April 2009
“The pain was so excruciating it knocked me off my chai
r…”
Oh No Mr. Bill!
Picture a guy who over the last several years has had lower back pain and an occasional flare up lasting three to four weeks, but had not had a flare up in over 18 months. This was me last October. I felt I was in good and physically in the kind of shape you would expect from, someone who worked out regularly. But I was really kidding myself. About six months prior, I moved to a location not conveniently close to my gym, I had replaced my vigorous workouts with irregular ones at home consisting of measly stretches and a few crunches. Coincidentally, at that time I had decided that I needed to do several projects around the house all of which required excessive bending over and kneeling down. The projects around the house all of which had been postponed, but I was forcing myself into a short timeline in order to get them done before I went away for a weekend church retreat. About half way through the two-week project cycle my back was starting to give me signals that I needed to lay off for a few days, but I wouldn’t hear of it. The projects had to be done before I could feel right about leaving for a relaxing weekend to hear the word of God. Finally, the day came when the projects were complete and I was away for the weekend, but my lower back was not happy.
During the first session of the retreat Friday night my back was sore, but I was confident that sitting down and relaxing would be good for it and in no time it would be feeling better again. However, by the end of the first session that night it was just as sore if not more so than when it began. Consequently, I went to bed to give it a good rest. The next morning I was felling pretty good and I thought I was over the hump, but then it happened. I sat down in a chair during the first session of the morning and it felt like someone had come up behind me and hit me with a baseball bat in my lower back. The pain was so excruciating it knocked me off the chair and it took all I had to stand up using the back of the chair in front of me for support. Luckily, some of the men around me carried me back to my room where I collapsed in bed for the remainder of the weekend. I was so miserable I could not even turn myself over without intense shooting pain. After the weekend was over a nice guy drove me home and he and another guy carried me into the house where…
“…I laid in bed for nearly a month!”
When I felt strong enough to stand on my own for brief periods I sought the advice of an orthopedic surgeon. After looking at my MRI and examining me he concluded that I had a condition known as Internal Disc Derangement (IDD), an internal tear of one of my discs. His recommendation was to have surgery right away, which would entail disc removal because in his words “…there was no other option”. Luckily there was a backlog for surgery I could not get in for about a month. In the mean time I was encouraged to seek a second opinion and praised the Lord I followed that advice. Of course it took another month before I could see the second opinion doctor.
In the mean time the Lord led me to Gold Coast Chiropractic (GCC) by a recommendation from my wife who had seen Dr. Melendez the year before for care. During that month while waiting for my second opinion, Dr. Melendez and his staff of highly trained experts worked me over three times a week with spinal decompression and rejuvenation therapy (SRT), cervical traction, wobble chair, stretching, body weighting rehab, adjustments, and not to mention introducing me to the “good posture for a healthy lifestyle” mindset. Believe it or not in only a month’s time I was standing, for the most part, pain free, in front of the second orthopedic surgeon reviewing my new set of x-ray and MRI’s. Even though I could not bend over and tie my shoes yet, in his conclusion he said “…I don’t see anything I would recommend surgery for!” Those words were like music to my ears. Praise the Lord; I had sought the help of Dr. Melendez. I don’t believe the second orthopedic surgeon would have come to the same conclusion had I not been standing in front of him looking and feeling pretty good and I know I wouldn’t have been had I not received the help of Dr. Melendez.
“All I can say is WOW!”
It is now three months after that second opinion and I’m feeling no pain and as of two
weeks ago I was able to bend over and tie my shoes! Tonight Dr.
Melendez reviewed with me the before and after x-rays. All I can say
is WOW! He has not only helped me feel better and improved my mobility
he has partially reversed the aging process of my spine. My spine is
now much straighter, left and right, than it used to be and more curved
where it needs to be. I am living proof that if you put the spine back
in order your physical health will improve. Over all, I highly
recommend GCC and Melendez team to anyone suffering with back pain and
decreased physical quality of life. Thanks Dr. Melendez for helping me
see and experience a healthier and more productive life. May God bless
you and your staff.
Sincerely,
William L. George, Colonel USAF (Ret.)
Top
r…”Oh No Mr. Bill!
Picture a guy who over the last several years has had lower back pain and an occasional flare up lasting three to four weeks, but had not had a flare up in over 18 months. This was me last October. I felt I was in good and physically in the kind of shape you would expect from, someone who worked out regularly. But I was really kidding myself. About six months prior, I moved to a location not conveniently close to my gym, I had replaced my vigorous workouts with irregular ones at home consisting of measly stretches and a few crunches. Coincidentally, at that time I had decided that I needed to do several projects around the house all of which required excessive bending over and kneeling down. The projects around the house all of which had been postponed, but I was forcing myself into a short timeline in order to get them done before I went away for a weekend church retreat. About half way through the two-week project cycle my back was starting to give me signals that I needed to lay off for a few days, but I wouldn’t hear of it. The projects had to be done before I could feel right about leaving for a relaxing weekend to hear the word of God. Finally, the day came when the projects were complete and I was away for the weekend, but my lower back was not happy.
During the first session of the retreat Friday night my back was sore, but I was confident that sitting down and relaxing would be good for it and in no time it would be feeling better again. However, by the end of the first session that night it was just as sore if not more so than when it began. Consequently, I went to bed to give it a good rest. The next morning I was felling pretty good and I thought I was over the hump, but then it happened. I sat down in a chair during the first session of the morning and it felt like someone had come up behind me and hit me with a baseball bat in my lower back. The pain was so excruciating it knocked me off the chair and it took all I had to stand up using the back of the chair in front of me for support. Luckily, some of the men around me carried me back to my room where I collapsed in bed for the remainder of the weekend. I was so miserable I could not even turn myself over without intense shooting pain. After the weekend was over a nice guy drove me home and he and another guy carried me into the house where…
“…I laid in bed for nearly a month!”
When I felt strong enough to stand on my own for brief periods I sought the advice of an orthopedic surgeon. After looking at my MRI and examining me he concluded that I had a condition known as Internal Disc Derangement (IDD), an internal tear of one of my discs. His recommendation was to have surgery right away, which would entail disc removal because in his words “…there was no other option”. Luckily there was a backlog for surgery I could not get in for about a month. In the mean time I was encouraged to seek a second opinion and praised the Lord I followed that advice. Of course it took another month before I could see the second opinion doctor.
In the mean time the Lord led me to Gold Coast Chiropractic (GCC) by a recommendation from my wife who had seen Dr. Melendez the year before for care. During that month while waiting for my second opinion, Dr. Melendez and his staff of highly trained experts worked me over three times a week with spinal decompression and rejuvenation therapy (SRT), cervical traction, wobble chair, stretching, body weighting rehab, adjustments, and not to mention introducing me to the “good posture for a healthy lifestyle” mindset. Believe it or not in only a month’s time I was standing, for the most part, pain free, in front of the second orthopedic surgeon reviewing my new set of x-ray and MRI’s. Even though I could not bend over and tie my shoes yet, in his conclusion he said “…I don’t see anything I would recommend surgery for!” Those words were like music to my ears. Praise the Lord; I had sought the help of Dr. Melendez. I don’t believe the second orthopedic surgeon would have come to the same conclusion had I not been standing in front of him looking and feeling pretty good and I know I wouldn’t have been had I not received the help of Dr. Melendez.
“All I can say is WOW!”
It is now three months after that second opinion and I’m feeling no pain and as of two
weeks ago I was able to bend over and tie my shoes! Tonight Dr.
Melendez reviewed with me the before and after x-rays. All I can say
is WOW! He has not only helped me feel better and improved my mobility
he has partially reversed the aging process of my spine. My spine is
now much straighter, left and right, than it used to be and more curved
where it needs to be. I am living proof that if you put the spine back
in order your physical health will improve. Over all, I highly
recommend GCC and Melendez team to anyone suffering with back pain and
decreased physical quality of life. Thanks Dr. Melendez for helping me
see and experience a healthier and more productive life. May God bless
you and your staff.Sincerely,
William L. George, Colonel USAF (Ret.)
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