Breathe of Fresh Air

Friday afternoon I had my appointment with the new chiropractor’s office. After visiting the quack, I knew it could only get better from there but still I had my reservations.

However, they quickly vanished as I entered the office. It was buzzing with activity (typically a good sign in my experience) and something about the atmosphere put me at ease. The rocking chairs in the waiting area probably helped too.

Shortly after filling out the necessary paperwork, the doctor came out to greet me and gave me a tour of the facilities and I watched a short video while she got everything ready.

As we started the consult, we went through the typical medical history. She went through the questionnaire I had filled out but had some questions of her own. What I appreciated the most was that these were questions not just about how pain affected me physically but emotionally and socially as well. I felt like a whole person sitting in that chair, not just a medical patient.

Throughout of conversation, I got choked up on several occasions. The first time was the question of how my pain was affecting my family. I thought of Abby’s sweet face and while she doesn’t quite understand yet when Mommy can’t play with her because of pain, I worry of the day when she does and pray that she doesn’t resent having a Mommy who is sick. I thought of my wonderful husband who has been by my side no matter what and while I know that he will be with me though it all, I know that it is hard on him.

The next question was “if nothing changes with your pain, how do you picture your life in 5 years?”  I answered, “depressing” as I was getting depressed just thinking about it! I cannot imagine living in this amount of pain for the next five years without hope for relief. What would that do to my family? What would that do to ME? Could I honestly mentally cope with that sad reality? I’m not sure I could.

Thankfully, I don’t think that is the case! They found some issues during the exam and with the x-rays that are very treatable. Despite the statement that my pain doctor says that my SI joint is worn out, the reality is that that entire area has very limited mobility (probably due to adhesions and scar tissue) and my spine is misaligned as it descends into the tailbone area which is putting a lot of pressure on those nerves causing pain. I’ve also got a misalignment further up my spine around the bra-line area. Hopefully after 4 weeks of treatment, I will be feeling much better and moving much better! I may be able to start running again too!

I cannot describe how much of a breathe of fresh air this has been. After hearing “there is nothing we can do” so many times, finally hearing “this is treatable” is music to my ears!

I had my first adjustment yesterday and I will be honest it hurt and I am sore but it will all be worth it! They do traditional manual adjustments but also have this system they use called the ProAdjuster system. It looks like a torture device but its actually pretty nifty as it can measure and track your treatment!

I will keep you up to date on the treatment progress! I am so glad that I got the 2nd referral! So thankful that over the years I’ve learned to become my own advocate!