The interviewer is Lilian Sjøberg, a practitioner focused on trauma healing and stress reduction for Parkinson’s symptoms (via the HOPE Shortcut method). The Interviewee is a man in his 70th sharing his personal story and how it ended up in a diagnosis of Parkinson.
Lilian: I’d like to start by hearing a bit about your life story. You have a particularly compelling background that’s relevant to anyone born before 1984. That year medical science recognized that infants also younger than six months have a fully developed nervous system capable of experiencing pain like adults. How did this discovery relate to your early experiences?
Interviewee: It’s hard to overstate the impact. I underwent surgery as a baby (approx. 1950) around six months old without any anesthesia. I was essentially operated on while fully conscious and in pain, likely strapped down and immobilized. That was my very first experience of the world: born into torture. It set a foundational message that life begins with betrayal and suffering.
I didn’t trust anyone after that—not even my mother. It wasn’t a great way to start.
Lilian: In my work helping people with Parkinson’s, we focus on reducing accumulated trauma and stress, because the earlier the trauma, the deeper its lifelong effects. On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 is the worst, how would you rate the impact of that infant surgery on your life?
Interviewee: Easily a 10. Overwhelming.
Lilian: When did you first connect this to your life challenges?
Interviewee: Only about two years ago. My parents had mentioned the scar from the operation, but I didn’t think much of it until I started exploring after some breath work sessions. I researched infant surgeries online and learned they were routinely done without anesthesia back then, often with babies tied down. That realization hit hard.
Lilian: How do you think it affected you physically over the years?
Interviewee: I’ve always found it easier to have out-of-body experiences than to feel fully in my body. Coming back into my body feels difficult. I was never fully dissociated in a dramatic way, but there was always a sense of detachment. Pain that intense, especially as an infant, triggers survival mechanisms, like leaving the body to cope.
Lilian: That’s a classic freeze response: when pain is overwhelming, the body numbs out or dissociates. In later sessions, you’ve described moments of feeling truly “at home” in your body for the first time, like returning after being away. That infant surgery was likely one of your core, foundational traumas, perhaps the biggest.
Interviewee: I agree.
Lilian: You’ve also faced other health challenges, like neck cancer. How did you handle the diagnosis and treatment?
Interviewee: Surprisingly easily. I had a compassionate doctor, and when I agreed to surgery, there was this powerful exchange of energy across the desk, it felt supportive. I paid privately for the best care. But my distrust of authority figures runs deep, likely tracing back to that early surgery.
Lilian: That distrust showed up again with your Parkinson’s diagnosis. Tell us about when symptoms began.
Interviewee: About two years ago. It started in my right arm. I couldn’t sign my name properly anymore. Then jerkiness in the arm, progressing to more pronounced tremors. A friend noticed my walking was off; I wasn’t heel-striking correctly with my right foot. I felt slowed overall. The specialist diagnosed Parkinson’s after I described the symptoms.
Lilian: How did the diagnosis feel?
Interviewee: On one hand, expected; on the other, horrible. They didn’t discuss the future much, which was actually a relief. I’ve avoided dwelling on progression because focusing on worsening seems to make it happen faster. I’ve chosen not to know every detail, life’s surprises are better than constant fear.
Lilian: The doctor suggested medication?
Interviewee: Yes, but I refused. I tried it for a week. It caused constipation and made me feel out of control of my body. My early experiences taught me not to trust doctors or pills.
Lilian: You’ve noticed stress accelerates symptoms.
Interviewee: Definitely. Major shocks slow me down even more. Like after a friend’s death, when things worsened noticeably and I had to stopped driving.
Lilian: So you sought alternative paths: Any standouts?
Interviewee: Yes, Saunas, rebounding, Qi Gong, Brandi Gilmore’s work, and more. Nothing dramatically reversed the core slowness, though many other symptoms improved or slowed. Slowness has been the persistent issue, possibly age-related too, but the trauma work we’ve done has helped the most.
Lilian: In our sessions, we’ve released trauma after trauma. You’re unusually skilled at sensing body memories and letting them surface. How do you do it?
Interviewee: I quiet my mind, focus on the symptom or topic, and let impressions float up without forcing or over-analyzing. It’s natural for me just allowing what’s there to emerge.
Lilian: That ability lets us process multiple body-stored traumas per session. For example, we linked specific stiffness in your thighs and calves to teenage sports competitions and the intense stress of racing starts. Even athletic pressure from youth tied into proving you wasn’t “weak” after early vulnerability.
Interviewee: It felt nonsensical at first, but it made sense upon reflection. Untangling that stressful history has been incredibly helpful.
Lilian: Your career was also competitive, climbing the corporate ladder while staying driven. A common thread: always striving to be the best, perhaps to counter early feelings of helplessness.
Interviewee: Yes, without realizing how competitive I was.
Lilian: We’ve worked on the early traumas with your operation. Doctors saved your life, but the trauma lingered. You’ve shifted from anger to a neutral feeling. Any final thoughts for others with Parkinson’s or chronic conditions?
Interviewee: The trauma-healing process gives real hope. Symptoms improve during sessions, though sustaining hope between them is challenging. Releasing these old layers, especially the infant surgery, has made me more forgiving and present. It’s not a quick fix, but addressing root traumas and stress offers a path forward that conventional approaches didn’t.
Lilian: Thank you for sharing so openly. Your story highlights how early, unrecognized trauma can shape a lifetime, and how revisiting and releasing it can bring profound relief.
