Many of you have heard parts of my story and some of you have read an earlier version of it, but I wish to update a few points that you may or may not find interesting. I confessed to my practice in the year 2000 that I was a hypocrite. For the first 13 years of my career I did not practice what I preached. I was too heavy. I did not exercise. I did not stretch. I did not drink enough water. I did not take my vitamins. And most importantly, I did not get adjusted each week. Since then all of these things have changed. I try to be a good example of what I teach and encourage of you. But just like everybody else, it took a wake up call to get my attention. What it took for me was an incident in which I nearly accidentally killed my entire family.
While driving in the high desert on the 15 freeway on Memorial Day weekend in the year 2000 I quite suddenly got very dizzy, my chest tightened, and I knew instantly that something was very wrong. I quickly managed to get to the right shoulder of the road and put the car in park when I lost consciousness. Had I passed out while driving...I hate to think. I am told that I was out for just a couple of minutes. Once I regained some awareness my wife drove to the nearest emergency room where tests were performed and blood was taken. I assumed I had had my first heart attack. I was 55 pounds heavier than now. I was a couch potato. It should have been a heart attack. But it wasn't. To this day no one knows what went wrong. Later tests were also inconclusive. But regardless of the diagnosis, this was my wake up call. This was my moment in which I was given the opportunity to do it right. And I took that opportunity.
I learned how to drink water. I slowly lost 55 pounds over the next 10 years or so. I began to exercise. I started taking vitamins. I stopped drinking alcohol. I began what I now call "Just One More Thing." And if you want to know about that just ask. AND, I got serious about my own chiropractic care, later than I should have, that is for sure. But it is never too late.
I have had two times in my life (2000 and 2009) in which I was disabled due to low back pain. I have three herniated discs in my lumbar spine confirmed by 2 MRI's (keep in mind that my x-rays look perfect, proof that the spine is nearly always worse than the x-rays show). But thanks to aggressive chiropractic care during bad times, and weekly adjustments during good times, I have no pain. And I think more important than not having pain, the weekly adjustments combined with my personal stretching program will slow the rate of degeneration of my spine so it will last longer. And the weekly adjustments also help to lower my overall bodily inflammation (which last measured 0.6 on the blood test C-Reactive Protein). This puts me nearly off the charts, in a good way, as a risk for heart attack as well as a number of other diseases.
I have heard my wakeup call. I hope you have heard yours. Health is good.
While driving in the high desert on the 15 freeway on Memorial Day weekend in the year 2000 I quite suddenly got very dizzy, my chest tightened, and I knew instantly that something was very wrong. I quickly managed to get to the right shoulder of the road and put the car in park when I lost consciousness. Had I passed out while driving...I hate to think. I am told that I was out for just a couple of minutes. Once I regained some awareness my wife drove to the nearest emergency room where tests were performed and blood was taken. I assumed I had had my first heart attack. I was 55 pounds heavier than now. I was a couch potato. It should have been a heart attack. But it wasn't. To this day no one knows what went wrong. Later tests were also inconclusive. But regardless of the diagnosis, this was my wake up call. This was my moment in which I was given the opportunity to do it right. And I took that opportunity.
I learned how to drink water. I slowly lost 55 pounds over the next 10 years or so. I began to exercise. I started taking vitamins. I stopped drinking alcohol. I began what I now call "Just One More Thing." And if you want to know about that just ask. AND, I got serious about my own chiropractic care, later than I should have, that is for sure. But it is never too late.
I have had two times in my life (2000 and 2009) in which I was disabled due to low back pain. I have three herniated discs in my lumbar spine confirmed by 2 MRI's (keep in mind that my x-rays look perfect, proof that the spine is nearly always worse than the x-rays show). But thanks to aggressive chiropractic care during bad times, and weekly adjustments during good times, I have no pain. And I think more important than not having pain, the weekly adjustments combined with my personal stretching program will slow the rate of degeneration of my spine so it will last longer. And the weekly adjustments also help to lower my overall bodily inflammation (which last measured 0.6 on the blood test C-Reactive Protein). This puts me nearly off the charts, in a good way, as a risk for heart attack as well as a number of other diseases.
I have heard my wakeup call. I hope you have heard yours. Health is good.