From time to time our blog readers write with questions they would like answered. This most recent one and the topic of this blog is a bit personal- how did Dr. Dave decide to be a chiropractor and pursue the path of natural healing?
The truth be known, I was a patient of chiropractic for a number of years before becoming a chiropractor. So whatever pains a person brings to my office, I’ve probably been there, done that, got the T-shirt, cut the sleeves off and mowed the lawn in it!
See, my dad had seen chiropractors for a number of years and one day when I was about nine or ten he took me to the chiropractor with him. I sat in the waiting room, never met the chiropractor and when we were driving home my dad said,
“Hey, you know what? You ought to be a chiropractor! Ten dollars a patient, 10 patients a day- that’s a $100 a day. That would be a really great living!” (Just to show you how long ago that was!)
Well, if you are waiting for the Disney moment when Tinker Belle floated down and tapped me with a magic wand and that became my calling… well, you’ll be waiting a long time. Instead, I looked at my dad and told him, “That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard! Who would want to be a chiropractor?”
See, I was pretty sure my calling was playing right field for the Pittsburgh Pirates when Roberto Clemente retired.
Well, a number of years went by and after years of powerlifting, playing football, and working in the steel mills guess who hurt his back?!? I had seen a couple of chiropractors and they were very helpful. I felt pretty good, but not GREAT!!!! My dad started seeing this new chiropractor and said he was the best he had ever seen. By this time I could work all day in the mills, go home and lift weights (I was squatting 4 sets of 5 reps with 410 lbs), but when I tried to lift my legs to walk upstairs- it really hurt, and my hips and back ached alllllllllllllll the time- that deep, gnawing achiness.
So I went to see my dad’s new chiropractor, a guy named Dr. Arnold Houser. He told me I had pulled my pelvic girdle apart, especially at the sacroiliac joint, and had a hairline fracture in my 5th lumbar vertebra. If I kept up with all the heavy lifting, there was a good chance that I wouldn’t be able to walk someday. This was very disappointing.
Stay tuned, I will share the rest of the story including The Disney moment in my next blog 🙂