In 1998 Marina’s path in life took a sharp turn following an unfortunate car accident. She could no longer work and run her own business. This terrified her because she was afraid she would no longer be able to provide for her son and continue making her mortgage repayments. She started making endless appointments to doctors trying to find the best solution and speediest recovery. Luckily, she did not break any bones. As she was suffering from a soft-tissue injury conventional x-rays and scans could not detect any abnormalities. Nonetheless, she was continuously suffering from pain. She was prescribed many different pain killers, anti-inflammatory drugs and anti-depressants to suppress her symptoms. She saw very little, if any results. In fact, she began to feel the side-effects of the medications that were making her feel even worse. Marina was beginning to lose hope as she saw her life transforming as she was becoming an invalid. Her desperation grew as she was sent from one doctor to another without achieving any positive change in her condition.

Marina realised that the answer to her problem would not be found in conventional approaches offered by the doctors and specialists she saw. She decided to change her attitude to her healing and decided to adopt a positive approach through the Law of Attraction. She began to research other literature that offered new and holistic approaches. She heard about the healing power of meditation, but did not know how to practice it. She also heard about detoxification programs, but she was afraid to do it without medical supervision and support. Marina was fortunate to have some medical knowledge from her nursing background and so she became interested in the effect all these drugs were having on her intestines, where many health problems start. She began studying at the Australian Institute of Laser Therapy. Marina had to juggle many responsibilities including her studying, caring for her young child and her own personal development and healing. She decided to try new therapies including massage, colonic irrigation, fasting, juice therapy, sauna, acupuncture and meditation. Marina struggled to attend all these appointments as they were located in different centres and involved a lot of stress, driving and time. Unfortunately, Marina suffered financial difficulties in paying for all these treatments as she could not get funding from TAC as these approaches were unconventional and therefore were not covered by these schemes. It was also very difficult for her because no one was supervising the entire program of detoxification. Her therapists did not communicate together and there was no collaborative approach to her treatment.

Marina began to envision a centre that would offer the best orthodox and complimentary approaches to healing where patients and therapists would work as a team. She successfully completed her training in Laser Acupuncture Therapy. She first met Dr. Tim Bajraszewski* at a seminar and told him her story. Marina was thrilled to finally discover a doctor who supported and followed a natural approach to medicine. Together they decided to turn Marina’s dream into a reality. Marina sold her flat in order to make her dream come true by establishing the Centre of Integrative Medicine*. Unfortunately, not all treatments at the Centre are covered by Medicare or private health insurance, but the Light of Hope Foundation will for those with financial difficulties.