[Dr. Rabatin] I think a lot of kids get told, "This is all in your head." You know, I'll tell them, "It is in your head 'cause that's where your brain is. That's where that pain signal's coming from."
[Laney] I played competitive hockey for about eight years. I remember falling and just not really being able to move. I got checked against the boards just hard enough to cause problems. Everything that I had to do, so schoolwork, studying, it was all in bed because it hurt so bad.
[Jesse] I'm an Eagle Scout, and I was really into school band. I started experiencing a lot of sleep issues and that led into me experiencing more depression and pain and things like that, and it just kept spiraling and it didn't really feel like there was an end point.
[Dr. Harbeck-Weber] I think when people come in, they've been part of the medical system for a while, and they've tried lots and lots of different interventions, whether that be surgeries or several medications or massage or physical therapy. They often have gotten the message that their pain is hard to understand, and maybe people don't always believe them.
[Jesse] When I was talking with doctors and I mentioned that I wanted to go to college, it seemed almost as they took it as a joke.
[Dr. Rabatin] Your symptoms are real, your pain is real, but it doesn't have to be your new normal. Many of our patients come to us saying, "I want my life back. I haven't been able to do the things that I enjoy, the things that bring me hope, the things that bring me meaning." I view it as a place to restore function, to get your life back. Changing all of those, like, "I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't," to, "I'm just not there yet." (spirited music)
[Laney] I had so many doubts, and all the doctors sat me down and I just said, "I don't get it," and they explained it to me step-by-step and why they do everything. I felt like they were talking to me as an adult and not just a subject or a patient.
[Dr. Harbeck-Weber] When people come in and they are willing to learn the science and then try to do things differently, they find that they're able to do more than they thought they could.
[Jesse] Mayo brings you in to teach you skills and strategies as a community to pull yourself out of whatever hole it feels like you're trapped in. It's just three weeks of my life, it's such a small thing on a grand scale, and so my biggest goal was just to be genuine with the program.
[Laney] It was really a working system that's like they're all working on different things, but they're all working kind of in unison.
[Dr. Harbeck-Weber] We have a big variety of professionals who all work together to support the patient. We have medical providers, we have psychologists, we have nurses, we have biofeedback providers, physical therapists, occupational therapists.
[Laney] It really amazed me because about a week into the program, my parents started to notice a difference. I didn't see it in myself, at least not at first, but I could see it in the other people I was with, and I was like, "Wow, like, this really is working!"
[Jesse] It reminded us that we're people, that we're kids, we're not just a medical problem that needs to be solved, and thanks to biofeedback, I'm able to just ground myself and breathe. I was able to see myself at peace for the first time in years. (gentle music)
[Dr. Rabatin] Success looks different for every patient. We could say, you know, a successful patient does this, this, this, and this and this. We'd be wrong. Success is whatever those goals were. Success is gonna be, "I have the tools to continue to grow, to continue my return to function, to continue developing and getting back to the things that bring me hope and meaning."
[Jesse] PRC helped me to transition straight from the program back home for three days to pack and immediately go to college.
[Laney] Hockey would be on the list if I were to describe who I was now, but it wouldn't be at the top. I still enjoy playing, I still love being active. I'm a social butterfly, I love pushing myself out there. I love trying new things. I'm a completely different person. (gentle music)