My transformation stared in 1980.
It was a brisk fall evening, and I was sitting at my kitchen table studying Organic Chemistry. I was in my second year of College, attending the University of WI- Milwaukee, following a pre-med program. In the next room, the TV was playing and here is what I heard that changed my life “Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. Are you having problems with your health? Are you frustrated after seeing medical doctor upon medical doctor, perhaps having spent thousands, and still not gotten an answer to your health problems? Well, let me introduce you to the new doctor on the block, one that uses no drugs, no surgery, is less costly, and has many satisfied and loyal customers. These doctors use nothing but their own two hands – these are Chiropractors, and their following is rapidly growing. This is Morley Shafer, and I’ll tell you more on this episode of 60 Minutes when we come back.”
And then a drug commercial came on! (Just kidding about that part.)
But that caught my attention enough to walk away from the Organic Chemistry book (happily) and sit down in front of the TV. I had never seen nor heard the word chiropractor before that.
The 60 Minutes show went on with interviews of Chiropractors and their patients extolling the benefits of the hands- only treatment, and explaining the principles behind chiropractic. The concept, that the body is essentially self healing unless some type of interference blocks it, made a lot of sense. They called the concept “vitalistic” and it seemed to make more sense than the traditional “mechanistic” (mostly cover symptoms with drugs) concept that I was being taught in pre-med.
In vitalistic thinking, the belief is that there is a God given inborn intelligence that controls, coordinates, and enlivens the human body. This holistic healthcare approach is to detect and then reduce or remove the interference that blocks or impedes the vital force.
Heck, at that age (22) I thought it was only cute girls that in-livened me!
This fresh, new, and logical approach to health really caused a stir inside me, so the next day after the organic chemistry exam, off I went to the college library to look up chiropractic. It took me awhile to find the correct spelling. Ha-ha.
Unfortunately, all I found were 4 books, and they were all critical of the profession and science of chiropractic, just like the medical doctors that were interviewed at the end of the 60 Minutes segment on chiropractic.
Being blessed with a wonderful gift of discernment, I kept searching and found some amazing facts like: chiropractors were licensed in all 50 states, their training totaled more classroom hours than the standard medical training, their malpractice insurance rates reflected the lower risk than medical care for the same condition, and most importantly patients generally loved their chiropractors.
Upon expressing my new interest to my pre-med colleagues I was laughed at and shunned. Upon expressing my new interest to my grandmother, I was encouraged, and introduced to a friend of hers, who had been a chiropractor for 30 years, Dr. Henry Zastrow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Thank God for family!
The rest is a long love story, with chiropractic, holistic health and a natural lifestyle.
Dr. Tom treated many children with holistic methods like chiropractic
I can’t wait to share the rest with you!
