- Previously on Can We Cure.
My therapist told me that I should try
and write a letter to the doctor who did this to me.
- I don't want to say it because I'm scared to jinx it
but I think the lasers work.
(upbeat music)
- I cannot believe we have been here for two weeks.
I mean we have gotten so close with Leslie
and her entire family.
She doesn't even really feel like a doctor,
she just feels like a friend to us at this point.
Do you know how many people think your daughter
has saved their lives and changed their lives?
- She's told me about some of them, yes, yeah, absolutely.
- [Kelsey] How has your emotional life changed since laser?
- Since laser? - Yeah.
- Well, I mean pre and post, I didn't have a life,
I just didn't, I was in a constant state of fear.
I was constantly worried
the next thing was gonna trigger it,
it was like walking on eggshells for your whole life.
- My migraines and all of that started
when I was in my early teens and I'd say around 18, 19
is when I started to become like almost bedridden.
And I would go to college and I would go back
to my apartment and I wouldn't leave
and I had no life whatsoever.
- The first five years it was one headache a night
at one o'clock in the morning, it was like clockwork.
So I spent three months a year
sitting up in a chair to sleep.
And if I moved just a certain way,
bingo, another headache would start.
- Nobody understand the pain, I'm gonna cry right now.
But you know how it feels, right?
- [Kelsey] I do.
- Nobody freaking knows, unless you've done it.
- I cannot even imagine doing this for three years.
- Why does everyone cry when we talk about your mom?
- Her daughter had TN and she was able to help her daughter
and so for her it's like this is a mission.
- Since I was diagnosed, she was on the computer,
every single website, I could just see her.
Sometimes I'd see her crying,
sometimes I'd see her throwing papers.
- The more I researched, the more my heart was just aching
but I was determined and thankfully
we got something, we found something.
- I mean I've watched her go on a Sunday,
you're gonna be going to Miami and helping people
and not taking any money.
She said mom, they've suffered enough, I have to help them.
And that's just how she feels
and I'm proud of her for that, I really am.
Some people have said, do you really think you can help me?
And I say I believe it in my heart
and if we don't have the belief anymore, what do we have?
When nobody was able to help Lee, I was able to help her.
- My grandfather, he wanted us to open up a clinic
and we opened one up and we were just treating people
and people were getting better.
Like with backs, elbows, knees, everything,
like they were just getting better
and we were like holy cow, this is crazy.
- I wasn't expecting to find so many people
that I could relate to and honestly know what
they're going through and they know what I'm going through.
And talking to these people that
have had success stories is what's kept me here.
- [Lara] How are you feeling today?
- Everything just feels like hot ropes,
hot snakes slithering up and down my neck and face
on my right side, which sucks.
- This girl messaged me last night
and said that she had had laser therapy before
and that it helped her a lot.
And she was like, by the way,
I felt like complete shit before I felt better.
- My back hurts, my jaw feels like it's locked.
Can you tell I'm in a bad mood?
You're in a way better mood.
- I'm in such a better mood.
I was so skeptical going in like,
I just feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest.
- [Leslie] What the fuck is going on?
- I honestly have energy.
- [Leslie] I am shook right now.
- Me too.
Yesterday I felt like complete shit
but today I'm feeling better
and I actually have some energy, it's kind of weird.
- Pepper even feels good, right, Pep?
What is happening?
Gotta appreciate the little moments, right?
That's two days in a row you've been
in a better mood after treatment.
- Maybe it's working, bitch.
- She's on the phone, telling her friend about the treatment
and how excited she is, so I'm really happy.
I was worried.
We leave tomorrow and I still haven't written
this fucking letter to the doctor.
- I am getting ready to write a letter
to all of the doctors who didn't believe me
because unfortunately I cannot pin it down to one.
- I've got some comfort food, macaroons,
I'm gonna put on some good jams and do this.
- Dear doctors, this is hard to write.
I came to you for the first time
when I was just 20 years old, I was scared and in pain.
When I finally got the courage to see you,
you downplayed my symptoms and feelings.
It took me over five years to be told
what was going on with my body
and I will never get those years of my life back.
- [Kelsey] Dear doctor, let's just get
the nasty stuff out of the way, you ruined my life.
I wish I could say you've given me
the confidence to know that I can have
the worst pain in the world and still live despite it.
But I have met and heard stories
about other people living with chronic illness
and learning that there is hope.
That maybe my purpose in life is now
to connect with other people who have chronic pain like me.
You never gave me that, no, I learned that on my own.
- [Lara] I no longer need your validation,
I don't even really want your remorse,
I just want you and all doctors to be better
and I want to let this go.
I forgive you with all of my heart
and I thank you for forcing me
to find out how strong I really am, Lara.
- As much as I don't want to and as long
as it's taken me, I forgive you wholeheartedly.
With love and pain, Kelsey.
I hope that they show this at like doctor schools,
med schools and shit about like just
being careful what you say around people with chronic pain.
Because it can really have an affect on
like how you view your ability to get better
and if you live everyday with zero hope
that you're gonna get better, you never will.
- There are strength in numbers
and once we start talking about the issues that ail us
and demand answers, like we will get them.
I believe you, other people will believe you
and your pain is very real.
And the more we talk about it, the less there will be pain.
- [Kelsey] It's our last night with Lee and Leslie.
- It's so sad.
- [Kelsey] And we got our lasers and so now
we get to use these when we go back to LA.
- [Lara] And on the plane.
- And on the plane and it's portable,
in the car, you can literally use this thing anywhere,
it's like the size of a cellphone.
Let's get a family photo, cheese.
I'm leaving with a renewed sense of faith in people.
With people like Leslie, who are trying and not giving up
and dedicating their entire life,
her family, everything she's had to do.
She's helping so many people.
- She's great, like she's just like.
- She's great.
- If nothing else, like just having someone validate you
and be like your pain is real.
- That's irreplaceable, you can't pay enough money.
- No, yeah.
- Go team, all for one, one for all or some shit.
Okay, you have to let go now.
(laughing)
We would have just stayed there forever, bouncing around.
Coming into this, I thought I was gonna be here
and in two weeks, I would be leaving pain free.
That's what I told myself was best case scenario.
Worst case scenario, I prepped myself to come here
and get the treatments and actually have it
like stir up the pain more and have some attacks.
The worst case didn't happen, the best case didn't happen
but it's worked for so many people,
so like it has to work, right?
(upbeat, pleasant music)
- I honestly cannot believe that I am out of bed right now,
three hours after starting my period.
It is officially day two of my period
and I'm getting ready to go on a hike, a hike.
I woke up with little to no bloating.
This probably hasn't happened to me in 10 years.
I'm hoping that this is the new normal.
- Oh my god, okay, our lasers just came in the mail
and they're like the big legit ones.
Big laser got here, laserin.
I think it's gonna take a much longer time
for me to see any results.
I can't help but obviously be like sad and a little jealous
that it didn't work super noticeably different for me.
- I think the laser, it definitely can do something
and it's showing.
- You guys, I'm having one of the best days
that I've had in months.
- You are much more willing to, you know,
do other things while you're on your period
instead of feeling like you can't do anything
and that's been pretty great.
- I'm thinking about cooking dinner
and then taking my dog to the pet store to get a new leash.
Like I actually want to go out and do things.
On one hand it feels totally normal
to have this much energy and be this happy right now
but on the other hand I'm like, who the fuck are you?
Because this isn't Lara but it is now.
- Guess what, guys?
I've started dating someone and he's really great
and I care about him a lot.
I never thought it would be possible
to be in a relationship at this stage in my pain.
The point is, is that instead of burning the letter,
which I have printed out right here,
I'm gonna actually fucking mail it to this doctor.
This guy that I'm dating has really given me the confidence
to mail this to him, like what do I have to lose?
I'm scared.
- [Jared] No need to be scared.
- The mailbox is coming up but I'm gonna shit myself.
Lara said to me once, what if this doctor
is still out there doing this to people?
And I feel like if this letter can make him
rethink every fucking cut and stitch
and movement and consultation and suggestion
and prescription to someone else, it's worth it to me.
- Yep.
(heartfelt music)
- I feel better that now it's not,
like it's not in my control anymore.
I put it out there and now it's not mine anymore.
So I made an appointment with a new doctor,
who is a bite specialist who works
with neuromuscular dentistry.
I felt like making a new appointment with a new doctor,
trying a new technique would just mean
that I was giving up on the lasers
and I'm not because I'm still using it.
- So because I think the detox
is actually doing something for my life,
I just booked another trip to go back
and get detoxed again this summer.
I just feel like it's something that I believe in now.
Even if this isn't a cure and even if it's not
gonna work for every person's body,
because everyone is different,
I feel hopeful again and having that hope in my heart again
is worth so much more to me
than what I thought going into this.
- I'm not giving up, my goal really is to
just try and help other people find ways.
So if I have to keep on trying shit
to show people that there other options out there,
then I'm gonna keep doing it.
- At the end of the day what I want people to know
is that there are always more options,
even when it seems like there's not.
And they may not always be accessible
but the more we work and the more we fight
and the more we speak up, there will be more options
and we will all get our hope back, I hope.
(heartfelt guitar music)