My story continued:
The experience of working through the Virtual Reality assisted program with Elma was at once intense and liberating. It force me to re-establish my relationship with my body, specifically with my stump, becoming more accepting of the reality of it.
My tendency had been to overlook it, to pretend that life could still go on as normal, that I just had to man-up and get on with daily life.
What this process taught me (not including the almost miraculous change in my nervous system's feedback loop and pain-path "wiring") was to become equal to the reality of the amputation, to care for my body in a different way, to do simple things like remove my prosthetic at the end of the work day instead of wearing it from bed rise to bed time, to rub it every evening with gratitude instead of dismissing it as a bother.
The reduction in pain frequency and intensity is so remarkable that my entire outlook on life has changed. I never realised that I had been depressed and anxious for the past 5-6 years: my body in a constant state of dread and apprehension - until the pains stopped. It has taken me 2 months - and it is still improving on a weekly basis - to TRUST that I am no longer being threatened and so the anxiety levels have dropped, the depression has lifted and I am far more productive and creative than I have been for the past 17 years. Even my relationship with my partner has improved because I have more energy, enthusiasm and, above all, hope for a pain-free life.
I am more than willing to continue monitoring and recording this journey in order to bring tangible evidence to a naturally skeptical audience about the life-changing results that I have experienced so far.
With all respect to you as professionals who are in the business of relieving pain in this world, I thank you.