On the evening of Black Friday 2003 my family had a small get together at our house to continue the family time that had already started for the holiday. As I sat there enjoying family, the pain in my left side that had become an annoyance over the past couple weeks began to get much worse. I fought the entire night to try to sleep. By morning my fever was 103 degrees, and the pain was getting worse.
When we arrived at the hospital they gave me three shots for the pain, and after a few hours the doctor chose to admit me into the hospital for monitoring. Three days later after lots of blood work, ultrasounds, and numerous specialist consults I was released with pain medications and no answers. I had everyone stumped. From there I went to Blank Children’s Hospital for continued testing, all while going to the emergency room almost weekly due to the severity of pain. I had everything from ovarian cysts to bone cancer ruled out between the two, and Mayo Clinic was the next to bat.
At my second appointment at Mayo the doctor told my parents, “Well we have good news and bad news. The good news is you have a perfectly healthy 12 year old daughter. The bad news is she has a lot of pain, and we don’t know why.”
He told my parents that he believed that I once had pain. But the pain was gone now, and my brain was recreating it. He recommended a pain clinic to meet with a psychiatrist. The next available appointment was in late January.
In between my appointments my mom decided to see our chiropractor. After my consult and exam he believed that I had shingles that had never created the hallmark rash on my skin. Sure enough after one adjustment a few blisters broke through the skin right where my pain was. After 2 weeks of adjustments I was pain free, and finally able to return to school in the third week of January.
From that point forward I was obsessed with chiropractic. I started dreaming of becoming a chiropractor and helping people like myself overcome their struggles. I drew up plans for my future chiropractic office, and studying anything that seemed relevant to chiropractic. It was the beginning of my dream.
I love getting to take care of kids and families with chiropractic care. Seeing families choose preventative, wellness based care makes my heart truly happy. I know that my patients won’t run into the same struggles most people do. I am passionate about chiropractic care, because I have seen it work time and time again in my own life, as well as my families. Now I am fortunate enough to watch it work in others lives as they receive care. Chiropractic care is about so much more than pain relief or symptom relief, although it is great at both of those things. It is about restoring God’s perfect design in our bodies so it can perform optimally, just as they were created to do so.
Every single business started with a dream, and I am so thankful to see my twelve year old self’s strongest desires come true. I am grateful for every ounce of struggle that I endured at twelve, because it lead me to my purpose. Cultivate was a dream 16 years ago. Today it is a reality.
