From Start to Now...
The Back Story
I started my adventures in learning back in 2000, when I took a certification course for a part-time life-guarding job. I was 15 and I loved a "great tan!" At that point in time, I knew that I wanted to go into the healthcare industry, but I never knew exactly where. As a life-guard, I was able to learn about the emergency side of things. They taught us about the circulatory and respiratory system, and even the basic knowledge of how the musculoskeletal system can chemically fatigue itself in certain scenarios. In life-guarding, we had the ability to watch for certain signs and symptoms that may cause dangerous scenarios that would require our help. We also had to be able to physically handle situations that may look to be “too much” for one person, such as pulling an obese person out of the deep water without assistance.
This was the first job that proper “leveraging” body techniques were introduced.
​
With further consideration, I decided to take this bit of knowledge and skill and make the leap into the nursing field. I enrolled in college and was accepted into the program. While in school, I later took a 3rd shift intern position working as a Habilitation Technician. Habilitation Techs maintain therapy regimens and work with disabled children and adults in a group home setting. I was exposed to many heartbreaking diseases such as Cystic Fibrosis, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Downs Syndrome, and many more autonomic dysfunctions that took such a toll on the body as a whole. BUT the most devastating thing that I witnessed was the failure of modern medicine when treating these patients.
​
Prescriptions controlled every problem (big and small), any manual or physical therapy was considered a “stair step” to get to an end result of more testing, stronger medications, or surgery. It was clear that "we", as healthcare professionals, were treating “symptoms” and not the patient. As a student, what was I to do? I obviously was surrounded by healthcare professionals that went to school longer than I had… Why were they not as upset as I was? Why did they not have the same questions I had? And WHY was no one doing anything about it?
​
Here I am, frustrated and mad, walking into one of my pharmacology lectures. We happen to have a substitute speaker that was a "Big Pharma" Sales Rep and was going over contraindications and indications on the latest ABVD drug (chemotherapy). After hearing everything about this drug and what it does to your body, I raised my hand and asked a simple question… “why are we administering this drug if we know this is what it does to our patients?” and he jokingly replied, “You are just a person that pulls the trigger to a gun you didn't load… listen to the doctor” and he moves on to the next student's question. Pissed off and stunned, this hit me like a ton of bricks! Was he right? Am I just a drone? Do I just do whatever the doc says? I am just a nurse and I can't prescribe. What if I get paired with a doc that doesn't like my professional opinion? Crap... he is right! I would be pulling a trigger to that gun! Can I live with that? No. I can't. So, I walked out and never looked back.
​
I realized, in that moment, that whatever profession I went into next, I wanted to advocate for my patients. I wanted to know, without a shadow of doubt, that I could stand behind each decision that was made. I wanted to educate the patient and give them the control of each treatment that would affect their quality of life! So I took some time and eventually was introduced to Integrative Therapy. This led me to a Manual Manipulation Therapy, by way of a trial program at a private college in Cary, NC. After a long 3 years of training under some of the best guidance in the industry, I graduated with honors and was given an exclusive internship with one of the most respectable research hospitals in Durham, NC. I was able to test scientific theories and research the more intrinsic inner workings of the musculoskeletal system. I, later, traveled all over the world to learn about the applications of these manual practices and how it took effect in the body. Using this research, training, and knowledge, I developed a technique called Corrective Manual and Stabilization Therapy. This therapy revolutionized the industry! 100% backed by science, with a 98% success rate tested over the course of 5 years on thousands of patients!
​
I did it! I found my calling!