http://www.fnchiropractic.comThis is Tritia from my previous posting. She's actually blonde, but experimented for one time in her life. Tritia is blonde again. She's hot.
I have only two shirts with stuff on them. One was a gift and says San Diego with a little surf guy. The other one has my name and info on it. Quite a while ago I decided that no one should go around with all this crap written all over their stuff. My thinking is that these companies who make stuff with all their names and emblems all over your shirt should be paying you to wear their stuff. Or wild discounts should be made on such adornments. I do have a few shirts with small emblems, but that is my limit. I only have these because they fit well otherwise I would prefer no emblem but, rather, my monogram of choice. Preferably my initials. Its my shirt, my initials.
As of now I have treated thousands of people with chiropractic and delivered that many adjusments. There are some chiros out there who take offense when others may call our work "cracking". Often these types want to explain subluxation and specific chiropractic adjustment or possibly CMT. I really don't mind the term cracking and prefer to talk about joint out of place and nervous system interference and what this does to a person's being. It just seems nice and simple to me and more similar to something people understand better. Its easier to relate something as complex as the nervous system to the simplicity of a pinched hose and no water.
Out of all the people I've treated I often try to think of someone I just didn't like. Can't think of one. I care about my people. They are living, breathing, have ups and downs, crawl in and walk out. People like you. People like me. And everyone is truly unique. I strive to make sure that I keep my patients. This doesn't always happen. It can be very difficult to adequately convey to someone the importance in understanding that a weak link will always be a weak link and must be maintained in order to prevent further deterioration. Due to our symptom and pain related culture, usually many wait until the deterioration is too great. Then its patch patch patch. That job is tougher on you and its tougher on me. And it costs more. I offer my patients true value, caring hands and heart and fun atmosphere and relationship. In my opinion these cannot be beat in healthcare as we know it today.
Okay.
She drove up one day and parked outside my office. The car was an old, beat up, light blue Ford Tempo which looked like something might fall off the thing at any moment it was driven on the Tulsa streets. She stepped out of the vehicle and walked into my office. Anita. The sign above the office said "Back Out, Pop In" and had this pain girl/spine picture which looked eerily like my ex-wife. Anita liked the sign, I guess. She wore old ratty dress heels, a vintage seventies dress and smelled like she may actually hold a job at Goodwill as well as shop there. I think Kristen was the assistant then.
Anita 'splained that she drove over from another chiro office which refused her service on some kind of chump-like explanation like they were not taking new patients. I have yet to find an office which will not accept new patients and most are able to see them on the same day. I interviewed Anita. She was legitimately in need. She had Medicare. I don't do government problems like Medicare. Anita had no money. Her son was schizophrenic and autistic.
Anita's full time jobs were taking care of her mother, controlling her son and failing attempts at higher education. She was let go of her last job for some reason or another. I decided to treat the lady. Then I also knew that she required regular ongoing treatment after checking her out. Her body was just kind of all over. I also figured I may be her last ditch since she was already turned away from one place that I knew of. I began treatment after exam/x-ray: roller, stim, adjustment. Most people over 45 yoa you just have to x-ray or else you're pretty much possibly working blind without knowing extent of degeneration and previous elements left from past injury. No one discloses full history and no one remembers much of their physical history. Many do not even know that what they have done to themselves actually caused damage. I don't remember what I ate for breakfast.
To begin with Anita took off her heels. Kind of stinky. Well, not kind of. My work is done in open bay. Take your zapatos off, thats okay, I understand. When it got to be my turn and her arms came down there was hair. And more odiferous delight. The hair was interesting. I couldn't quite tell if she just lapsed at a shave or if she wasn't too hairy. I couldn't get a clear picture from the ankle hairs since that was an obvious lapsed shave. Adjustment was performed.
When I was treating Anita that first time, I was thinking that there had to be some way I could charge this person. I have a belief in no charity and people then place value in a job well done. No fare, I've found, yields minimum commitment and vague appreciation. There are exceptions, but few. One time in a spelling bee my brother, Tommy, misssssspelled the "C" word. Often I joke with patients that if they don't like co-pay, then I like chocolate chip cookies. Well, I didn't really want cookies from Anita. It may sound mean, but I sort of envisioned her as the possible cat-lady you read about in the paper who is ordered by city sanitation to give up her cats and clean the house or be condemned. I couldn't risk the cookie joke for fear that Anita would take it as literal statement and waste her time making me up a fresh batch slaving over something which would go uneaten.
After treatment I got an idear. Dem idears sometimes I has ta write 'em down quick-like ors else I might never ever 'member dem dere thangs. Us'ns 'n' we'ns wouldn't like dat.
My idea went like this. Give Anita homework. So I did. The homework went like this: You do your homework and come back in one week with it complete and we're friends. You don't do the homework then I yell at you and we're not friends until the next week when you complete the new homework. Anita's standing appointment was Wednesdays at 3pm. She kept her appointments and, the few she missed, I refused explanation. She did her homework.
Her chores were something of the following nature: I wrote down the chores on a blank sheet of paper and made a copy for myself which went into her file. The agreement was that she would complete the sheet in writing on what she did and return it on next visit with her signature. I would put the completed sheet in her file and toss my copy. The items needed to be done were constructed by myself. The ideas surrounded building up Anita and, hopefully, lift her shattered self-esteem. On return visits, Anita's spirits were generally rising and there became less poor me stuff. It was really pretty neat.
My demands included three to five items per assignment. An example of duties always included reading two Bible passages which I would pick out. Sometimes I did that open the book and wherever the finger points....and other times I was more specific on what I wanted her to read. I also always included a walk-a-day at least one time around the block. I would sometimes add that she had to smile during her entire exercise time. The other parts of assignment were mish-mash. Like I discovered that Anita enjoyed comedies and so I put in there to watch a comedy at least one time during the week. I would have her write down 25 times on a piece of paper something like "I am a great person and am made in righteousness" or "I have a great life and there is no one like me". Stuff like that. When I found out something new about Anita, it would be applied to her homework. My Anita list grew.
It was kind of funny because I began to look forward to her visits. The homework thing was fun. And I'm a smell/nose/olfactory conscious person. Of course, the second that she left my office I sprayed the place down and the assistant wiped down the tables. Oust is pretty cheap and a good product. I have fun spraying it, too. I often even spray down people's feet if it really is that bad. The last real bad one was this guy who I don't think ever washed his feet and he had an ankle problem I was treating. Spray 'em down. Guy got the name of smelly foot. My previous assistants thought this was kind of hysterical as they never saw their doctors being so forward in spraying down someone. Snickering assistants are fun. A lot of people know if their feet smell; its no mystery.
Okay. Anyway. Anita was a keeper. At the end of her first year, she made somewhere in the area of 20 visits. I had this file on her which was pushing go-for-broke in its girth weighted down by all this completed homework. I gave this some thought and, oh! 'Nother idear. Geez, where do these thar thangs come from? I hole-punched her year's work and placed it in date order in a binder. Labeled it "Anita's Chiropractic Homework". Gave it to her as a christmas present. I think she was pretty proud of that. Shoot, it may have been her only christmas gift that year. I don't really know and didn't ask.
The story is not over. My creative (genius) went on and Anita continued through two assistant changes. One of them, Jackie, worked for a bit and, on about the second Anita visit under Jackie's command, I was asked about the story on this one. Jackie got to know me through her care and a car crash. She came back to me when some hard times, a stalker husband, and divorce with three kids was occurring. I told Jackie that Anita probably had nowhere else to go and was just a broken spirit which required lifting. Anita began to get more attention in the office. And Jackie disappeared after a little bit. Turned out that the husband thing turned pretty bad and Jackie had to hide out and protect her kids. Pretty cool kids, by the way.
I got another assistant. Ads can be so expensive. Every once in a while one of Jackie's kids would come in for care and it was usually her son. He was a pretty tough and top-rated football player. Fast, too. Chiropractic improved his game and he would usually come in when I would have some of the Arena players in getting treated which he thought was pretty neat. I would get a report on the family and move on. Finally a long amount of time passed and Jackie came into the office to say hi. It may have been a year or so. She was always a kind of bright light. Always smiley and these beautiful big brown eyes. We got to sit down and talk and she was dating some guy and all this and that. Cool. And, you know what? Anita rolls into the parking area with her blue bomber Ford Tempo clattering away and she came lumbering through my office door. Jackie lights up and looks at me all amazed and stuff and she just had a good laugh. Time to work. Jackie knew the process well. Get the spray can handy, roller table, stim, adjust, Anita out the door, spray, spray, spray, clean the tables.
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