Hi, my name is Kateryna. In 2012, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
Before MS, I led a very active life. But more than that, I identified as someone who was not stopped by circumstances.
I grew up very poor in Kryvyi Rih, an industrial town in Ukraine.
Against all odds, and with the support of my mom, I learned English and came to the US where I went to college and ended up working as a UX Designer.
Despite this rosy sounding journey, every step was met with obstacles that I had to overcome.
At the time, English was barely taught in Ukraine. At night I would listen to the 1 hour English radio program, trying to make sense of this completely unfamiliar language, and looking up the words in my English to Russian dictionary.
It took me years.
Living in Seattle meant embracing the beautiful scenery and being physically active. I can still remember passing the Space Needle on my 2 mile walk to work in South Lake Union, from my apartment in Queen Anne.
Food and alcohol were also an important part of my life. From my mom and grandma I developed a love of cooking and experimenting in the kitchen.
Like a good Ukrainian, I loved my pastries, wine, and cigarettes. I can remember the days of drinking an entire bottle of wine to myself and smoking half a pack of cigarettes while dining on pasta and cream sauce.
I’ll never know what initially triggered my MS.
As years went by and I learned more about MS onset, I saw that it could have been any number of factors.
Perhaps it was my fall down the stairs where I injured my coccyx and it remained inflamed for 6 months.
Maybe it was just my Eastern European genes. Or the northern latitude of Seattle. My drinking. My smoking. All of the above. Or none of it.
In any event, in 2012, I started experiencing an array of terrifying symptoms. Half my face went completely numb. I had chronic fatigue. My knees stopped working properly. My balance started failing. My boyfriend and I were scared. We suspected a brain tumor.
Eventually, after undergoing an MRI and lumbar puncture, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
I was completely devastated and terrified. I had no idea what to do. I was 32.
As my boyfriend Issara tells it, he also felt overwhelmed and helpless. When he experiences these problems, he tries to solve them by researching and learning as much as he can.
Within weeks, he discovered Dr. Terry Wahls, a medical doctor with Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, who reversed many of her MS symptoms through a combination of diet and lifestyle modifications.
I watched Terry’s TEDx talk, and bought her very first book ‘Minding my Mitochondria.’
I immediately started on her diet, which I have been doing faithfully since 2012. Within months, I watched my fatigue disappear. Eight years later it hasn’t returned.
In Minding my Mitochondria, and in her newer book ‘The Wahls Protocol,’ Dr. Wahls shares her journey using Electrical Muscular Stimulation (ESTIM/EMS), also known as Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES), and Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) as part of her protocol to reverse her MS symptoms (there is no treatment for MS, and she candid that she still has MS).
Even though the Wahls diet caused my fatigue and numbness to disappear, other symptoms were slowly progressing, specifically foot and hip drop on my right side, and my balance was also becoming a problem.
I was looking at a future where I might be unable to physically walk.
I became intrigued about her journey with ESTIM. While anecdotal, and even though there was very little information in the book, or online, I kept returning to this section of her book and re-reading her medical case study with her Physical Therapist.
In her book The Wahls Protocol, Dr. Terry Wahls talked about the ESTIM device she used, the TDR 68 Tone-A-Matic Muscle Stimulator.
Even though the device was extremely expensive (over $700), I reasoned that if it kept me out of a wheelchair, it would be worth the investment.
When the device arrived, I was excited to try it out. I had re-read her section of the book on ESTIM so many times that I felt prepared.
I remember taking the TDR 68 out of the box, unwrapping all the pieces, and reading the instructions cover to cover.
That was when I hit a wall. Full stop.
It turned out that the TDR 68 was nearly impossible to use without the proper training. While the device had some basic programs, it was also nearly completely manual, consisting of many knobs and buttons, with little in the way of plug-and-play settings. I needed to have a detailed understanding of how the device worked in order to use it.
My boyfriend called and wrote the company multiple times, asking to speak to anyone who could help us learn their product. He asked for certified trainers that we could drive (or fly) to. The company was completely unable to provide any resources or tools to help us use their device.
It seemed that rather than it being a consumer device, the TDR 68 was more targeted for medical professionals.
Over the next several years, we spent tens of hours online combing through every possible resource to glean the settings and protocols that would give me the results I was seeking.
We found bits and pieces, but we never found anything like a complete step-by-step protocol.
It was so frustrating.
I had the thing in my hands but I couldn't figure out how to use it.
Even still, I started using the device as best I could, experimenting with the settings.
I used it at work, and took it with me on all my trips.
Through small pieces of information gleaned here and there, I was able to use it somewhat, though I never had any confidence that what I was doing was getting results.
During the 4 years that I had the device, we kept looking for someone to show us how to use it.
Also during this time, I started working with (and subsequently arguing with, and firing) multiple Physical Therapists.
It was a nightmare.
My boyfriend would call PT clinics and ask if they used ESTIM as part of their treatment package. They would say yes, and when we came in, they would pull out a cheap TENS device.
At this point we knew that TENS only treated pain and had nothing to do with strength building. TENS only stimulates your sensory nerves, not your motor nerves. It will not contract your muscles, which is the key ingredient to reversing atrophy and building muscle mass and strength.
We found ourselves in the strange situation of explaining to professional Physical Therapists the difference between TENS and ESTIM.
And they kept refusing to treat me with ESTIM once they learned I had MS.
When I brought in the TDR 68, my more powerful and professional device, they could never figure out how to use it.
The final straw was when we found a clinic that told me they knew how to use ESTIM and that their Physical Therapist was ‘one of the best’ and worked with athletes.
Hopeful, I went in and told him I had MS, he attempted to discourage me from using ESTIM. He refused to help me strength train, and insisted that TENS was the same as EMS.
We got into a big fight there in his office. I ended up crying and had to let him go.
I was devastated.
At this point I had spent years trying to find someone to show me how to use ESTIM for strength training. I had spoken with so many Physical Therapists. I just wanted to throw my device away and give up.
I resigned myself to never learning ESTIM and giving myself a fighting chance to keep me out of a wheelchair.
Remember my boyfriend Issara, the one who helped me discover Dr. Terry Wahls and her amazing diet? He kept looking.
And then he hit his own breaking point.
We had just moved from Seattle down to Santa Cruz, California. He had called up yet another Physical Therapy clinic, and they assured him that they used ESTIM. He went in himself to see their devices, and saw that they only used TENS.
He was at the bottom of his list. He had run out of options.
Sitting by himself in the parking lot outside the clinic, angry and frustrated, he realized that he was barking up the wrong tree.
He remembered that Russian athletes had shattered records in the 70’s by using ESTIM, and that Bruce Lee had used it in his training. He was looking in the wrong place. He needed to find athletes.
With this new search direction, Issara quickly discovered Compex, a company that makes a powerful over the counter non-medical ESTIM device for professional athletes. He reached out to the company, and told them my story.
This is how Rick Stassi came into my life.
Rick is a strength and performance coach. He trains athletes to reach their full genetic potential.
But saying that he trains athletes is like saying the ocean has some water in it.
Rick has trained over 300 professional athletes with contracts worth over $300,000,000, including 14 #1 draft picks.
Rick has trained athletes on the following professional sports teams, Houston Astros, Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, Lakers, Warriors, Brewers, Giants, White Sox, Yankees, Cubs, and the Nationals.
Rick also trains professional Olympic Gold, World, Guinness, and American record holders including Jason Lezak who won 4 Gold, 2 Silver, and 2 Bronze Olympic medals (fastest relay split in the history of the world), Shane Del Rosario, the World Heavyweight Muay Thai Champion, and Dara Torres, (5X Olympian, 12 Olympic medals).
This is just a small part of his resume.
It turned out that Rick also lived close by. And that he loves sharing what he knew with folks like me with medical issues, and were out of options.
The first time we met was in the parking lot of KFC, where he showed me how to use the Compex ESTIM device that he uses with all his professional athletes.
It was probably the most unusual meeting in my life.
Over the next several years, Rick personally taught me how to do the strength training workouts he developed in conjunction with ESTM, known as FES (Functional Electrical Stimulation, which combines ESTIM with physical movement).
During numerous coaching sessions held over video, he improved my technique and taught me how to use my Compex, place the pads, and all the tips and tricks to get results.
I also learned that Compex is the only ESTIM device Rick uses in his training because it provides the most powerful over-the-counter muscle contraction on the market.
Through his caring and generosity, Rick became more than a coach to me. He became a dear friend and family member. He changed my life.
Today I feel like a different person. I use my Compex every day.
Am I cured? No.
I still do the Wahls Protocol. I still deal with foot and hip drop on my right side, as well as balance issues (my 3 main symptoms).
But thanks to Rick’s coaching, I have more strength. I have more muscle development. I feel more confident, more in control of my life and disease progression. I can still go on 5 mile hikes with my boyfriend.
Whenever I have questions about physiology or Compex, I reach out to Rick and he helps me understand both, at a level I simply wouldn’t get access to with a Physical Therapist.
If there is anything that I’ve learned from this experience of discovering and working with ESTIM daily, it’s that you really need someone to kick your butt.
With ESTIM, it doesn’t take physical exercise so much as the emotional drive to show up. That’s what makes it so great for people with Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinsons, Stroke or TBI. A lot of the time we don’t have the energy to do high intensity cardio workouts.
With ESTIM it doesn't matter. You just need to show up and have someone help you figure out what to do.
Rick was that person for me.
When I first started, I was scared to increase the settings. It felt weird. It even hurt.
Because he knows exactly how safe the technology is (remember he trains professional athletes with huge multi-million dollar contracts and he cannot afford to injure a single athlete), Rick was always encouraging me to go higher, and increase the settings beyond what felt physically comfortable.
Because Rick didn’t care about my comfort level.
He cared about my performance.
Because performance is everything. For people with disabilities, performance IS mobility.
The way ESTIM actually works is by using electricity to activate your motor neurons to contract your muscles. Because our muscles are ‘anti-fragile’ they respond to these kinds of stressors by growing larger and stronger.
It doesn’t matter if you have Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinsons, Stroke or TBI. It doesn’t even matter if you don’t have that much energy or can’t really do exercises. All you need is motor neurons, muscle fibers, and a Compex ESTIM device.
But here’s the thing.
If you don’t push yourself to use high settings on your Compex ESTIM, you won’t fight your atrophy, decrease your spasticity, or build strength or muscle tone. You won't be able to work on your foot drop.
I hate to say it, but even if you buy a Compex, put on the pads, and use the right program, if you’re not operating at 70% of your pain level, you will see no results.
You need someone to push you.
That's why I created the ESTIM Club.
I want to do for you what Rick did for me. I want to be that person who is in your ear, encouraging you to increase the levels on your Compex. Because I care about your results.
I want to be that person who answers all your questions, the ones that you don’t even know to ask, and the ones that you can’t find answers to online.
I want to show you what device to get, how to place your electro-pads, what settings to use, and what functional movement to do.
When I speak with other folks like me, it seems that all we want is a fighting chance.
I know that the Physical Therapists mean well.
But at the end of the day, very few are willing to take a risk and help folks with an autoimmune condition experiment with a new modality of treatment.
Keep in mind that ESTIM has been used for over 60 years with zero reported negative long term effects.
That being said, always check with your doctor to make sure you don’t have an underlying condition that would prevent you from using ESTIM.
While I’m not a doctor and can’t give any medical advice, I can share my journey and share with you what I’m doing, and how I got there.
My results can become your results.
Also... the Coronavirus changed everything.
Everyone is now stuck at home. Nobody is able to visit the gym to keep their atrophy at bay and work on their spasticity and foot drop. With your Compex ESTIM device you can work on these symptoms while sitting on your couch.
With the ESTIM Club you will be part of a group of folks going through the exact same things you are going through. We lift each other up.
If you are interested in getting started, please contact me on my site.
I will schedule a free 1-on-1 call with you over Zoom and show you exactly how to use your Compex.
Sincerely,
Kateryna
50% Complete
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