Nothing is more exciting in healthcare than miracles stories. I get spoiled because I get to hear them on a daily basis. With the permission of patients I have compiled their stories.
Bedwetting and celiac sprue
I had met them a week or so before when the mom was sharing her daughters health struggles. She had been to numerous chiropractors and medics. I explained how we were different and what we did. She said she would give me a call sometime. Unfortunately not everyone believes me when I tell them what I do and the results we see so I really didn’t think I would see her again. But I did. About a week later she brought her daughter in. We were sitting in the consultation room going over her health history I couldn’t help but notice the “soft clues” doctors are supposed to be paying attention to. I would ask questions and mom would answer. But it was the way mom would answer. She would look over at the little girl when she told me how these issues were affecting her life. She would relay where they had been and what had been done and what labels were attached to the little girl. The little girl stared at the floor most of the time having been through this sort of setting time and time before. She had been to numerous doctors with nothing more than symptom management. On too many medications with too many labels attached to her it had taken its toll on her self esteem. The concern had started to affect her ability to stay over with friends, affected her growth and affected the size of clothes she wore. 3T at age 10. This had been going on “forever” and now the bedwetting had caused her to wear the equivalent of diapers at night. It was those subtle phrases, comments and expressions that told “the rest of the story.” As a physician you hear things like that and a tuning fork goes off in your heart. It strikes a chord, if you will. You know what simply seems to be physiologic reactions found in a text book are beginning to affect the way this child is experiencing life. It is that life experience that I am focused on. Not the symptoms. The expression of life is why I do what I do. It is why I became a chiropractor.
As we finished visiting about the past I told them how we deal with the present. In the office I don’t treat symptoms, which can be misleading. I look for imbalances. I look for the cause of the problem. I could not guarantee anything, however, if there was a problem in her spine linked to the problems she was having then she would likely have good results in the future. We did our analysis, took very specific upper cervical (the top of the neck) x-rays. We determined that her misalignment was likely affecting sleep patterns and nervous system tone. This was not allowing her to wake up at the urge to use the bathroom. It was just a theory based on the analysis. We would soon find out.
We made a correction to her Atlas vertebrae, took specific post films and determined that the misalignment had gotten better. However the misalignment appeared unstable and some follow up care and another picture would be needed to help her stabilize. The adjustment is underwhelming to say the least. No noise, no fast movements; simply gentle, specific, controlled pressure behind the ear. When they left I explained some home care and told them to check back in a few days.
I will never forget the next visit.
The smile she gave me when mom proudly announced she was dry for the first time was worth the price of admission. Follow up a year later the little girl is still doing good staying dry and and getting better. Oh and she is able to gain weight and come off of her medications.
If you have questions for the doctor or would like help or a consultation contact Severtson Spinal Care at (605) 428-4778 or visit us at www.drsevertson.com