Rolling with the hurtled snowballs…

Well, you would think that after a couple years of dealing with an unpredictable illness, a total home remodel while living in it, various health concerns of my own, and job insecurity that I would be really good at rolling with the proverbial punches. But, the blizzard conditions we had in Michigan yesterday just about put me over the edge…why? Because I have been pouring my heart and soul into a Christmas Musical for the kids at our church (which both my kids are in, but my daughter had a lead role), and the show got waylayed because of the weather. I was beyond annoyed. But, two hours talking on two different phones (sometimes at the same time), and we’ve found a reschedule date, but now I have to formulate contingency plan after contingency plan. Ugh. So, I’ve learned a lot about myself in the past two days. I am – by nature – a control freak, so unpredictable weather is NOT my friend. Secondly, while I’m attempting to reform myself, I’m not QUITE a reformed worrier (yet). Also, I’ve learned that it really sucked, but I got through it and it’ll get better from here (and in a few years just feel like a blip on the radar). I’ve also reminded myself that we are all safe and warm in the storm, so I guess a postponed show isn’t TOO bad. But, what I’ve learned most about myself is….I’m not directing any shows between the months of November and March!! I may not be able to control the weather, but I can control that much! 🙂 Blessings to everyone whose lives have been turned upside down by this storm (and others) … we’ll just have to keep rolling with the hurtled snowballs.

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Practicing the Pettibon Technique

For over 2 years, my children and I have been driving over an hour each way to Grand Blanc, MI to the Natural Wellness and Pain Relief Center http://michiganwellnessandpainrelief.com/.  I’ve been a life-long chiropractic patient, but never had permanent relief without frequent trips to the office.  What we learned from Dr. Morningstar was completely new to me – and I was even more interested because my children had Scoliosis.  I put my own needs on the backburner and really concentrated on: could this therapy help my kids?  Well, two years later, the therapy has helped all of us (but, I’ll get to that), PLUS, I see Dr. Strauchman (the medical director at the center) for all sorts of issues dealing with my autoimmune and hormonal dysfunction (most of the nuances of which went unnoticed by traditional MD practitioners).  I’ve recommended her to more people than I can count.  But, as I alluded to before, this recommendation is founded in a successful reality that we’ve experienced.  Traditional chiropractic did not have long-lasting effect for me and my neck issues (a lifelong violinist with a really long neck – not a great combination) 🙂  Seriously, I couldn’t see my children undergoing traditional manipulation and, with the rapid increase in their spinal curves, I couldn’t afford to be wrong. 

The Pettibon technique is described in very thorough detail at Dr. Burl Pettibon’s website: http://www.pettibonsystem.com/index.php.  Let’s just say that it scientifically makes sense.  This isn’t a drop-in-the-office and feel better for a few hours kind of treatment.  Most days we go in, we don’t even need any adjustment because we are doing our work and our therapy at home.  I can say, for myself, that I’ve experienced amazing improvement in general neck pain and tension.  I still get some, but my x-rays have shown proof that I’m getting better.  We just re-x-rayed my son, V, and he had some really great improvement on his head tilt.  If you’re battling the myriad of options with Scoliosis, I would recommend looking for a practitioner in your area (or maybe a ways OUT of your area – it’s worth the drive).  We go about once a month, but we do our exercises at home all the time, and that is the most important part of the process.  In terms of Scoliosis treatments, we often think brace, surgery, Schroth, maybe yoga – but Pettibon is still a bit of an unknown.  Some people have heard of CLEAR, which is similar, but not quite the same.  Even within those “traditional” treatments, Doctors don’t know enough about the science behind it to recommend it – some even expressed concern to me that the weights on the head would be detrimental to my children’s curves.  But, we’ve see that is not the case.  The weights are very gradually and precisely prescribed, verified by x-ray, and closely monitored.  So, do some googling on Pettibon and see if you think it could help you.  Even if you don’t THINK you need it (like me), you’ll be surprised when you feel better later and realize that you DO.