Almost 30 years in practice and only missing 1.5 days for being sick was a record I thought could continue forever. I didn't need disability insurance because nothing bad like being disabled would ever happen to me. I was 6 feet 5 inches and 220 pounds of good health and felt like life was meant to be great physically forever.

Taking a Dive

Then it happened to me. I had a choice of either stepping on a young female patient who had crawled up behind me when I was adjusting her grandmother, or diving over her onto the floor and not damaging or killing her. Instinct took over, and I dove.

When I realized where I was again, I was lying on the floor in a lot of pain. I could not move my left leg unless I moved my right leg that it was lying on. I could do nothing but lie on the floor and moan. I never experienced pain like that in my life. I knew I was in trouble, but I did not want to admit it to myself. The concrete won the battle, and I had a broken neck. Fortunately, it was the neck of my femur and not my cervical spine.

Another doctor in the office pushed me into walking to the other side of the office for a life-changing adjustment. He knew that adjustment would cure me, because there was no way I could possibly be broken. I got on my good leg and painfully "walked" across the building for an adjustment. It was a very painful walk followed by a very painful adjustment!

All this time, I was hoping my "gut" was wrong and I would be healed in the thumping of a drop piece. Then came the spirit-crushing realization that my office manager was right and I needed the crutches she was adjusting for me so I could walk without hitting the floor again. Adjusting room 1 had scored its first victim.

I took the crutches and had standing x-rays taken of my hip to see if what I thought could never happen, actually happened. The x-rays showed the neck of my femur was clearly broken.

I was taken to the orthopedic clinic in the back seat of a car with my leg resting on the floor next to me. As much as I wanted my leg to move on its own, my hands had become its prime mover. The surgeon looked at the x-rays and told me that I had to have the first real surgery of my life.

Getting Well

I knew I would be laid up a long time if I listened to what the surgeon told me about the surgery and the length of the recovery, so even before the surgery, I made a plan to get well faster than they believed.

I started getting adjusted within 10 days, started cold laser therapy, took my vitamins and minerals, and did passive motion in the office. Other things that allowed me to start functioning faster than they expected were magnesium oil massages and microcurrent to speed healing.

I used therapeutic tubing, and Impulse adjusting of the muscles and the joints to help achieve better motion. It all helped, because I did not take any of the heavy-duty drugs they thought I needed. The doctor was surprised that I was ahead of the game at 2 weeks and at 6 weeks.

Because of my use of chiropractic and complementary care, I was able to do light adjusting in the office on a limited basis within 3 weeks of the surgery and put the crutches in the corner by 9 weeks. Patients should do the following immediately after surgery, in my opinion:

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• get spinal and soft-tissue adjustments;
• use cold packs;
• use passive motion;
• undergo cold laser therapy;
• use magnesium oil (transdermal);
• take minerals and vitamins;
• drink distilled water;
• visualize a great outcome; and
• plan a date to return to work.

But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. That is why I want to tell you what could have prevented this in the first place:

• an adjusting-room rule that parents must keep children on their laps during adjusting of families;
• a small adjusting room so children cannot easily get behind you;
• a rule sheet on the wall stating that parents must watch their children in the adjusting room to avoid children possibly getting hurt; and
• a toy area in the waiting room.

Roy Ostenson, DC, practices in Appleton, Wis. Contact him at .