When I was 21 I started working in a high rise office building in NYC. I started feeling extremely fatigued all day long. I could not get my head off the pillow until 11 AM or sometimes even by 12 noon. Eventually I saved up enough time to to take a three week vacation from the office. By the second day away I felt great and was able to sleep and wake normally. After the first day back to the office I was miserable again. What was going on?
I decided to call the prestigious Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital in NYC for a reference. I wanted the best doctor to help me figure this out.
I made an appointment and after the examination I was told there was nothing wrong with me, that I should go home, and to please pay $175 at the front desk.
I was stunned. I just went to the best doctor and he said that I was OK. And I still felt so incredibly tired. But now I also had no hope. I was 21. If I felt this bad now, how would I feel as I got older? The thought was depressing.
I told this story to an older man and long time family friend. He said "maybe you should see a chiropractor". I told him that I didn't have back or neck pain. He said maybe I was allergic to something and he heard that chiropractors could help with allergies. He gave me his chiropractor's number and I made my first appointment.
I got adjusted on the first visit and could not believe how good I felt! It wasn't allergies that he diagnosed or treated. It was my spine, especially my neck that was the problem. Eventually I ended up with another chiropractor in NYC and he worked with me on diet and nutrition. This also made a tremendous difference in my energy levels. For 7 years I saw him as I felt I needed and one day I just asked him if he thought I could do this. You can guess what he said. He pointed me in the right direction and I did the rest.
My Parents and Family History
My father was an athlete growing up. He played baseball on the U.S. Army team during the Korean War and even had a tryout with The Brooklyn Dodgers. He was self-educated in healthy eating and lifestyle. Even so he passed away at age 63 from congestive heart failure as a complication of diabetes.
My mother passed away due to ovarian cancer just one month after her 60th birthday.
My grandparents have had diabetes and Parkinsons.
These diseases are largely preventable. I was not able to help my parents and grandparents because I was either not yet trained or the disease was slow in developing and stayed quiet until it was too late.
Prevention means not ignoring small signs. Small signs over decades can lead to big problems.
My goal for myself, my family, and my patients is the prevention of disease by using all the tools that I have and everything that I have learned and continue to learn from my professors. colleagues, and mostly from my patients.
I am driven to help as many people as possible to achieve their best possible health outcome.
The rest is up to G-d.