So now we know in my opinion looking back why my dad became a chiropractor. However you wonder why I had the spinal problems that I did. That is why did I have what we call subluxations, that is when the vertebra in your spine are misaligned. Was there a reason? Did something happen? Did I inadvertently “do” something or was I “born that way? These questions presented themselves to me long after I was a practicing chiropractor. Even then what I learned was incidental in nature and profound in reality. My mothers history or more specifically her ” medical ” history plays a significant role and seemingly unrelated. It started when she was in high school cheer leading
Apparently my mom injured her back while cheering. It affected nerves in her spine which control among other things the reproductive process. This lead to a variety of complications in my mom’s life that came to fruition when she started having kids. While my mom was pregnant with me my dad was in the military and stationed in Germany. So she had to deal with back pain and a multitude of other problems more or less on her own, however her initial care was provided by military doctors on Chinook Air Force Base located near Champaigne, Ill. although it is now decommissioned. In retrospect we now know that chiropractic care in the third trimester provides substantial relief of low back pain and evidence suggest more ease of delivery. And believe it or not this research was done in military orthopedic hospitals in the 1940’s. Now of course recent developments with the widespread use of opioids and their highly addictive nature the federal government is requiring increased access to chiropractic care in VA hospitals. Chiropractic care could have made a significant difference in my mom’s ability to carry and to give birth to her children. I have 2 younger sisters who currently reside in Colorado, a third and youngest died 3 days after birth. I was not expected to live. I was carried for eleven months and was born paralyzed on my left side. Yep I know, that’s different. I will continue on my next blog.