It’s Worth The Drive

 

Jan has to drive almost two hours to get her Blair Chiropractic adjustment, and every time she does, it’s always worth the drive. After being in an accident that gave her unbearable neck pains for years, she skeptically tried out Blair without any expectations. Jan joins Liz Hoefer on this episode to share the life-changing adjustment she had that literally gave her life back to her. She also recalls the times that she tried to work with other chiropractors and even a top surgeon, which yielded no results for her health. Being a skeptic herself, she has a message for those who are still hesitating. She shares all the wonderful things that Blair Chiropractic has brought into her life, not just physically but also her overall well-being.

—

Watch the episode here

Listen to the podcast here

It’s Worth The Drive

I’m excited about my guest, Jan. She has a great story about her Blair Chiropractic journey. I can’t wait for you to know how she’s been impacted by Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractic at Well Connected. Jan, welcome to the show.

Dr. H, thanks so much for having me.

I am excited that you’re here. It was quite a little technical feat to get you on, but we figured it out. I want to know, Jan, how did we get well connected?

 

Through a dear friend of mine. She’s like a sister. She’s also a client of mine. I was struggling badly one day with my neck issues. That’s what started the whole thing. I had gone to a chiropractor right before this call from my friend Tracy. I heard it in my voice that I wasn’t doing well. She asked what was up and I told her I was in a lot of pain. She said, “I know exactly who you need to see and talk to.” The next thing I know, I’m on a three-way call with Dr. H. I shared a little bit of my story with Dr. H. She shared a little bit about Blair. I decided what the heck. At this point, I’d already exhausted every avenue that I could go down and nothing had worked.

That’s why I was so discouraged at that point because it had been years of struggling with neck issues that started in college due to two accidents, seven years apart. It started with some disintegration in my neck. I knew I had disintegrating disks, but there wasn’t anybody that could help me. I even had the top orthopedic surgeon in the world but he’s in America. He was based out here where I live. I went to see him. He didn’t recommend surgery. He also said, “Don’t ever go to a chiropractor.” It’s unfortunate. I did try traditional chiropractic and it did not work. When I started with you, that all changed. That’s a brief part of my story.

When you said that you had tried everything, you had consulted with a surgeon, you had gone down the medical route. What type of things had you done to try to solve the issue of this chronic neck pain? Give me more details on what you were experiencing.

After my first accident, a few years after that I was working at a Christian camp. I was in foodservice. I got up at 4:00 in the morning to do the morning shift. I couldn’t move my neck. It was sudden. The accident had been a few years prior to this. I had whiplash, but I recovered. A few years later, I woke up and couldn’t move. I went ahead and went to work. The food service director took one look at me and said, “You need to go back to your room.” She told me about this orthopedic surgeon. I made an appointment with him. I went to see him. After that, I thought I was going to have to live with the pain but the pain got so bad. What I would get is bad.

After Blair Chiropractic, you’ll literally have your life back. You’ll be able to work, play, and have fun again. Click To Tweet

The best way I could describe it was that somebody had a vice grip and had put it on the right side of my neck, more toward the backside. They had gotten my muscle in between the two plates and started twisting it tighter. The pain would be so bad that I would get sick from it. These episodes always lasted three days. It took me a couple of days to recover. It got to the point where I was having these episodes almost every week. It was my life. I got desperate enough that at one time, I did go see a chiropractor for a technique that wasn’t traditional chiropractic, but it wasn’t Blair. It was called decompression.

He did several rounds of decompression on me and that did not help. I resorted to massage therapists. When I would have an episode, I’d try to get in to see a massage therapist, but that got difficult timing-wise and they wouldn’t always have something available. I had a massage therapist who was a medical massage therapist who did recommend a chiropractor that she knew. I thought, “I’m so desperate. I’m going to go.” He tried something and I got worse. I went back the second time. He tried another technique and it didn’t work. He was honest with me. When I went back for my third visit, he said, “I’m not even going to do anything on you, Jan. I have already done the two things I know that should help you. I don’t have any other tricks in my pocket.”

I have a lot of respect for people that say that. If you don’t have the answer to keep trying something and doing it and not getting a result, it’s bad. I have a lot of respect for that chiropractor that said, “This is what I have to offer. You aren’t responding. There’s nothing else I can do to help you.” The unfortunate part is that doctor didn’t know that you could benefit from Upper Cervical. How many years was it before you had seen that chiropractor and then learned about Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractic?

That was the chiropractor that I had seen a couple of weeks prior to our connection. That was the last thing. At that point, I had lost hope and felt like there wasn’t any hope. When my friend Tracy told me about you, I was skeptical. I didn’t even want to talk, nothing personal. In fact, I’ve learned to love you. You are amazing. I wasn’t even going to give you a chance because I had lost all hope. This had gone on since I was in college. I won’t say how old I am, but several decades have passed. I had given up hope.

If my friend had not said, “Hold on a minute,” which she does, she’s active mentally and physically and so often in our calls, she’ll say, “I got to go do something.” She’ll go run, do something and then come back. Dr. H knows her. She knows what I’m talking about. I’m telling her what’s wrong. She said, “Jan, there’s something in your voice. What’s going on?” I was sharing this story with her. She’s like, “Hold on a minute. I got to run. I’ll be right back.” I’m holding. The next thing I know, Dr. H is on the phone with her and with me. I was set up, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

I want to quickly get the details clear in my head. The orthopedist that was the top in the world at that time, was that years and years before you decided to try chiropractic?

That was when I first started showing symptoms. He was the one that told me not to get chiropractic.

I feel like that was unfortunate that he said that. Also, I feel like our profession and medical have come a long way to be able to work together. It’s one of the things I’m passionate about, inter-doctor collaboration, interprofessional collaboration. I have a lot of great medical doctors that refer to me and vice versa. I’m not a surgeon and sometimes people need that. I know who I can send my patients to for consultation and get an opinion that I trust. Being able to have the interprofessional comradery is important to me as a chiropractor in Orange County. It’s unfortunate that that doctor told you that all those years ago.

You suffered for decades with little to no help. You said that you would have an episode that would last three days and then it would take a couple of days to recover. It would happen weekly. You’re talking about maybe you would have 1 to 2 days a week where you felt functional. For decades, that is so sad. It makes me even happier to know how far you’ve come just in the little bit of time that I’ve known you. When did you get your first Blair Upper Cervical correction?

It was October of 2018 that I came to see you for the first time.

Back to that story about Tracy, I had no idea that she was setting you up because she texted me and said, “I’ve got this friend. She’s got neck pain. Could you talk to her?” I was like, “Sure.” She’s like, “I’m going to call you.” She set me up. I wasn’t expecting to get on the call. All of a sudden, it was like a cold call for me and you to be like, “You’ve got an issue. I’ve got some answers.” I wasn’t trying to set you up. I want you to know. Tracy is phenomenal at connecting. She’s a great advocate for Blair. I’m excited to have her on the show to share her testimony as well. Back to you, we got you in October of 2018. How has your life changed since that first correction?

 

I feel like I have my life back. I’m able to work, play and have fun. I don’t have those weeks and days where I am pent up in the house because I can’t see anybody. I’m in so much pain. When I had my first adjustment, I was surprised that it didn’t just help my neck. It helped my overall wellbeing. My energy level started to increase and my mental clarity increased. Everything started to feel better. I know exactly when I’m out of alignment. It won’t just be my neck. Sometimes it’s not even my neck that’s the first sign. The first sign is my overall wellbeing and my whole body. It’s incredible how fixing one part of your body can change everything in your body.

I know that this has been a journey. It hasn’t been a walk in the park. Your neck was a disaster. I remember looking at your x-rays and thinking, “We’re going to do our best. I can’t promise anything.” I can’t promise the two-hour drive one way you made to get to me would solve all of your issues. I did say I will do my best to get you stable. You held your first correction for a long time. You did get better. You’ve had the healing. You’ve going through the retracing process just like everybody does. I know that there have been points where you’ve been discouraged, but it’s always coming out better than where you found yourself in October of 2018.

I didn’t help your work on me. When I turned around a year after, I started seeing you and had another accident. I was standing behind my husband’s truck and his emergency brake failed. It almost ran me over, but it pushed me to the side of the truck. I didn’t get run over but it did push me downhill. I landed flat. I hurt my lower back. That was the first bad injury. At least I knew where to go.

Life happens. We have this protocol. We have the ability to take new images. We were able to identify exactly what happened in the accident and get you fixed up relatively quickly. You didn’t suffer for decades like you might have if you didn’t have the answer of where to go. I want to highlight that you drive two hours one way from an awesome mountain town far away from where my office is.

You’re in Orange County and I’m in the mountains east of you. We’re at 6,000 feet elevation. We get snow. With no traffic, it takes about an hour and fifteen minutes. Asking for no traffic in Southern California is a little bit like asking for snow in August. It’s not going to happen. I leave a couple of hours before my appointment time and I’m on the road. Sometimes I get there 5, 10 minutes early, but that’s about it. That is totally worth it.

I’m impressed with the dedication that you have. Even when you felt discouraged, you’ve listened, taken to heart the healing process and accepted the journey that you’re on. I know that’s because the results that you’re getting are worth it. What would you say to someone skeptical? You also were skeptical about trying Blair compared to doing other things. What would you say to someone about that?

I would first tell them my story and how I had tried multiple procedures and other medical interventions prior to this. I would also encourage them to give it a try. At least go once, talk to her, see what she can do. Have her do something with you at that first appointment. You’ll feel the difference yourself. Once you feel the difference yourself, you’re going to want to go back until you reach that full healing capacity. That’s what I would tell them, my story. I would tell them how long I drive to show them that I wouldn’t be doing this. I have my own business. My husband and I own a business on top of that. I work in both of those businesses. I am extremely busy.

It's incredible how fixing one part of your body can change everything in your body. Click To Tweet

I don’t have time to be running all over Southern California for something that’s not worth it. This has given me my life back. With the retracing, I still have times that I don’t feel as good, but it’s not anything like it was before. Even with the retracing, I can still manage through life. Those retracing times don’t last. It’s all part of your body healing itself. I know that when it’s happening. When it’s happening and I don’t feel so good, instead of looking at, “I don’t feel good again,” it’s like, “My body is responding. My body is healing itself.”

It’s awesome that you get that. It’s a joy to know that your body is doing the work that it needs to do. With your permission, I want to take a picture of your first x-ray and put it up for people to see what your neck looked like and the condition. A lot of people think, “I’ve tried chiropractic. The doctor said I shouldn’t go.” I want people to see the condition that I’ve found you in and how much better you’re doing. It’s possible. Our bodies were created to heal. They have to have the right environment to do so. The way that I look at it, the Blair Upper Cervical technique gives that unique perspective and that unique environment for the body to be able to heal in a way that does transform lives. You’re the perfect example of that.

Thank you. You have my permission. When people see the x-ray, you don’t even have to be a medical professional to look at it and go, “This girl was bad.”

What does it mean to you, Jan, to live your life in alignment?

It means getting my life back and being able to enjoy life. I would still do things before because I’m not the type of person that will sit around my house and feel sorry for myself. I am also not the type of person that would discuss the way I feel with people. The only way that Tracy, our friend, knew was because she heard it in my voice that morning and she asked me. She’s more like an adopted sister than she is a friend. She’s bold. I felt comfortable sharing with her. I don’t like to complain. I don’t like to dwell on the negative in my life. I want to reach out and help others.

That’s why I was willing to do this show. Even though coming up to it, I was scared to death. I was like, “What if I say the wrong thing? What if I opened my mouth and insert foot? What if I trip over my words and I can’t figure out what I’m going to say next?” I did it anyway. When you asked me, I was like, “Yes.” I want to help other people. I don’t complain, but I’m so glad that my friend heard something in my voice that day and forced me to have to come out and tell her what was going on. That connected us. I have my life back. Even though I wouldn’t complain before, I would still do things, the ability to be able to enjoy what I was doing and to enjoy even a day.

We’re veiled by all this terrible pain that I was in. I can do things and enjoy them, even a mundane day where my husband and I work six days a week with two businesses. We take one day and do fun things, go for hikes or rest. I’m able to enjoy time with my husband. I’m able to enjoy time out in this beautiful mountain nature that God created and placed us in and blessed us to live in. I’m able to enjoy the people I’m with and enjoy the things I’m doing.

Thank you so much for facing the fear and doing it anyway. Your story is going to impact people. That’s why we produced this show in the first place. It’s my heart to share the possibility of health and healing through the Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractic work, through the work that we do at Well Connected Chiropractic. Somebody who’s suffering from whatever manner of issue, migraine, sciatica, lower back pain, a regular tension headache, they can find this show, read the stories of hope and healing, and be encouraged. There are people all over the world needing help and there are people all over the world ready to offer help.

Thank you. You’ve been a great encouragement for me. There were times that I would come in and then I’d say, “Dr. H, what is going on? Am I ever going to get better?” You would encourage me along the journey and remind me that my body needed time to heal. If I hadn’t given it that time, I wouldn’t be where I’m at. Thank you.

You’re so welcome. I am so thankful that you took the time to be on the show. I’m looking forward to seeing you again soon in the office and making sure that you still have your head on straight.

—

Thanks for reading. If you have any questions, comments, concerns or anything to do with Blair Chiropractic, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at WellConnectedChiro.com. I’m happy to address any issues that might come up. Thanks for reading. We’ll see you next time.

Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!

• Here’s How »

Join the Get Your Head On Straight movement today:

• WellConnectedChiro.com
• Dr. Liz Hoefer Facebook
• Dr. Liz Hoefer LinkedIn
• Well Connected Chiropractic Facebook