ended up ordering additional information about energy medicine, especially EFT (emotional freedom techniques). We put it to the test and we were simply amazed...

I am not going to tell you that you can get rid of physical and/or emotional pain overnight with energy medicine and/or energy psychology, it is a process; but I can share with you how it is helping me. Before energy medicine and energy psychology, I was taking a powerful prescription painkiller three times a day, the side effects were horrible beyond description. After a few months of applying EFT and other forms of energy medicine --such as Reiki-- on a regular basis, I gradually stopped taking pain medications and anti-depressants altogether. Needless to say, I am no longer bedridden or depressed.

In no way am I suggesting that you should replace your medications and/or medical treatments for energy medicine. I actually owe my life to modern medicine. I wouldn't have survived breaking my neck in a country that is not up-to-date with spinal cord related injuries. What I am suggesting is that you don't have to give up when traditional medicine doesn't seem to be helping. There is a place for every form of healing.

I am still in the process of becoming healthy again; but for me the fact that I can be pain-free and depression-free without the aid of prescription medications is simply miraculous. Plus my mental attitude has dramatically changed. While I still have break-through pain every once in a while, I no longer feel like a victim. I now know that virtually every physical ailment is the result of unresolved emotional trauma. I am currently working on my own list of unresolved emotional issues, one at a time. The more closure I bring to an old issue, the better I feel. I strongly believe that forgiveness played a crucial role in my recovery.

I will update my blog often to keep you informed on my progress.

I invite you to join me in this journey. I truly hope that through this website I will reach out to people that are experiencing physical and/or emotional pain; and I hope to create a community of people willing to share their experiences to help others, and also to find desperately needed help, inspiration and support.

Hugs,

Shannon

P.S. Please make sure you sign my guestbook! :)