July 2010

Lisa & Ed Kopplow

Lisa’s story

     Hi, I am Lisa Worth and have been a patient of Alamo Heights Chiropractic for 6 years. I cannot begin to tell you how my life has changed after becoming a patient of Dr. Sandra Tremblay...

     My journey began after having a ruptured disc repaired requiring back surgery in the year 2000.  In 2004, after caring for my terminally ill father for 16 months, I was in unbearable pain again.  His care required a lot of lifting in probably not healthy positions, but unavoidable.  I was having all of the same symptoms that had required the surgery before.   I had pain in my left leg , buttocks, and lower back.  I was taking pain pills every 4 hours and was still not able to get out of bed or function.  I made many visits to my neurosurgeon and had all of the MRI's, CT scans, physical therapy, and injections that he required to make a medical determination.  He finally told me he could no longer see me as his patient because he did not know why my back was hurting.  I thought at that point, my life would be spent in unbearable pain and addicted to some horrible high dose of pain medicine to just function....               

     The next day a very good friend made an appointment for me with Dr. Sandra Tremblay. I always had a "red flag up" when someone ever had suggested a chiropractor!  OH HOW I WAS  WRONG!  I owe my healthy pain free life to Dr. Tremblay and her staff!  Three adjustments later and I was out of pain!!!

     I soon found out that my spine was out of align and my back muscles that protect my spine were extremely weak.  I have come to the conclusion that we should take care of our back like we do our teeth.  We go to the dentist to get them cleaned and maintained so they don't break and rot and eventually fall out.. Our back is the same.  We should maintain it before it hurts or breaks as we get  older.

     The back ages like everything else as we get older.  I wish I would have known this at an early age, but it is never too late to get started!!!  I share my story with everyone I see and meet and am often tempted to go up to strangers who I see that have poor posture and look stiff.  As the body ages the back becomes stiff and less bendable.  That is why it is so important to have regular adjustments to keep it moving and in proper alignment!  Life is so wonderful without stiffness and without back pain!  I have learned through Dr. Tremblay and her wellness center that the spine relates to all aspects of our health.  A healthy spine means a healthy more youthful life!   As I am aging, I do not have the aches and pains in the morning that some people have that do not go to the chiropractor.  They relate it to "growing old".  I do not like to hear that excuse and I am the first to tell my story when I hear that. 

     I am very grateful for Dr. Tremblay and her wonderful staff for changing my life!  Feeling happy and pain free,

Lisa Worth                  

     P.S.  My neurosurgeon called me personally 6 months later after releasing me as his patient to see how I was doing.  I told him I was pain-free and he should send his patients to Alamo Heights Chiropractic before he operated on them!

Ed’s Story

     The team at Alamo Heights Chiropractic has changed my life!  For most of my sixty years I have stayed in relatively good health and maintained a program of moderate exercise and diet.  My posture has always been terrible and has gotten worse as I've aged.  But what was becoming even more troublesome to me was the stiffness and loss of flexibility of which I was becoming very aware.  Even though I workout twice a week with moderate weight and stretching exercise, I found myself hobbling out of bed in the morning, aching from head to toe, often experiencing soreness in my lower back and seeing a pain management physician to control the "burning in my leg". 

        But then Lisa, convinced me to go see "Dr. Sandra Tremblay".  It was not an easy sell for Lisa, since I had grown up with a sense of skepticism regarding chiropractic care derived from my parents.  I suppose looking back that the skepticism probably increased as I initially felt worse rather than better even though Dr. Tremblay had explained why this would happen.  Obviously those muscles in my back didn't like having to work for the first time in years.  But Lisa kept encouraging me.  I now look back and think about the first time I realized that standing more erect no longer required muscle exertion and that sitting up straight felt natural rather than forced.  There is no more soreness.  There is a little stiffness which Jeff assures me will go away if I would be compliant on my exercises!  The burning in my leg is all but gone.  I feel better that I have in 20 years!  It is hard to explain since I am 6' 4" in height , but I feel like I have grown six inches taller!  Thanks to everyone at Alamo Heights Chiropractic!  

Feeling Great,  Ed Kopplow