Student's Journey of Becoming an Upper Cervical Doctor (10th Quarter)

With dramatized TV shows all over the place now, we have a pretty good idea of what a Medical School student goes through during their schooling and residencies. We hear about the different ups and downs of law students constantly reading tons of books and preparing for their Bar exams. However, does anybody really know what a student goes through to become an Upper Cervical Chiropractor? This was a question that was thought up by my mentor and really good friend Dr. Chad McIntyre of Triad Upper Cervical Clinic in Kernersville, NC. He wanted me to document my experiences as a student going through the 3.5 years of post-graduate work in order to become an Upper Cervical doctor. The program consists of 14 quarters (instead of 7 semesters), so I wrote a blog or diary entry before the start of every quarter reflecting on the past, present, and future. Looking back now, it cracks me up regarding what I decided to write about back then, but that’s where my mind and heart was at the time during the journey. The program consisted of many ups and downs, mountains and valleys, and a lot of sacrifice and time away from my loved ones. But, it was all worth it because now I have the blessing of bringing the power of Upper Cervical Care to anyone wanting to take control of their health in a natural, safe, and scientifically proven way of doing so. 

Another quarter in the books here at Sherman College of Chiropractic, and what a busy quarter it was! I remember moving to Spartanburg, SC the first weekend before school started like it was yesterday. I was rooming with a guy I met through the Admissions department. He was in his last 9 months of school and he was telling me how burnt out he was, how tired he was, how unmotivated he was to study for exams and finish projects. I told myself, there is NO WAY I will ever have that approach. I’m going to go full blast, 100% all the way through and leave this program in the dust. The funny thing is, I’m just finishing my 9^th quarter and school really did take a toll on me. It was very exhausting on some days having class from 8:00 in the morning, not finishing until 4:00 pm with only a 1 hour lunch break; AND THEN staying in the clinic doing paperwork and seeing ONE patient from 4:00 to 7:00 in the health center. I would go to the gym, eat dinner, shower, sleep, and do it all over again. Those 10 or 11 hour days got tiring REAL fast. When we hit finals, I had to really talk myself into properly preparing for them. It was very challenging to balance the little of a social life we have here at school with the demanding NINE classes and then all the clinic requirements. Needless to say, my seven other classmates and I passed everything and are now on to the beginning of 10^th quarter! And every day, we get a little closer to graduation and being able to make a difference in our own communities. We go from nine classes to six this quarter, however, the clinic requirements step up exponentially, as they will every quarter until next summer. Here is a quick list of the nine classes my classmates and I completed this past quarter.

1)      Emergency Procedures and Blood-Borne Pathogens

2)      Student Clinic

3)      Dermatology

4)      Clinical Case Management I

5)      Diagnosis Review I

6)      OBGyn

7)      Subluxation Theories

8)      X-ray Lab

9)      Extremity Adjusting- A 36-hour hour lecture/demonstration (12/24) course focuses on the assessment and adjustment protocols for upper and lower extremities with emphasis on knowledge and skills required for chiropractic proficiency examinations. This was by far my least favorite class. Not only was it my lowest grade for the quarter, I couldn’t get passionate about it. We had to practice on each other, so my hands heavy classmates were constantly just randomly thrusting into all of our elbow and knee joints several times per week. Short of a dislocation, most all joints, if not all of them, are SELF-CORRECTING. One of the worst classes in college by far. It can be helpful and pain relieving in some cases, but for an upper cervical doctor learning how to SPECIFICALLY and EFFICIENTLY get people well; adjusting somebody’s 4^th toe, is just a slap in the face and a waste of time. I don’t know, maybe it might serve me well one day, only time will tell. I highly doubt it though.

Ok, with all that said, let me tell you about the fun stuff, the NON class stuff. So, this was the beginning of student clinic! Next quarter, I will be taking care of the Spartanburg community! I was very encouraged by the quick results that I got while taking care of my student patients with Upper Cervical Care. Without giving names of course, one patient has suffered from neck pain, mid-back pain, and low back pain since she could remember. Reason being is that she has a rather large scoliosis from her mid-back to her low-back and was born with an extra vertebra in her lower spine. So, my first documented adjustment in the Sherman College Health Center was a huge success! As mentioned previously, none of my other classmates are upper-cervical focused whatsoever. They are constantly asking me questions about what I would do with this patient or that patient, and my response is always the same. Scan them, take x-rays, and remove brainstem interference due to an Upper Cervical subluxation. They always laugh, but maybe one day it will finally sink in. With that said, my classmates were very interested in seeing it in action when I performed my first correction. I had the instructor and about 4-5 of my classmates standing right over me as I performed it for the first time. It was really quick, and got lots of praises from the instructor and my classmates. When I got the patient up from her 30-45 minute rest, I asked her how she was feeling and told her about my experience after my first Upper cervical correction. She told me that her nose was tingling and felt different than it ever had before. She never complained of nose problems, but if something has not been working, irritated, or compressed for years and years, and is removed with a specific correction; the body is pretty amazing on how it wants to fix itself. For the post-check, the scan was all whacked out. But, after listening to the kind advice of my mentor, I let it be over the weekend and checked her again Monday. By Monday afternoon, her scan was completely different and her legs were balanced. For the first time performing an adjustment, it was really encouraging to see those results so quickly. I thought it would take several attempts to get it right to clear that scan. Months later, she still has the pain, but every time I ask her about it, it is always less compared to what it was. It’s basically impossible to take post x-rays or maintenance x-rays here at school so there’s no telling how the upper cervical corrections are dealing with her scoliosis. Hopefully, her holding the Upper Cervical corrections is changing her entire spinal structure.

I had another student patient who suffers from constant headaches all the time, EVERY DAY. She would take around 800 mg of Aleve just to get through the day and to be able to study. After getting x-rays on her, we got the listing and delivered her first correction ever! This took place during finals week, right before our long fall break, so it was perfect timing. After the first correction, I have learned from two great Upper Cervical docs and mentors to leave them alone for a week to two weeks. Needless to say, when we came back after the break, that scan was real pretty and leg checks looked great! She texted me over the break while I was on vacation and told me that her headaches were occurring a lot less common!! How exciting for a student waiting 2.5 years worth of studying and late nights to get to this point! Also, get this…….. when we took the x-rays on her, she had a reversed cervical curve. It was literally bending the wrong way. So, when she texted me about her headaches, she also told me that her neck was really hurting her and real sensitive when she was dropping her chin to her chest (reading, looking down). My explanation was that there could be a number of things that are happening: 1) could just be sore muscles, 2) could have slept in an awkward position, 3) OR… YOUR BODY IS CHANGING, and those neck/throat muscles are actually PULLING your curve into the proper position. So yeah, I would think you might be a little sore if your cervical spine is completely changing direction. Only time will tell with post x-rays (where she will have to get somewhere else, because heaven forbid if we actually track progress of a patient at school). Anyways, just thought I would share those two stories with you.

Here is a picture of an Upper Cervical Pre and Post Scan.... The red line in the middle was before an Upper Cervical Correction. The yellow line is afterwards when the brainstem interference has been removed and the body restored to normal function.

So, bottom line is… UPPER CERVICAL CARE WORKS! If you have a loved one who is sick, hurting, and doesn’t have answers… we are here to offer HOPE… no drugs, no surgery, just natural, non-invasive healing with no twisting, cracking, or popping of your neck! And get this, if you’re not sick or hurting, go get checked anyway! Nearly all diseases and problems occur over a gradual amount of time, the symptoms just appear later in the process. A lot of our society never seeks help until we actually feel the symptoms, but in reality, our body was dealing with that problem for a while. Get your brainstem checked! It’s your life force; it connects your brain (most important organ) to the rest of your entire body… all 206 bones, all 800+ muscles, and ALL 100,000,000,000,000 cells (trillion)! Take care of it, it’s a finely tuned, amazing machine, but we only get one of them!

More to come…. Next quarter.. I will tell you about a different technique in upper cervical that I am currently getting certified in, updates on student patients, and all of my new patients from the Spartanburg community! It won’t be until around Christmas time, so Merry Christmas!!! Love this time of year! Until next time…  Through God’s grace alone can we make a change in this world and get every sick person well! 

To His glory,

Josh

Student's Journey of Becoming an Upper Cervical Doctor (9th Quarter)

Not only is it summer time, but somehow it’s already halfway over. I just got back from a very relaxing and rewarding three week summer break. During that time, I made sure to get away from school as fast as possible and tend to the more important things in life such as friends and family. I spent a lot of time the first week at home. The next week, I went and visited my older brother in Florida for the week. With him being in graduate school and me in chiropractic school, our breaks are NEVER on the same weeks with our crazy schedules. Therefore, this was the first time I have seen him since Christmas. That just seemed way too long to be away from somebody you spent the majority of your life growing up with. So, I made it a priority to get down there and enjoy some time with him. It was really fun catching up and just being together again. Once I got back to NC, my fiance’ and I went and visited some good friends from college down in Wilmington and had a really fun weekend at the beach :-).

Those vacations were much needed after a hectic quarter. My classmates and I completed 10 courses (largest course load to date for us). Below is a quick list of all ten classes we took so you have an idea what we have been studying the past three months.

1)      Clinical Reasoning

2)      Pre-Clinic  

3)      Entrance Exam for Clinic

4)      Clinical Case and Diagnosis Management II

5)      Patient Education – I of course focused my entire class experience on Upper Cervical Care. The concept of Upper Cervical Care is simple. People don’t get it for many reasons. The three main reasons I came up with are these: 1) It’s too simple they can’t believe it. 2) People today are brainwashed thinking that they need to take something or put a foreign substance in their body to obtain “health” and “wellness.” I was one of these people for the longest time, until I finally learned WHAT health is and WHERE it comes from. 3) They simply have not heard of it. We have to get the word out!

6)      X-ray Analysis II

7)      Soft Tissue Pathology

8)      Thoraco-lumbar X-ray positioning

9)      Spinal Exam Review

10)   Applications of Clinical Radiology

Phew. Good news is: it gets a little easier the next few quarters. Next quarter, the schedule gets knocked down a class for a total of 9, and then it substantially starts dropping. After Christmas, I won’t be taking more than 3 or 4 classes at a time until I graduate. I can’t express the excitement to be done with managing and studying for so many classes and getting to focus on getting people well by letting their bodies express themselves the way they are intended to.

        So, at the end of my last blog, I had just completed my first board exam out of five in order to get my license in North Carolina. I was one of the last ones to check my scores in my class. Everyone had checked his/her score first thing in the morning once school started. I wanted to wait until I got home so I can share it with my loved ones back home who have supported me and encouraged me so much through this entire process. I am very pleased and proud of my classmates when I say that all 8 of us passed all six sections of the first national board exam. We have been one of the few classes lately to have a 100% pass rate on the first attempt. We were all very excited about the great news knowing that all our hard work for the past 21 months paid off. All the Friday nights studying instead of having fun, the spending all day Sundays wanting to watch football but have to study because of the multiple exams waiting in the upcoming week, the late nights in the library, the constant sacrifice of balancing studying and time with loved ones…. It all led to us passing the exam and moving on to our next chapter in our careers in chiropractic school!

        So, here comes 9^th quarter. This is the quarter where we are allowed to start seeing student patients in the health center and start completing our clinic requirements towards graduation. I am very excited to actually apply what I have been training to do for the past two years. My experience at Sherman has gone at an incredibly fast rate, yet at the same time, kind of slow. I feel I have been in school for so long that I don’t know anything else. On my breaks, it takes me two or three days off of school until I realize I am on break. Those first few days, I feel like I have to be studying or preparing for a project or exam. It is crazy how we get on such a routine; we can sometimes get overwhelmed in it. A lesson I learned this summer is taking a vacation is EXTREMELY important for one’s health. Yes, the same term which we associate with upper cervical care, proper nutrition, and educated decisions. Letting the body just chill is vital. Look at the world’s strongest men. Bodybuilders who can pull 18-wheeler trucks behind them take complete shutdown weeks every two or three months. Can you imagine being the world’s strongest man or woman and taking an entire week off up to FIVE to SIX times per year? Sounds impossible, right? No. They will be the first ones to tell you that the body needs rest; physically, mentally, emotionally.

So, my advice heading into the quarter? Take a vacation. Throw a dart at a map and go there. Don’t go to the gym for seven consecutive days (for the gym rats only). Take some time to go see some family or long lost friends. Recharge the batteries. The body is a fine-tuned machine. But, we do the most healing and growing when we are resting. We were created that way. God Himself took a day off after creating the ENTIRE universe for six consecutive days. We’re wired to rest, sometimes our society doesn’t allow it, so…….. go against society. Listen to your body.

God Bless,

Josh

Student's Journey of Becoming an Upper Cervical Doctor (8th Quarter)

Hello everybody. As the weeks have passed by at an incredibly fast rate, another quarter is in the books at Sherman College of Chiropractic. I am very excited to say I am officially half way done with chiropractic school: 7 quarters down, 7 to go. It’s hard to believe. This was by far the busiest quarter due to the fact of taking a normal class load and the board exams in the middle of March. Below is a list of the seven courses we completed this past quarter.

1)     Cervical X-ray positioning- This 48-hour lecture/laboratory course is designed to teach the student those practical procedures necessary to obtain analytical quality x-rays of the cervical spine including lateral cervical, A-P Open Mouth, Base Posterior, Nasium, A-P lower cervical, cervical obliques and cervical flexion/extension views. Some of these x-rays are EXTREMELY critical for the doctor to understand the exact misalignment of atlas or axis so the correction can help your body do what it’s supposed to do; get you well, and keep you well. This was by FAR my favorite class of the quarter. I would say about 90% of the class was done in the x-ray rooms practicing and applying what we have learned about the x-ray views. So, at 8:00 in the morning every day Monday-Thursday, we are up, moving around, and practicing these views. The class was always a great start to the day and got us energized and focused for the hours of lecture classes lying ahead of us. At the end of the course, my classmates and I feel VERY confident on setting up for x-rays in an efficient amount of time and knowing how to get the best images possible in order to properly analyze the misalignment tailored to you.

2)     Full Spine III- This is a 48-hour lecture/lab course in full spine adjusting methods for the sacrum and pelvis. This was not exactly my favorite course. Although it was an adjusting class, which I have been very fond of in the past quarters, this class took quite the toll on our bodies. The entire 11-week course was focused just on the hips region. A big portion of chiropractic adjustments with full-spine care sometimes involve A LOT of twisting and cranking. And as students, we have to practice on each other and demonstrate to the professor on how to do the setups. By midterms, my sciatica from two years ago (which got me into upper cervical and introduced me to Dr. Chad) came back in full force. The twisting and awkward positions must have really irritated my herniated disc and knocked me off of my feet for a good week or two. After that, I pretty much became a spectator in the class. Once again, I never want to bash or talk down on full spine chiropractors during this blog, there’s just other ways of addressing WHY the body is hurting or not functioning properly than twisting the patient up like a pretzel and then thrusting into them. Removing interference from the nervous system, particularly the brainstem region, can be done by applying a quick, light force without any twisting, cracking, or popping. With that said, I’m very happy to be done with the course and excited to not have to go through that again. Some people joke about how chiropractic students have the worst spines because of all the practice and abuse they go through during the course of their experience at school, basically having to be practice dummies. I now find that to be very true. It’s rather hypocritical.

3)     Orthopedics/Neurological Exam II

4)     Cardio Diagnosis-

5)     Lab Diagnosis II

6)     Physical Exam II

7)     X-ray Physics - This 24-hour lecture/demonstration course addresses the uses and dangers of ionizing radiation. An in-depth study of the physics involved in the production of x-rays, their properties, and interactions with matter is presented. Basic x-ray machine operation, developing procedures and procedures to minimize radiation to the patient are also covered. With the advanced technology in today’s x-ray systems, we probably get more radiation by getting a sun tan or sitting in front of a computer all day under fluorescent lights than actually getting x-rays in a doctor’s office. As a matter of fact, according to Idaho State University research, just by living in Denver, Colorado, the population gets exposed to 50 mrem/year, which is the equivalent of two x-rays of your neck. That’s just from living there! Not to mention all the ADDITIONAL radiation we already expose ourselves simply by flying in an airplane, using a cell phone, sitting in front of a laptop, or driving in a car. The x-ray beam exposure in and out of the body so fast, the total amount of radiation is very safe, and minimal. Believe it or not, there is actually research being done by one of my mentors and professors regarding radiation exposure. Some of their results are actually showing that minimal amounts of radiation are actually beneficial for the body. Very interesting findings. Just like everything else of course, including water, too much of anything can be harmful.  

     So, those are the classes that my classmates and I completed this past 7^th quarter. Like I mentioned in our previous blog, we also had to take Part 1 of the national board exam for licensure. The test was made up of six sections, which covered all of the basic sciences that were covered in the first 18 months of our education process. So, how did it go? Let’s just say I will know by the end of April. All six exams were extremely difficult. But, they are graded on a specific curve system. So, it is very normal to feel like you failed all six sections by the end of the weekend. I didn’t feel like I failed all of them, there was really only one section where I felt like I had no clue reading some of the questions. Everybody else taking the exams with me felt the same way. There were a lot of times I had no clue what the question was even asking me, so I couldn’t even make an educated guess on the four answer choices. My strategy for those types of questions was to look at my scantron and pick a letter I haven’t selected in a while, and that was my answer. It was a very difficult exam, but I felt more confident than I thought I would have coming out. I will be able to give you folks the results on my next blog this upcoming summer.

    During my Spring break, I got the privilege to hang out with Dr. Chad, my mentor and Upper Cervical Doctor, in Greensboro for the day at the Natural Triad Health and Wellness annual expo. We spent the entire morning and afternoon educating folks on the wonders of upper cervical care and how the brainstem controls and connects all the messages routing from the brain to every organ, tissue, and cell throughout the rest of our bodies. During the conference, Dr. Chad also gave a one hour speech specifically on upper cervical care. It was an awesome learning experience for me. I gained a lot of confidence by telling the story of upper cervical to so many different people throughout the course of the event. Although I learned several things from how to educate patients, to actually scanning the potential patient, to telling them what their scan means, and why they need upper cervical care; I also learned a lot about myself and why I am so passionate about what I want to do. I truly just want to help people. Going back to my original and first blog entry, if I could help one person have their life changed, how amazing is that? Two? Three? Just keep on multiplying my excitement. I want to show the power of the human body, and even more importantly the love of Jesus Christ to anyone and everyone who will listen to me.

            It’s very easy for me to discuss how Upper Cervical Care could help due to the fact I’m a living testimony. Instead of telling patients that Upper Cervical Care has seen positive results with this disease and that disorder, a lot of the times I can just tell my story. I completely blew a disc in my low back, causing severe, life-altering sciatica. I couldn’t tie my shoe, I couldn’t go up or down stairs, I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning without tears in my eyes due to the pain. I was going to a full spine chiropractor THREE times a week, getting waterbed massages, and bio-electric stimulation therapy. On top of that, I would drive 1.5 hours to Mooresville, NC to see a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor to get acupuncture and deep tissue massage. I felt like I was running out of options and began looking into surgical procedures done in Ohio and Texas. Yes, I was that desperate. Through a friend I went to undergrad with, by divine intervention might I add, (he never met Dr. Chad and was from Chapel Hill, somehow he knew a guy who knew a girl who knew a guy who lived in Kernersville?? That’s no coincidence).  He told me about Dr. Chad and how he receives all these weekly-well beings emails from Dr. Chad. So, I gave it a shot. It was either this Upper Cervical practitioner in Kernersville or off to Ohio for surgery. One correction, and my entire body changed… I was running and tying my shoes and back at work within two-three days. Unbelievable.

So, what am I trying to get across?

            I’m thankful for my injury. I’m thankful for the fact that I was in so much pain that summer. Through the injury, God brought me to Dr. Chad and the wonders of Upper Cervical Care. From there, there was no turning back. I’m grateful for the fact that it bugs me on long car rides and being in one position for too long causes the sciatica coming back a little bit. It’s a constant reminder of what I believe my purpose is. It’s a constant reminder for me to get people well and educate them about the POWER of their OWN bodies, not any new age medicine or surgery. OUR BODIES are the best doctors. So, I feel more compassionate and sympathetic to people who have gone through what I went through. I feel I have that extra push to go that mile to want to lend a helping hand. And it’s all because of a slipped disc while lifting a tarp at my dad’s work one summer. Sometimes, bad things may happen in life. It will cause your faith to be tested, it will make you stronger, more courageous, build character, become more appreciative, learn from it, and it will give you the opportunity to glorify God through the misfortune.

So, whatever you’re going through, don’t give up. If you or a family member or friend is sick, hurting, or want to perform at their optimal potential, get checked by an Upper Cervical Doctor. It may just change your life.

     On to 8^th quarter! 8^th quarter is also known as Pre-Clinic! 9^th quarter is known as Student Clinic, and finally 10^th quarter to graduation is just known as “Clinic.” Therefore, I’m close, only a few more months  :-). I’m taking TEN classes this quarter. I will let you know how it goes when you hear back from me this summer. In 8^th quarter, you are also allowed to begin taking elective courses. The first elective class I will be taking is called Applied Clinical Radiology. This course is a pre-requisite for the X-ray Intern program for students wanting to specialize in taking x-rays and assisting the entire clinic in the x-ray department including students and faculty during their clinic experience. By the time I get out of school, I’m going to be so tired of reading x-rays it’s going to be like a first language to me.

     As you know, I tend to enjoy ending with words of encouragement straight from God’s word… having it been Easter weekend just recently, I thought this scripture would fit well straight from the Savior of the world:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that someone lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you my friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. (ESV)

John 15:12-15

May God Bless you, and love one another. Until next quarter!!

Josh

Student's Journey of Becoming an Upper Cervical Doctor (7th Quarter)

Another three months passes by, which means another quarter knocked out in chiropractic school. Time just keeps on flying by at an exponential rate. We got a lot of work done and passed all of our finals right before the Christmas break. Here is a little taste of the classes my classmates and I took to give you a little idea of what I have been up to.

-          Full Spine II

-          Lab Diagnosis I

-          Hard Tissue Pathology  

-          Phys Exam I

-          Endocrine and Reproduction- This 60-hour comprehensive lecture course covers the normal function of endocrine tissues including human hormonal control systems, the functions of individual hormones and their interactions, and reproductive physiology. The course also introduces a variety of disease states that affect these endocrine tissues. We also learned about the male and female reproductive systems and their specific physiology. Along with nutrition, this was perhaps my favorite “academic” course so far during my 18 month stay at Sherman College. We learned some fascinating stuff about several of the major hormones in our bodies and how they interact with each other. A lot of what I learned in this course helped me learn about my fitness and how I treat my own body with eating, sleep, and exercise.

As I mentioned three or four blog entries ago, Dr. Duke is perhaps the most renowned name in the academic world of Sherman College. He teaches four grueling classes that make up a 12-month sequence that students refer to “Duke University” due to the demanding work it takes just to pass. I am very happy and relieved to announce that my classmates and I have officially “graduated” from Duke University this past December and are on to better days at Sherman College :-). I can’t decide which was more satisfying, completing the 9 months of smelling cadavers in the anatomy lab, or the 12 months of Dr. Duke’s neurology classes. I will let you know if I ever decide between the two. All I know is I would never want to take either again, I learned a lot, but am so glad to be done with those portions of the curriculum!!

-          Orthopedics/Neurological Exam I

Going back to endocrine class, I learned a lot about the relationships between growth hormone and insulin. I also learned about the importance of omega 3’s versus omega 6’s. You hear some of your friends say I take an omega 3 fish-oil supplement for their hearts. Yes, omega 3’s can support good cardiovascular health, but it is responsible for SO MUCH more! The relationship between omega 3’s and omega 6’s has been reported to play a HUGE role in our immune system function. In the typical American diet, we tend to get plenty or more than enough of omega 6’s. However, a large portion of the population doesn’t have a high seafood diet which is necessary if the person does not take an omega 3 supplement. But, remember this; 1) I’m not a doctor, yet. 2) Everyone is different. Do the research on your own. It’s important to listen to what health care professionals say.

“Many nutrition experts believe that before we relied so heavily on processed foods, humans consumed omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in roughly equal amounts. But to our great detriment, most North Americans and Europeans now get far too much of the omega-6s and not enough of the omega-3s. This dietary imbalance may explain the rise of such diseases as asthma, coronary heart disease, many forms of cancer, autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases, all of which are believed to stem from inflammation in the body. The imbalance between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids may also contribute to obesity, depression, dyslexia, hyperactivity and even a tendency toward violence. Bringing the fats into proper proportion may actually relieve those conditions, according to Joseph Hibbeln, M.D., a psychiatrist at the National Institutes of Health, and perhaps the world's leading authority on the relationship between fat consumption and mental health. At the 2006 Nutrition and Health Conference sponsored by the University of Arizona's College of Medicine and Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Hibbeln cited a study showing that violence in a British prison dropped by 37 percent after omega-3 oils and vitamins were added to the prisoners' diets.”

Some websites in case you were further interested: however, be sure to google negatives or dangers of omegas 3’s, there’s always someone playing antagonist. Get educated, and make your decisions.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400149/balancing-omega-3-and-omega-6.html

http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/7250/the-omega-vs-omega-controversy

http://www.earthturns.com/Omega-3-Fatty-Acids-Immune-System-a/141.htm

Like I said in the beginning of the blog, time keeps flying. The quarters, the months, the weeks seem to just breeze by. It’s not just my academic life that is flying by so quickly it’s hard to grasp, its many aspects. After dating the love of my life for over five years, I feel very comfortable that God has blessed our relationship, and my heart feels content about spending the rest of my life with this beautiful blessing. So, after following my heart, guided by God giving all the glory to Him, I got a ring and asked my now fiancé, Becca, to marry me. How did I do it? A few blogs back, I told you guys how she went on a 4 month mission trip to Uganda to build an orphanage and spread the love of Christ. Thank you so much for your prayers. She got back safe and is doing great. So, right when she got off the plane, I had her little brother and two of her best friends waiting for her at the airport and dropped the hammer as soon as she got off the plane. She had no freaking clue. I know the Charlotte airport might not be the most romantic place, but it was perfect for her and perfect for me and we couldn’t be happier. I can’t wait to spend every day with her and continue life’s journey with the love of my life.

So, another quarter down. 24 months and I will be an Upper Cervical Doctor! By completing sixth quarter, we are heading into 7^th quarter, which happens to be our first national boards quarter. As I mentioned previously, chiropractors have to take four to five (depending on what state) national boards in order to be licensed in the United States. This is the first exam of the 4-5 for my classmates and me. The exam consists of six individual tests covering the previous 18 months of information that has been crammed into our skulls. The six individual tests are General Anatomy, Spinal Anatomy, Physiology, Chemistry, Pathology, and Microbiology. Each test contains 110 questions. Students from all over the country and the world will be taking these exams on March 16^th-18^th. So, if we ever find a way to manage the seven classes we are already taking this quarter, we will be studying the 1.5 year’s material non-stop. The month of March is going to be absolute madness, pun intended. We have March Madness going on with the NCAA basketball tournament, national boards which consist of six individual tests the weekend mentioned, and then seven final exams from the 20^th-23^rd. So, we will be taking 13 final exams/liscensing exams in a span of 7 days! Madness. That’s part of the journey though. Should be a great Spring Break when all of this is over :-).

Words of encouragement:

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

1 Corinthians 10:31

In whatever you do, if it’s being a student, a teacher, a lawyer, a fashion designer, a stay at home mom picking up toys, a dad playing with his children, a friend going the extra mile, or just taking out the trash, do everything for the glory of God. He’s our creator, we are made in His image, it’s all His.

May God Bless you guys, I hope you have a blessed New Year and enjoy God’s constant grace and love.

Till next quarter !!!!!

Josh Dalessandro

Student's Journey of Becoming an Upper Cervical Doctor (6th Quarter)

With dramatized TV shows all over the place now, we have a pretty good idea of what a Medical School student goes through during their schooling and residencies. We hear about the different ups and downs of law students constantly reading tons of books and preparing for their Bar exams. However, does anybody really know what a student goes through to become an Upper Cervical Chiropractor? This was a question that was thought up by my mentor and really good friend Dr. Chad McIntyre of Triad Upper Cervical Clinic in Kernersville, NC. He wanted me to document my experiences as a student going through the 3.5 years of post-graduate work in order to become an Upper Cervical doctor. The program consists of 14 quarters (instead of 7 semesters), so I wrote a blog or diary entry before the start of every quarter reflecting on the past, present, and future. Looking back now, it cracks me up regarding what I decided to write about back then, but that’s where my mind and heart was at the time during the journey. The program consisted of many ups and downs, mountains and valleys, and a lot of sacrifice and time away from my loved ones. But, it was all worth it because now I have the blessing of bringing the power of Upper Cervical Care to anyone wanting to take control of their health in a natural, safe, and scientifically proven way of doing so. 

As predicted and told about by upper quarter students, 5^th quarter was much easier than 4^th quarter. It went by extremely fast and it was a lot of fun to start working in the health center and get out of the main academic building for parts of the day. Here is a list of the classes we completed over the past few months.

-          Neuromusclular Physiology

-          Neuropathophysiology

-          Gastrointestinal/Renal Physiology

-          Upper Cervical Rationale- This 24-hour Lecture course details the philosophical and physiological rationales for a specific focus on upper cervical subluxation correction. Emphasis was placed on why C1 subluxations were so detrimental to the body working at 100%. We spent more time in the cadaver lab looking at how C1’s muscular and ligament attachment anatomy is far different than any other vertebra.

Here is a picture of the two bones in the upper cervical spine that protect our inferior brainstem.

-          Tumors/Arthritis

-          X-ray Analysis I- This 60-hour lecture/laboratory course is designed to instruct the student in visual analysis, line analysis and neural canal studies, and to correlate these with spinal biodynamics and malformations in order to obtain accurate listings of vertebral misalignments in the cervical spine. Basically, we just looked at and analyzed x-rays every day. It was a very fun class as we got to see the many different ways that atlas and axis can misalign. This shows the importance of why upper cervical chiropractors all use x-rays in their offices.

-          Full Spine I

-          Pattern Analysis – This was a rather unique course. We learned how to become proficient in several analysis tests used in order to determine when or when not to make a correction to the upper cervical spine. Specific concepts learned were leg checks and the thermograph readings. During this class, we also had to do a small research project. My partner and I did a study on the differences of the scans between morning and night. Basically, we were trying to prove that the scan doesn’t work as well as we think it does. By scanning in the morning and evening and looking at the differences with no adjusting done, we thought they would be pretty different. Our original reasoning is that our body operates very differently at different parts of the day. Circadian rhythms of every cell have a 12-hour ON switch and a 12-hour OFF switch. Also, our parasympathetic system and sympathetic system plays a sort of tug-of-war game throughout different parts of the day and night. Turns out, our results had no credible data to our hypothesis and when you’re subluxated, you’re subluxated. The scan does work, and it is a very, very helpful tool to tell us when or when not to adjust.

            This was a great quarter! It was very relaxing and a lot more stress free compared to the others. I explained earlier how the odd quarters seem to be easier while the even quarters tend to be more challenging. This is definitely holding true through my experience thus far. So, with less studying going on, my classmates and I had a little more free time. Coming back from summer break, it had been a while since we all hung out outside the walls of Sherman College. Therefore, we planned a camping trip for the 2^nd weekend of the quarter. So, all the guys in my quarter (and four guys from quarters above else) joined us in skipping all our afternoon classes on a Friady, and we left for Clemson, SC.

            So, we get to the lake, and innocently crack open a beer to celebrate the weekend. Keep in mind every single one of us was well beyond the legal drinking limit (as we are all graduate students, some of the guys even have multiple kids). Within minutes, we have three cops telling half of us to get out of the water, and the other half in the parking lot to throw away the beer. Turns out it is illegal to bring alcohol into a state park. So, we just explained to the police how we weren’t aware that the lake was a state park and they very kindly let us off without tickets. It was very funny because at the time we were all just saying to ourselves, “We had been here 5 minutes and we’re already in trouble.”

            But, that was the last of our troubles. We finally got onto the lake, 10 guys, and 10 guys’ stuff all loaded down. We got to the island to set up camp and then ventured back out onto the lake for the next several hours where we would find an awesome rope swing and huge rock cliff to jump off. I was extremely hesitant to be the first one to jump off this rock (the guys said it was about 30 or so feet above the water). But, once two or three people jumped, I dove right in. Then, my classmates started doing back flips and I was done, haha. No need to break my neck if I want to correct people’s necks, right?

            Once we got back to camp, we began grilling out and enjoying throwing the football around and just hanging out. After dinner and as the night began to wind down, we were all EXHAUSTED.. you would think a bunch of guys in their mid-upper 20’s would be up all night partying, right? By 10:00, everyone was falling asleep (we’re so used to getting up so early in the morning and being at school for 8-10 hours). So, we start waking everyone up and we go across the lake to a golf course up a hill. It was a treacherous climb as we all had flip flops on and were carrying golf stuff. We enjoyed a little midnight golfing on the putting green and then headed back.

            One thing NONE of us thought through was that it was mid-July in South Carolina… HAHA. It was 90 degrees outside and extremely humid. Once we got in the tents and tried to sleep, the temperature quickly seemed to be 120 degrees. I would stick my head out of the tent just so I could breathe better every so often. I tried going to bed around 1:00 am, and did not fall asleep until about 3:30 or 4:00 am. And I woke up at 7:00 because the sun was so bright. It was miserable. Everyone else had similar problems, but I’m a very light sleeper and need my nice, foam mattress.

            So, the next morning, nobody is feeling that good due to the lack of sleep. We ate breakfast, did some swimming, and then headed home. By the time we got home back to Spartanburg, it was around 5:00 pm. I just went to my bed and PASSED out until 9:00 or so. Then I was wired the rest of the night.

            So, in summary, it was an amazing time. It makes you really appreciate the people you have been working with and getting to know so well. The thing is; we hang out 40 hours a week at school and all we do is talk about chiropractic. It’s even better when we’re outside of school, in the middle of nowhere on some island, on some lake, and we just get to be guys again. By the way, we did some extreme tubing and almost everyone HAD to be subluxated by the end of the weekend. I didn’t get thrown off at all the first day. The second day, I got tossed off going really fast and got the wind knocked out of me from hitting the water so hard. It took about an hour for the pain in my chest to go away. And that was our great camping trip. We hope to do that at least twice a year until we graduate. However, we will definitely plan the time of year a little better for the next adventure.

            Back to academics, I noted earlier how we took our first Full Spine adjusting class. This class is learning how to adjust the cervical spine only (C1-C7). All of the moves involved some sort of twisting, lateral flexion, or extreme rotation of the neck. I was very frustrated the first few weeks that we had to put the neck in such compromising positions to deliver an adjustment. There were many issues that were frustrating and rather puzzling to me in this class. One of them being the analyzing of a subluxation. In the beginning of class, one of our professors will introduce the move we will be learning and then demonstrates it on one of my classmates.  Our professor only uses his hands to see if they are “subluxated,” he feels for a lump, and then he cracks at it… he doesn’t do motion palpation, muscle, thermography work, or xrays, And then after all that, I ask people in upper quarters about it, and they tell me it’s possible to be able to feel a subluxation just with your hands in under 5 seconds… and I just smile and listen to what they say, even though I strongly disagree in most cases. Also, the developer of chiropractic would strongly disagree and say it is negligent and careless to rely on what you subjectively feel when it comes to someone else’s health. It just doesn’t make sense… I think God planted a fire in me for Upper Cervical, because that is the only thing that remotely makes sense to me at this point in my career.

            Over the break, I started reading two GREAT BOOKS. Both of them, I highly recommend. Number one: What Time Tuesday by James Tomasi. I believe you can order it online for fewer than 8 bucks! It’s a short, 50 page testimonial book on how Upper Cervical Care literally SAVED a person from committing suicide. A few Upper Cervical corrections later, the victim of a very dangerous disease is completely pain free and becomes one of the world’s most renowned Upper Cervical advocates. A must read! Book number two is Tuesdays with Morie by Mitch Albom. A fantastic book based on a true story of a student who visits his college professor after the professor is diagnosed with one of the worst diseases known to man; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Why do you ask that I chose to read Tuesdays with Morie? Well, I told you earlier that we recently completed a class called neuropathophysiology. While learning about all of the dozens upon dozens of disorders throughout the quarter, the one that really struck my interest was ALS. It just seemed so interesting, yet unimaginable to ever have to go through or a love one go through. After spending a good portion of one of our classes talking about the disease, our professor strongly encouraged us to read Tuesdays with Morie if we had any spare time. Immediately, it caught my interest. In undergrad, I had a mentor/boss who was very passionate about this book. During staff meetings, he would always begin with a reading from what Morie instructed to his student to help give us not only encouragement, but perspective on bigger things. During my last year in undergrad, Greg (mentor/boss) bought 15 copies of the book and had ALL of them signed by the author Mitch Albom himself. He gave it to us during one of our staff meetings, and told us to promise him to read it sometime in our lifetime. I took the book and threw it on my bookshelf thinking to myself I’m too busy to read that and that’s one book I will never read. It wasn’t until two years later I finally opened up the book with Mitch Albom’s signature telling me personally to try it, learn it, and remember it. I am now very grateful that my mentor spent so much time trying to get us to learn new perspectives and see life in a different way compared to how most culture or society sees it. And, I finally fulfilled that promise to my mentor of reading it when I told myself I never would. I thank him for always believing in me and wanting to make me better. Speaking of this book, I want to share a quick passage with you all about patience and aging that the professor advised to his student in Tuesdays with Morie that really struck home with me.

            Professor: “And in addition to all the miseries, the young are not wise. They have very little understanding about life. Who wants to live every day when you don’t know what’s going on? When people are manipulating you; telling you to buy this perfume and you’ll be beautiful, or this pair of jeans and you’ll be sexy—and you believe them! It’s such nonsense.”

Student: “Weren’t you ever afraid to grow old, I asked?”

Professor: “Mitch, I EMBRACE aging.”

Student: “Embrace it?”

Professor: “It’s very simple. As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed at twenty-two, you’d always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It’s growth. It’s more than the negative that you’re going to die, it’s also the positive that you understand you’re going to die, and that you live a better life because of it.”

Student:  “Yes, I said, but if aging were so valuable, why do people always say, ‘Oh, if I were young again.’ You never hear people say, ‘I wish I were sixty-five.”’

Professor:  He smiled. “You know what that reflects? Unsatisfied lives. Unfulfilled lives. Lives that haven’t found meaning. Because if you’ve found meaning in your life, you don’t want to go back. You WANT to go forward. You want to SEE more, DO more. YOU CANT WAIT UNTIL YOU’RE SIXTY-FIVE.”

Awesome stuff, huh? Embrace aging. Embrace the gifts God gave us and continues to give us.

Last thoughts until I embark on 6^th quarter: 

“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Isaiah 40:30-31 (ESV)

I will write again at Christmas time at the conclusion of 6^th quarter! God Bless!

Josh

www.ucwilmington.com

Student's Journey of Becoming an Upper Cervical Doctor (5th Quarter)

     With dramatized TV shows all over the place now, we have a pretty good idea of what a Medical School student goes through during their schooling and residencies. We hear about the different ups and downs of law students constantly reading tons of books and preparing for their Bar exams. However, does anybody really know what a student goes through to become an Upper Cervical Chiropractor? This was a question that was thought up by my mentor and really good friend Dr. Chad McIntyre of Triad Upper Cervical Clinic in Kernersville, NC. He wanted me to document my experiences as a student going through the 3.5 years of post-graduate work in order to become an Upper Cervical doctor. The program consists of 14 quarters (instead of 7 semesters), so I wrote a blog or diary entry before the start of every quarter reflecting on the past, present, and future. Looking back now, it cracks me up regarding what I decided to write about back then, but that’s where my mind and heart was at the time during the journey. The program consisted of many ups and downs, mountains and valleys, and a lot of sacrifice and time away from my loved ones. But, it was all worth it because now I have the blessing of bringing the power of Upper Cervical Care to anyone wanting to take control of their health in a natural, safe, and scientifically proven way of doing so. 

It’s summertime! One year down, only two and half to go until I am an Upper Cervical doctor! This past quarter (4^th quarter) seemed to fly by. Without a doubt, this was BY FAR the most rigorous and challenging quarter out of the four, no contest. We went 8:00 am – 4:00 pm on Monday-Wednesdays, and until 5:00 pm on Thursdays with only a one hour break for lunch. Fridays were a little more generous. It was sometimes rather difficult to manage the 7+ hours of lecture every day and then go home and try to figure out what in the world they talked about all day in class (studying). This applies especially when you have other commitments like trying to stay sane and do anything besides school. With that said, I am extremely grateful that it is over and am even more grateful for the three week summer vacation. The summer vacation is even that much more enjoyable due to the fact I know that 5^th quarter is going to be awesome and much easier compared to what my classmates and I just endured the past eleven weeks.

                Here is a summary of the classes that Sherman College students take during their 4^th quarter of study:

1)      Micropathology

2)      X-ray anatomy

3)      Spinal Biodynamics II

4)      Neuroanatomy II- This course is a 9 HOUR per week course. The last 9 hour course per week for the rest of the program. The next longest class that we will have to take is only 6 hours per week. This was what makes 4^th quarter the most difficult quarter of the program. The way the class is taught is at a very intense and fast pace. This course is the continuation of Neuroanatomy I. It covers the structural and functional anatomy of the brainstem, the cranial nerves, and the forebrain. As in Neuroanatomy I, nuclei tracts and the effects of lesions are studied at the gross and microscopic levels. The laboratory portion includes the study of microscopic slides, models and brain sections. So here is a little insight into how complex and how difficult the class is. The lab portion is two out of the nine hours in the week. We had 17 pages of structures to learn with each page having approximately 15-25 structures on each page. We had to know every structure on every model in order to be successful on the test. Get this, this exam is only 15% of the class and it was the easiest part of the class. Although this class was only one of our eights classes during this quarter, I probably spent about 50% or more of my study time on this class and just crammed for every other class right before exams. You can’t afford to fall behind in this class or you might have to take it the following quarter. Now that we are done with this class, my classmates and I know it is all downhill from here. Don’t get me wrong, we still have 10 quarters left in the program with a lot of challenging courses ahead, but none will be harder than what we just accomplished with Neuro II. (Side Note: Looking back now as a doctor in practice, this fact held true throughout my academic career. No class was harder than this one. It’s analogous to Organic Chemistry on steroids).

5)      Upper Cervical Technique- This course covers knee-chest and side posture adjustment set-ups for the proper use of toggle recoil technique for the upper cervical subluxation correction. Emphasis is placed on correct patient placement and doctor’s stance. The correlation of x-ray and spinal examination findings to increase certainty in the determination of upper cervical listings is also stressed. This class was exciting because we actually got to learn and practice what I want to do for the rest of my life. The fact that the curriculum teaches the course so early in the program is awesome for the students. Now, we are completely competent in the set-ups for correcting an upper cervical subluxation. In this upcoming quarter (5^th quarter), my classmates and I will be taking X-ray analysis 1, where we will learn how to analyze the subluxation through x-rays.

6)      Microbiology II

7)      Case History

So, that’s the list of all the classes we completed this quarter. Like I previously mentioned, this was by far the most challenging quarter. I’m looking forward to the next quarter where the intensity should tone down a little bit. After the last day of finals, I raced home as fast as I could and began my much needed 3 week vacation. The first week, I spent a few days in my hometown of Mooresville, NC and hung out with family and friends basically just going brain dead. I would wake up in the morning, lift weights or run, and then go to the pool the majority of the day. I didn’t mind sitting around for countless hours not doing ANYTHING, as long as I wasn’t studying. After that, I went to the mountains a few days with my girlfriend and parents to get away for a bit. It’s really peaceful up in the Appalachian mountains, there’s just something different when you’re up there. The people are different, everything about it just seems simpler. If you have never been hiking or even just drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I would highly recommend it. The way God paints the sky over the mountains every day is a beautiful thing. After the two days in the mountains, my family and I made the 12+ hour trip down to Fort Lauderdale, FL for the week!

The beach was awesome! The weather wasn’t always that great while we were down there, but that didn’t stop me from hanging out in the sand and crashing into the waves while throwing a football with my little bro. It was a great week to rewind and relax with the family. After the Florida trip, we made the 12+ hour trip back home to Mooresville to enjoy the fourth of July weekend. We had to stop and load up on fireworks in South Carolina beforehand of course. On Sunday night, a few good friends and I drove down to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Charlotte to see Zac Brown Band play. It was an awesome show! They did a really great job, and since it was the 3^rd of July, folks in Charlotte were lighting fireworks in their neighborhoods behind the amphitheater, what a great sight with great music with great friends.

Then, the final week of my vacation, we just hung with family and friends and enjoyed the time together before having to head back for another quarter at Sherman College of Chiropractic. My girlfriend and I celebrated 5.5 years of being together this past week and she just left today for a 4-month long mission trip to Uganda to help serve orphans and build an orphanage. She recently graduated from UNCW and just hopped on multiple planes today on her way to Africa. If anyone is interested, she can be followed on her blog through the following website: http://faithhopeandlove-bb.blogspot.com/. Prayers are more than appreciated.

So, onto 5^th quarter… We have three classes in the health center this quarter which is exciting! Especially since the last four quarters we have had every single course in the main academic building. After completing a year at Sherman, it feels like we have the routine and all the ropes pretty much down. A lot of the days seem repetitive going class to class for 8 hours a day seeing the same professors every day. It’s very easy to get burnt out and lose that fire that was so passionately burning the first and second quarter. However, it’s also easier to get more excited since every day we are getting closer and closer to getting to the health clinic and getting out on our own. Speaking of getting burnt out, all the guys in my quarter just planned a weekend island trip on some lake in South Carolina for next weekend… everyone is already tired of this new quarter and are not ready to let summer go, haha. I love my classmates.. it’s easy to get annoyed with one another every once in a while (8+ hour per day Monday-Thursday… shortened days on Fridays). But, I love them all, they’re all great people and we’ve become a close group. There’s a good core of Christian guys in there that I can’t imagine going to school every day without them. They help keep me motivated and driven to better myself every day and never quit. It’s good to find that type of camaraderie here at chiropractic school, compared to undergraduate where you are just a number and you are competing against the people sitting next to you in order to stay on the upper part of that bell curve. Chiropractic school is nothing like that.. It’s a group effort. No lie, there’s been several cases where we have asked professors to move big exams to the week after because someone was struggling or couldn’t be ready for the exam in time. It’s an awesome feeling that we’re all trying to accomplish the same goal and get through it together.

As you most probably know, chiropractors are in somewhat different of a profession. For example, most chiropractors are entrepreneurs, or that they run their own office and are self-employed. As I am getting through this program, I have only come to realize I am getting closer and closer to that peak which we call graduation, then will be out on my own with 150,000 dollars worth of debt at 7% interest in a questionable economy. It makes it seem like every positive of being a self-employed chiropractor can also be a negative. For example, I’m my own boss. I can do what I want in a sense, I can work how many hours my soul desires, and sleep in on Fridays if I choose to make every weekend a three day weekend. On the other hand, I’m my own boss… haha. For a 22-year-old kid who still feels like he’s 17 sometimes, that can be somewhat of a gut-check every once in a while. I have been taking nothing but science courses since high school in order to prepare me for this very long and enduring journey of undergraduate and graduate work. I don’t know the first thing about running my own business. There’s only so many books you can read or advice you can take from others, but I feel like nothing will replace that excitement/butterflies in my stomach when I open up a practice and am out on my own with a huge roof of debt over my head. Another cool little thing that comes with being an Upper Cervical doctor is, if I want to be self-employed, I can CHOOSE to practice anywhere I want in the 50 states or any country. There’s no restrictions. So, that’s an advantage, right? Then again, there’s so many options that it can be somewhat overwhelming at times. At some times when I’m reflecting on life and my journeys through school, I figure, I only live once… why not live EXACTLY where I want to live?? For example, the beautiful Atlantic Ocean on the outer banks, the breathtaking Appalachian mountains of North Carolina, heck, why not live in a mini-paradise and just move to Key West or Key Largo? Sometimes, I tell myself to be humbled and strengthened by where my roots are and never forget where you’re from. Wherever I go, there are going to be people that need Upper Cervical Care and are unaware that they are slowly degenerating and dying due to an upper cervical subluxation. So the endless options can somewhat be stressful, sometimes I wish it was all taken care for me like many jobs where they tell you where you have to work, (therefore basically where you live), you get this much pay, and here’s your retirement fund provided for you.

But, it’s important to think beyond this stuff… it’s important to not get caught up in that and stay focused on the goal of caring for as many patients as I can in wherever location God points me to. Funny thing is, I always put a bible passage at the end of my quarterly blogs. Last quarter, I talked about what Jesus said in the book of Matthew about not worrying and being anxious about things in life, for God will always take care of us. So, that’s always a reality check, I can’t always practice what I preach, which makes me a hypocrite. But, grace is an amazing gift. Just have to have faith and trust. I just have to be patient and listen and go to where He wants me to go. I just wish I knew right now and had everything laid out like a story book. But, that’s not the case and that’s one of the greatest blessings Christ gives us in that we have freedom in Christ to make these kinds of decisions. Jesus can use us anywhere to be his hands and feet. You can be an Upper Cervical doctor in Wilmington, a coffee manager in Waco, Texas, or a grocery store cashier in Key Largo. The God of all creation isn’t limited to where we live or what we do for a living. We just have to submit to Him and serve Him and love Him with all that we are. You don’t know what’s going to happen. Our stories haven’t been written yet. Every day is a NEW DAY. Why worry and stress about the future? It doesn’t add a single moment to our lives by worrying about other days… plus, stress can play a huge role in  brainstem subluxations, haha… just ask students after taking final exams or an employee trying to reach an important deadline.

      So, enjoy the ride. Life is a gift, not a privilege. Be grateful for each new day and new breath and get better every day… every day, spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, etc. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer.

“Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver, and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.

The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.”

Proverbs 3:13-20

God Bless,

Josh

www.ucwilmington.com