Homestretch!

In my last three hours of hanging out with my mentor and the chiropractic family, it didn't necessarily end with a bang as I thought it would have. I was stressing a lot about school and my own personal life that I wasn't necessarily into it today. I really felt that tese people really grew on me and they helped me realize who I am as a person and they all gave me a bunch of advice, whether it be a physical adjustment or a life lesson. I oberved a lot of patients today but the most interesting one was a fourteen year old girl. She seemed extremely mature for her age. She was very proper and exact in everything she would do. For example, when she would put her gown on, she would neatly fold all of her clothes and would talk very exact and never stutter. Anyways, She had been getting foot problems because she has been working out and jogging every day through her neighborhood. She also has been getting hand problems from all the cramps that she would get from too much extra credit assignments. She was very energetic and was happy to be there to grt adjusted  She was only fourteen years old. It was amazing.

He's A Magician

Today wasn't really one of my days at all. I was only able to see one patient an hour which kind of irritated me because the commute to the office is about an hour so I expected a little bit more. However, I do understand that these patients may have insecurities anout their bodies or would just rather have their alone time with Dr. Ross. 

Although I only got to see one patients for the first a second hour they were both quite interesting. Both of these men were middle-aged and they both had no problem showing skin een though it was a little wierd. They were both single fathers and it was pretty entertaining to see them socializing with Dr. Ross. They both seemed to have blamed their back problems on their kids. They seemed to know exactly what to say before Dr. Ross would say anything. Then I come to find out that they have both been seeing Dr. Ross since the late 70's/ early 80's. They said that every time he works wonders.

The third patient was pretty exciting as well. She had teo kids and moved them both here so that they could get their education and live a better life than she did. She was so kind but out of all the patients, she seemed to be the least tough when it comes to gettig adjusted. Every time there a simple adjustment, she would yell or begin to cuss in Soanish. She was truly a character. She too, has been seeing Dr. Ross for a long time as well. 

The fourth latient of the day literally took up the whole hour; and Dr. Ross wasn't complaining at all because his lunch break was after and he'd rather talk to a patient than sit around and eat for an hour. This man was about 6 foot 2 or 3 and was a competative byciclist. For the half hour ofthis appointment, all they both talked about was eatingright and healthy supplements. Dr. Ross reads about this stuff jist so he could help this particular man. The man starts to wrte notes quoting everything from Dr. Ross. He helped his patients all he can and tries to cotribute to every part of their lives. I was kind of beginning to wonder why he didn't just become a regular doctor. 

A newborn baby

Although I could not observe, Dr. Ross told me everything about the next patient that came. It was a baby that was about 6-8 months old. I thought that it was very strange and pretty scary that Dr. Ross had needed to adjust this baby. Actually, I didn't even think it was possible. But he told me that babies need to be adjusted so that when they grow up, their spine and body alignment are both in good shape during the growing process. I just couldnt believe it. Since this was a baby, Dr. Ross asked for more time. He said that he could hear tiny cracks and that they were very satisfying cracks. He said that patients come in all ages. He wasn't kidding.

Another day in the office

This experience is starting to feel more like a job. I'm starting to get used to what I'm supposed to be doing and my mentor has even let me write down the notes that he has with each of his patients. For example, he makes me write down which part of the spine and which vertebrae is bothering the patient or is causing a problem to the patient and lets me write down all complaint that the patient has. The first two hours of that day sucked because I observed patients and got almost all of their notes wrong. Dr. Ross talks so fast it begins to get hard to keep up with.

The next two hours I was fortunate enough to stay after a couple of adjustments and watch Danielle do massage therapy on the patients. She was very articulate and hard but also had that soft touch that all patients expect from massage therapists. Although she had a soft touch, she was also one of the tougher massage therapists who enjoys sticking her elbow into a patients shoulder blade. She's strict on ends results and truly wants you to feel better in the end - but definitely not during.

4 hours of Hell.

So when I walked in to spend another day at the office, Dr. Ross told me that I might not be able to observe anyone for a while. So he asked me about my paper and told me to just write. As I wrote I was beginning to get very frustrated. I was beginning to doubt myself as far as wanting to purise this as my career. I though that as an athlete, I was barely able to take care of my own injuries; so how can I help others with theirs?  But, then I thought that Chiropractoc work was something very selfless within itself. My mentor walked out of the patients room and for his lunch break he helped me out the whole time taling about athletetic assoociations and how the wear and tear of a sport truly affects their lifespan. He was an overall knowledgeable man and he helped me so much with my paper. He later had another patient and attended that while I continued my paper; although I didn't do it alone. The massage therapist/Dr. Ross' assistant  Danielle helped me figure out more about the life of Chiropracting and massage terapy as well. I ghen was able to knock out the outline and main points of my paper then ad there.

The social aspect of a visit

This next patient was my age. He was very shy at first but he quickly opened up. He was a 5"11 3/4' sophomore and he played lacrosse. He looked very fit and you could tell that he oftenly stayed active. He was very softspoken and it was clear that he had an issue. He quickly complained about his back and neck. Dr Ross said thatthe reason why is because he's been growing fast and his back hasnt been aligned properly throughout his growth spurt. Dr. Ross then looked at me and said that it was something that I had too. And he then started to complain how us kids could have grown up with better posture if we had went to see him more often. But to be honest, I'm still scared to get adjusted by him sometimes because while it may feel good, it always makes me cringe at first. This kid was an overall great kid and Dr. Ross soon easily fixed his alignment. He felt perfect after.

Different aspects of a visit (The visit itself)

So as I began to observe more and more patients I began to look at the individual aspects of the visit. For the next hour, I observed the problems that the patients were having and only their problems. One of the patients I observed was another middle-aged woman. At first I didn't want to see this one because I had seen a couple middle-aged woman before her already so I figured that I wouldn't be impressed. However, from just feeling her in the back, Dr. Ross determined that she had arthritis in her vertebrae and it was because of her lack of posture growing up. She also has scholiosis so Dr. Ross ordered his assistant Danielle to use ultrasound in the spine to help with the aches in her back.