Family finds help in alternative medicine

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By Helen Bebbington, Contributing Writer 5:49 PM Friday, March 19, 2010

CENTERVILLE — When Victoria Horner suddenly began suffering from severe migraine headaches last year, her mother suspected something serious was wrong with the 11-year-old.

The diagnosis in mid-December of a brain tumor threw the Horners, who live in Centerville, into a whirl of uncertainty and concern.

Treatment began immediately. Doctors recommended doses of radiation and chemotherapy, rather than surgery, to shrink the tumor.

While the doctors began pursuing the best course for Victoria’s recovery, her mother, Christine, looked for ways to help her young daughter deal with the rigors of medical procedures that can weary the body and spirits of adults.

Horner, who has long believed in the positive qualities of alternative health solutions, wanted to find something that, coupled with traditional methods, would aid her daughter.

“I’d rather not leave my daughter’s health to luck,” she said.

She began utilizing BodyTalk, a holistic method she said allows the mind to help the body heal. This therapy purports to re-synchronize the body’s energy systems, allowing the body to heal from illness or injury.

BodyTalk can work alone, or with traditional medicine, Horner said. The method includes a practitioner using his or her hand to give a patient a series of taps, at the top of the head, and on other areas of the body.

This method is “getting the body in balance so it can heal itself,” she said.

Horner, a writer, is the founder of the multi-media company What Would Love Do at www.whatwouldlovedointl.com. It was through her connections and interests that Horner, 43, learned about BodyTalk and came in contact with John Swanepoel, a physical therapist from New Zealand.

Horner invited Swanepoel to visit the Dayton area, where he demonstrated BodyTalk techniques.

He gave a presentation and demonstration March 10 at Health Foods Unlimited on Miamisburg-Centerville Road, near the Dayton Mall.

Swanepoel said BodyTalk has helped Victoria, a sixth-grader at Watts Middle School, better deal with headaches and other side effects caused by treatments.

“She is doing so well,” Horner said. The doctors are “going with the minimal course of radiation.”

Horner said the chemotherapy and radiation treatments will likely continue until late spring.

To view a BodyTalk demonstration, visit www.bodytalksystem.com.

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