Is There a Chiropractor in the House?

I must confess a lifelong bias against chiropractors. First, my family were all believers in traditional medicine. In college, only the dummies who couldn't get into (in order of difficulty) US medical schools, Osteopathic medical schools, and finally foreign medical schools became chiropractors.

I have a cousin who failed out of college, truly one of the dumber women I know, who wento to chiropractic school and became wildly successful. The ex husband of one of Wifey's good friends was a chiropractor. Years ago I took him walking and to breakfast with two friends, a pediatrician and a physical therapist. The chiropractor went on and on about "proprioreception." Afterwards, his term became a catchword to the pediatrician and PT whenever they referred to simple minded, junk science. When I asked the PEdiatrician Barry about hyperbaric oxygen treatments, he replied, quoting the thought he was smart but not really chiro: "Well, maybe it helps the patient's proprioreception."

As a lawyer, the bottom feeders in the accident field tend to work with chiropractors. A client gets bumped from behind, the TV lawyer sends the client to a chiropractor, thousands of dollars of bills pile up, and the chiropractor testifies about "microfractures" and "subluxations," while the medical doctors laugh.

Well, it appears that traditional, allopathic medicine has failed Wifey in her quest to recover from back pain. Since last JAnuary she has seen two neurologists and two orthopedic surgeons, and has undergone three epidural injections. She has tried a plethora of anti inflammatory and pain drugs, none of which has worked.

She endured a horrible episode caused by a side effect of one of the narcotic drugs, which had a (now, viewed in hindsight, so to speak) very humorous conclusion.

She has missed weddings, Bar Mitzvot (plural), many trips, and, most sad for her, opportunities to visit D1 in college. D1's sorority sisters are convinced I'm a single father.

In short, she's been living the life of an invalid.

But now, finally, she saw a chiropractor yesterday. He reviewed her X rays, CAT scans, MRI studies, and is convinced he can fix her. I'm hoping he can. Most importantly, Wifey is encouraged, and hopeful.

I spoke to one of the two most brilliant medical doctors I know about this, and his take was "Hey --as long as he doesn't say he can cure diabetes or cancer with this stuff --it can't really hurt." So that's my attitude as well.

Go Dr. G! Go Wifey. There's a sorority weekend in February, and it'll be just grand if our whole family can be there, because, last time I checked, experiences like a beloved daughter going through college don't repeat themselves.