Who is Arthur???

When I was thinking about some of the stories  I wanted to share on here, the first thing I thought about was when I first came back from California and opened my practice in North Carolina.  I remember that I would keep hearing about somebody named 'Arthur' who was in town and wouldn't leave.  I kept wondering, "Who in the heck is this Arthur I keep hearing about?"  One day, I don't remember when or who I asked, but I found out that this 'Arthur' character was short for ARTHRITIS!!  Well, you can imagine that I almost fell in the floor with laughter. 

I remember living in California and would occasionally say these southern sayings that would yield an immediate puzzled look from someone that was coupled with an entertained grin.  I soon realized that "our" language was something that only "we" understood.  Therefore, that colorful part of my life had almost shut down, except when I would come home for breaks in school or when I would encounter a fellow southerner.  However, I will say that I NEVER remember anyone mentioning Arthur in my family.  Well, maybe they did, but I was probably too young to have any understanding about anything related to something called arthritis.  Now, as you can imagine, that is all I hear about, and that is joke that I initiate with my southern comrades.  This is truly a sad inside joke that I am fast beginning to realize is a harsh reality. 

This leads me to chiropractic.  Well, I don't know about you, but I do NOT do well with pain or anything that calls my attention to my body and its capabilities of indulging in activities that never even crossed my mind in the past, like walking or sitting or standing.  Hmmmmm.  These are all things that we must do in our lives if everything is working properly.  The first time we cannot do one of these things we are frantic and think it is the end of the world.  Well, in my 20's (and I am not divulging my age), that was my first bout with any kind of pain.  I woke up every morning in a 'bent over' position with excruciating low back pain, and it took me about 30 minutes to really 'work' it out.  Well, I thought the rest of my life would be like this.  I was horrified of the thought of living my life this way.  This was 'after' I had decided to be a chiropractor.  I will tell you that story another time. 

However, I went to a chiropractor and had x-rays, which promptly notified me that I have scoliosis, because I was born with one side of my lumbar spine (low back) fused and the other side not fused.  Just imagine a door.........one side is on hinges fastened to the door frame, and the other side is loose to move.  Well, when one side of your spine is trying to move and the other won't, you can imagine there is probably going to be some pain.  Well, lucky for me, I found chiropractic in my 20's and not in my 50's, because I can tell you I would have been on some serious medication for many years that would have done an enormous amount of damage to my kidneys and liver.  Well, I am happy that I never had to go down that road to find out what's at the other end.  I really like the way my kidneys and liver work and filter out all the other junk that I have put into it. 

I will leave you with this, because I realize that I have just about written a little book today.  I know that nobody even knows this blog exists, but if you do read this and think someone else would enjoy it, please pass it along.  Also, I am open to discuss just about any topic that you would like to learn about and have a story attached to it, if there is one.  I bid you all a good night..................until next time............."Good night, John Boy."  I really do love being from the South and having such a colorful language that only 'we' understand.  The other doctor in the office, Dr. Rondeau, is from Oregon, so you can imagine her surprise and crash course in 'Southern' when she transplanted here.  Haha