Ode to a Chiropractor

If anyone out there has ever had a back or neck injury and has gone to a good chiropractor, you will know what I mean when I say, "God bless them!"  As a kid, I was very wary of them.  I don't really know why except to say that I had visions of procedures at the thought of going to one.  I would imagine seeing myself lying down on the table and the chiropractor coming up to adjust my neck and pop, a rolling my head would go.  Now I know this sounds crazy, but please do remember I was a theater major in college, and I come by the imagination quite honestly.

So how did I come so far from being afraid of accidental decapitation to focusing an entire piece on chiropractor?  I shall tell you.  Of course, it will be in a story, though I cannot promise that it will be a short one.  I do get rather winded at times.  It's those dramatic genes, you see.  It all began with a fall in February.  The year was 2002.

I was a bride's maid in a friend's wedding and I was exiting the Gwinnett Place mall after trying on my dress.  It was raining quite profusely.  As I walked out into the parking lot, I slipped in a puddle.  It was a puddle of rainwater....mixed with some oil, the really pretty rainbow puddles that you see in parking lots on occasion.  The next thing I knew, I was going heel over head.  I landed head first, back second, and elbow third on the pavement.  Dazed, confused, and hurting, it took me a couple minutes to get up.  Someone came along and helped me up and brought me inside.  I think it was a security guard.

Fast forward the ER visit and the 10 weeks of physical therapy, losing a job because I was not getting any better, and moving back to Texas at the end of June.  It was in the lone star state that a dear friend introduced me to her chiropractor.  Now, mind you, I was wary, but I was also getting worse, not improving, so I was willing to try anything.  4 sessions with that doctor, some electric stimulation, some popping here and there, and ice and heat and I felt almost as good as new.

Again fast forward.  In December of 2004, I was pregnant with Nathaniel and had headaches that were so bad they incapacitated me.  I was dizzy, sick, couldn't care for my 6 month old, and was downright miserable.  My obstetrician suggested a chiropractor who knew how to treat pregnant women.  I was so pleased I looked forward to my weekly visits.  The headaches stopped, my ligaments which were weakened from the pregnancies kept getting put back into place and my lower back was feeling good.  I had some residual trouble from the previous fall, but we were working on getting my neck back to where it needed to be.  I had managed to get those vertebrae going the wrong direction.  I did well, saw them for a couple years, and then felt good.  Insurance companies changed and he was no longer in network.  I stopped going.

There's a lot of fast forwarding here...When I was pregnant with Gabriela, I started having some troubles again with my hips going out of joint and some headaches so I found another chiropractor.  I'm keeping her.  Gabriela is now 2 years old and I love getting my back straightened out.  Why live with joints always out of whack when I have a licensed, trained doctor who can put me back together again?


I recently injured my neck again (this will be told in a story in a day or so), and who else would I go to for care?  That's right.  I appreciate that she wanted to see MRI's and x-rays before touching me so we would know exactly what kind of injury we are dealing with here.  She is the absolute best and we're working to get my body back to where it needs to be.  So for this reason, I dedicate this Opus to Dr. Ann Kosa

Dr. Kosa, I know that at times I can be
A rather large pain in the neck
Well maybe not me, but my neck is you see
And my spine seems to be a real wreck


You do pop my back and shoulders and hips
With preciseness and gentleness too
The tens unit I love, I thank you for it
Helps my muscles relax and renew

It feels great to be able to walk normal again
I attend to the words you have said
Most important of all, why I still come in
Is 'cause you didn't pop off my head

Seriously though I'm thankful for you
You do absolute wonders for me
The kindness you show in all that you do
I respect and admire you greatly.


THE END