2012 Wise-Anderson Clinic - Personal Review

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ZAPBoston
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2012 Wise-Anderson Clinic - Personal Review

Post by ZAPBoston »

I mostly lurk around the internet but I’ve wanted to write this post since I got back from the 2012 Wise-Anderson Clinic (http://www.pelvicpainhelp.com) I attended. I read all the stuff on the internet I could find when originally considering attending the clinic and wanted to give back to the overall community to help other people make their decisions.

Who I am:
I’m a 30 year old male in the Northeast suffering from pelvic floor dysfunction. I’ve had symptoms since my teen years. I’ve had a number of diagnoses: interstitial cystitis (cystoscopy with hydrodistention and biopsy), chronic nonbacterial prostatitis, chronic pelvic pain syndrome, and irritable bowel syndrome. Regardless of what you call it, my symptoms are usually recurring pain (rectal, penile, pelvic, and lower abdominal) and pelvic spasms. I’ve been treated in a similar way to most people on the forum: antibiotics, alpha blockers, muscle relaxers, Elmiron, tricyclic antidepressants, NSAIDS, Opiods, anticonvulsants, high-dosage antihistamines, intravesical DMSO, intravesical Lidocaine and Steroids, nerve blocks, epidural steroid injections, etc.

Being a Male with Pelvic Floor Dysfunction had its own unique challenges. I never knew physical therapy was an option until the past couple of years. Urologists didn’t mention it. A lot of the literature I found was entirely geared toward women. Of course, the Internet wasn’t as big a deal when I was growing up (AOL was it and AIM was how you chatted with your high school buddies after classes). I only started physical therapy a couple of years after college and found the Wise-Anderson book. I started finding a few specialized physical therapists that had experience. I wanted to attend the Wise-Anderson clinic but I was intimidated by the expense and worried about what to expect.

Attending the Clinic

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The Costs, Travel to California, and Accommodations
The cost of the clinic was $3,650 plus a $300 expense to be seen by a local Urologist prior to the clinic, which is mandatory. I elected to stay at the Flamingo, where the clinic is held, and that cost $790 for 7 nights. I also spent another $1,500 for airfare, rental car, food, and misc. expenses. I spent around $7,000 by the time I finished. I’m sure some people could find ways to cut costs. People that attend with spouses or families might spend more. I didn’t realize I had spent so much until after I returned home and reviewed all my credit card charges. I was able to get my health insurer to reimburse me around $1,000 in medical expenses.

The clinic is held in Santa Rosa, California, the county seat in Sonoma County - the famous wine region. When planning my trip, I saw that 3 airports were close to Santa Rosa. There was the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) (http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/index.jsp), the Oakland International Airport (OAK) (http://www.flyoakland.com), and the Charles Schulz - Sonoma County Airport (STS) (http://www.sonomacountyairport.org). I wanted to be as close to Santa Rosa as possible so I initially scheduled to fly into STS both arriving and departing. I didn’t realize how small STS was and how few flights flew in daily. Unfortunately, when flying to California my connection in Chicago was delayed so I missed my connection to STS and there were no other spaces available that day. Instead of waiting until the next day, I flew into SFO and drove the Santa Rosa. When departing from California, I missed my flight out of STS (Alaska Air really closes that gate at 30 minutes prior to the flight - sharp!) and couldn’t get a space on the remaining flights out. I had to rent a car and drive back into San Francisco to depart out of SFO. I’d recommend being more organized or lucky than me if you fly into STS or just fly into SFO.

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When you get to Santa Rosa, the clinic is held at the Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa (http://www.flamingoresort.com). If you want, you can also stay at the Flamingo during the week. I think everyone that attended my clinic decided to stay at the Flamingo. The rooms were clean and fairly quiet. I had no complaints. There was an on-site restaurant that was a little expensive but Santa Rosa is a tourist area and prices are competitive with other restaurants in the area. The food was tasty. The Flamingo’s location was convenient. It is directly adjacent to a shopping plaza so guests are a short 5-minute walk to a CVS and a Safeway's grocery shop. It was no stress to go pick up my toiletries for the week and some snacks. There was no kitchenette in my hotel room so I couldn’t buy that much at the Safeway's. With a longer 15 minute walk, there was a major shopping center down the road with several restaurants (seafood, steak, etc.) and shops.

There really isn’t much time for sightseeing. The clinic starts after breakfast and goes until dinner. Yet some people at my clinic went out after dinner, arrived in California early, or scheduled their departure for several days after the clinic ended. Santa Rosa is located near many local attractions in Sonoma County.

Pre-Clinic: Visit to the local Urologist
Before the clinic begins, participants have to see a local Urologist, Dr. J. Nevin Smith (http://www.jnevinsmithmd.com). Prior to coming to California, you need to log into Dr. Smith’s website and complete patient forms to help make the most of the visit. The drive from the Flamingo to Dr. Smith’s office in Sonoma was a great 40-minutes down California State Route 12 with vineyards on either side of the road. It’s what you expect Sonoma County to be.

Dr. Smith’s office is in a small office park. He’s an older physician with a long career and we talked about his experiences treating patients and what he’s seen since being involved in the Wise clinics. While at the office, we discussed my patient history. He performed a digital pelvic exam. a bladder ultrasound, and asked for a urine sample. He explained how he tried to identify patients that might have been misdiagnosed and have a condition that wouldn’t be helped by the Wise-Anderson protocol. He also is available to write short-term prescriptions during the week if necessary. During the clinic I attended, one of the participants actually had a nasty flare and she was able to get a short-term muscle relaxant prescribed until she could get home to her primary physician.

The Clinic
The Clinic is held at one of the smaller conference rooms at the Flamingo. The furniture is all removed and replaced by yoga-type mats and pillows. Around the corner from the conference room, there is an adjacent hotel room where Tim Sawyer sets up a massage table and his supplies. Next door to Tim’s room, there is a separate room where another physical therapist teaches exercises that help stretch out the pelvic floor.

There were 9 participants at my clinic plus some spouses and family. Dr. David Wise sits in the back of the room. He is a licensed psychologist and I could tell. He was very calm and understanding with all the participants. We had several people that were in-flare or were nervous and he was very supportive when talking with them. People sit on their mats and pillows around him in a circle. He alternates between lectures and paradoxical relaxation exercises. The clinic lasts from breakfast to dinner with a couple of breaks. His lectures are about the anatomy of the pelvic floor, his personal history of pelvic floor issues, trigger points and myofascial pelvic floor release, and paradoxical relaxation. There wasn’t any syllabus or agenda so you don’t know what the lectures will be that day. We did cover a lot of material. The paradoxical relaxation exercises involve all the participants lying down and letting Dr. Wise guide us in breathing, meditating, and trying to relax our bodies. On one day, he had a guest speaker, a former patient, talk to the group via Skype video conference to explain how things were going for him. During all the lectures, Dr. Wise always stopped and asked if anyone had questions or comments.

During the clinics, everyone has a set time daily to see Tim Sawyer to do hands-on myofascial release. Dr. Wise doesn’t stop his lectures or paradoxical relaxation exercise while you are out of the room because participants are cycling in and out during the day to see Tim. I’m not sure if I missed anything important but I’m sure I could have approached Dr. Wise during the break if there was something I had missed and he would have brought me up to speed. Dr. Wise was very approachable.

Tim Sawyer is a really kind and experienced physical therapist. We reviewed my symptoms, patient history, and what other therapists had mentioned in the past. He did his own evaluation of me. He then went to work on massaging and re-aligning different areas. It felt really good to have a professional help relax muscles and get things to release. Tim also gave me suggestions to bring back home with me and discuss with the physical therapists in my area.

The Wand (AKA the Best Wand ever)
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To be fair, nothing that Tim did was any different than what some other physical therapists have done for me. You always feel better immediately after being worked on but usually flare back up again later. The best thing about the lectures Dr. Wise gave and the hands-on sessions with Tim was the introduction of their custom Wand to use on internal trigger points. The Wand! http://www.pelvicpainhelp.com/the-wand/

I’ve tried a lot of Wands over the past 4 years since I started physical therapy. I was always looking for something that could approximate the feeling I could get from an experienced physical therapist. This Wand that Dr. Wise and his colleagues created is the best wand I’ve ever tried. First, it’s long enough to be used from almost any entry angle. Second, it’s thin enough to pass the sphincter without any friction or excessive lubing. Third, it has a sensor that tells me how much pressure I’m applying to my pelvic floor so I know that I’m being safe in how I try internal trigger point release. It’s really the best Wand I’ve ever seen. Dr. Wise told us the entire story about how he designed and prototyped the Wand - it was very interesting. They are doing patient trials now and hope to eventually offer the Wand to more people. Tim Sawyer had a private demonstration with each of us to get us comfortable using the Wand.

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Has the Wand solved all of my problems? No but that’s not the Wand’s fault. I view the Wand as a Stradivarius violin. It has the ability to make concert-caliber music as long as the musician has the talent. I’m still trying to learn how to get the Wand to hit the right spots on my pelvic floor. When I get experienced enough, I’m sure I’ll be able to recreate the full relaxation my physical therapist achieves in her office.

When the Wand was introduced to the group of participants, it quickly became the highlight of the day. Everyone quickly started calling it “Wanda” and by the second day everyone had fallen in love. I guess at the heart of every guy, there’s a 12-year old boy looking to cause mischief!

Other Equipment
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In addition to the Wand, Dr. Wise also gave participants other equipment to help them with the Protocol (Paradoxical Relaxation and Internal Trigger Point / Myofascial Release). First, we were all given Theracanes to help work external trigger points. These usually cost $30-40 dollars if you purchased it on your own. Second, we were all given MP5 portable media players. These are iPod type devices made for Dr. Wise by OEM’s in Asia. They store audio files of all Dr. Wise’s paradoxical relaxation sessions and some video files of Tim discussing exercises and the pelvic floor. Third, everyone got a copy of Headache in the Pelvis. I already had several copies so I didn’t take one.
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Conclusion / Takeaways

I enjoyed my time at the Wise-Anderson clinic. Am I still in pain? Yes, I am still in pain but I learned a lot and I feel more confident that I’m on the right path. Physical Therapy has been more effective than all the other solutions I’ve tried. It was also nice to meet other people that were like me. People suffering from pelvic floor problems that were looking for their own personal solutions. I have good physical therapists in my state and I am able to share with them all the feedback I received in California. Plus, that Wand!

Sorry for the long post. I hope someone finds this post in the future and it helps them make the right choice about their care and/or about going to the next Wise-Anderson Clinic. Best of Luck to everyone - whatever the decision is. I know PM is disabled so feel free to message me anyway you want if I can help at all. I'm always willing to talk to others. I don't know many people in my area with similar problems and issues.
Age: 31 | Onset Age: 16 | Symptoms: Pelvic Pain (Rectal, Lower Abdominal, Penile, etc), Spasms | Helped By: Physical Therapy | Worsened By: Activity | Other comments: Always looking to hear from others in the Northeast US
dockuda
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Re: 2012 Wise-Anderson Clinic - Personal Review

Post by dockuda »

I am scheduled to attend the training in February and would like to chat with you about your symptoms and clinic experience .
Thanks
Age: | Onset Age: | Symptoms: | Helped By: | Worsened By: | Other comments:
ZAPBoston
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Re: 2012 Wise-Anderson Clinic - Personal Review

Post by ZAPBoston »

I think the moderators disabled private messaging for legal reasons. viewtopic.php?f=37&t=6447

Do you feel comfortable asking your question openly in the forum, Dockuda? Otherwise, we can try some other method.
Age: 31 | Onset Age: 16 | Symptoms: Pelvic Pain (Rectal, Lower Abdominal, Penile, etc), Spasms | Helped By: Physical Therapy | Worsened By: Activity | Other comments: Always looking to hear from others in the Northeast US
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scotsman
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Re: 2012 Wise-Anderson Clinic - Personal Review

Post by scotsman »

Many thanks for the post - not many people take the time and it is much appreciated :)

All the very best for 2013.

Richard.
Not medical advice: Read my progress to date : Read about my W-A clinic visit

Age: 54 CPPS: 20 Yrs Recovery Status: 95% Symptoms: Pain around perineum Makes Worse: Tension, sitting Makes Better: Stretching, triggerpoint therapy, relaxation
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