Sample post title

                                                               C 2022 TommyBooks.com

                           Who's the cute guy?

  I just got off the phone with a buddy of mine. During the conversation he lamented the fact that his bocce playing days are over. He informed me that his back could no longer tolerate the simple act of bending over to shoot the bocce ball. I was very surprised to hear this admission because he is one of the better players at our Sacramento bocce club, the East Portal Bocce Club, home of the 2004 National Champions. I asked him if he has been to a chiropractor and he chuckled and said that his back is in bad enough shape without it being contorted and snapped in two by a rough crazy fake doctor.

  Now it was my turn to chuckle as I told him that he's got it all wrong. I mentioned that chiropractors have keep me healthy and walking upright for almost 50 years and that I would have died a long time ago if I hadn't discovered chiropractic healing. He continued to disagree saying that he'd heard so many crazy stories about how the chiro twists you up like a pretzel and then almost breaks you in two. That's when I said to him, “Let me tell you a true story.”

  Back in the day, when I was taking care of my mother as her live-in caregiver late in her life, I actually saved her life when I recognized a health emergency and took her to a chiropractor. My then 98 year old mother use to sleep propped up on three pillows rather than lying flat. One morning I walked into her bedroom to wake her up and found her already awake and in a lot of discomfort. She said her chest hurt every time she took a breath. I asked where was the pain centered and she pointed to her right side just below her breast. That told me it probably wasn't her heart so I started thinking about alternatives and a duplicate scenario flashed in my memory. In my past, every once in a while, I would suddenly cough when my body was contorted and one of my ribs would move weirdly, get out of alignment and press up against my lung. When this happened I'd experience a lot of pain whenever I took a breath because the expanding lung would press up against the misaligned rib. I knew that my elderly mother coughed a lot, even in her sleep, and while propped up as she slept she probably coughed which resulted in one of her ribs moving and pressing up against her lung.

  Confident in my diagnosis I realized that I had to make one of two choices and I had to make it quickly. My mother, in her advanced age, had a weak heart and this painful condition could trigger all kinds of negative reactions. Plus her face was morphing from pale to blue which meant I'd better make a decision right away. I could call 911 and have them take her to Cedar Sinai Hospital where they'd follow traditional medicine, hopefully stabilize her and eventually come to the same conclusion I had. But then what? If they didn't believe in spinal manipulation then what would they do? Shoot her full of muscle relaxers? Possibly even operate? Which means she would spend hours in this painful condition. Or.

  Trust my diagnosis and take her to my chiropractor, located 25 minutes from her home and get her relief within the hour.

  I went with my gut. I got my mother dressed and in the car within 15 minutes and drove to my chiro in the Valley. I called him from the car and briefed him on the circumstances and they were waiting for us when we arrived. He sat my mother on the table, walked behind her, positioned her arms crossed over her chest, reached around her, clasped his hands together and gently pulled her back into his chest. I heard the rib pop back into place and relief washed over me. I had guessed correctly.

  My mother's breathing quickly returned to normal and she started looking around this strange place and asked “Who's the cute guy?” At this stage in my mother's long fabulous life her short term memory was non-existent. She had completely forgotten waking up in pain and having difficulty breathing. I explained to my mother that for the first time in her amazing life she was visiting a chiropractor and that this good looking young doctor had probably saved her life. “Oh that's nice,” she said. “Thank you.” Over the next three years we visited the “cute guy” four more times.

  I finished telling my bocce buddy this story and offered him the following advice. “If my frail, 98 year old mother can survive a chiro so can you.”

  He made an appointment that day. Bocce is just too much fun to give up.