On the 24th of December 1971, I was busy preparing for my appointment with Dr. Toman and for our trip later in the day to Illinois for Christmas. I had an unusual movement in the mid-thoracic region. My changes were usually characterized by loud clicks which sometimes created symptoms throughout the body, but the change in the spine itself would give me no pain. This particular movement created a very severe pain which was lighting fast. I have had this type pain only on two other occasions. Once when I had a major complication when one of the thoracic vertebras came out of position, and once when a big change took place concerning the epigastric area.

The first time was a major setback, but the second movement was a big step forward.

With this change, my head immediately started feeling full, and the ride to the doctor's office made me quite dizzy. When he adjusted the thoracic area, I could feel that conglomeration of clicks that usually indicated a significant change. When he moved the atlas, the pressure and dizziness were relieved very quickly.

We left soon after the adjustment for Illinois. Riding for long periods usually gave me headaches and I acquired one on this trip. I relieved it by lying down, using a cold wet cloth on the forehead, vibrator, and finally taking a shower that enabled me to get the desired relaxation. I refused to take any Empirins due to the vaginal bleeding. I felt find for the rest of the visit. Since having these latest changes in the thoracic area, the pain a few inches above the waist has been relieved and the axis did not create tension as severe. I came to learn that tension was often created on an area weeks and sometimes months before big changes took place.

New Year's Eve (1972) I had another one of those very severe, fast pains. This time it went throughout the head. I don't know what type of movement is taking place, but I believe it to be quite important.

Three days later, I started having hints of my "good feeling" again. After not having any for a long time, I can assure you they were very welcomed.

I have my "good feeling" just often enough to remind me that it is the desired goal and I keep waiting and waiting for its return to stay.

After taking a nap on January 18, I awoke with a terrible feeling of my brain not functioning. Also, the right side of my back around the 3rd or 4th thoracic vertebra and at the right shoulder blade had developed severe soreness. It caused much pain on movement. I knew a change had taken place. Many times when this happens, I am able to relieve it with exercises, vibrator, or lying in an extended position on the exerciser.

I kept thinking I could get it relieved, but it stayed for six days before finally moving.

As I've said before, this nonfunctioning brain feeling is my most severe symptom and my most frequent. Much of the time there is absolutely no pain, but sooner or later little feelings of tension on the left side of the neck develop. Sometimes I have severe pain and a headache on the left side of the neck and head, and not bothered with the nonfunctioning brain feeling.

I wondered how these conditions varied and if there was a certain nerve being pinched that created this feeling.

After prolonged periods of this nonfunctioning brain feeling, I feel like grabbing my head between my hands and screaming, "I can't stand it, I can't take it anymore." There was usually no pain just this feeling in my head.

However, panic solves no problems. It took all the willpower within me to control my emotions. There were times that I wished I could have been like an elephant and simply walked away from the rest of the herd and gone off by myself and found a nice, quiet, soft spot and laid down and drifted off into an eternal sleep.

But life isn't so easy and we do have responsibilities to others. My husband was very capable of taking care of himself. Tomio, who came from Japan to live with us in 1960, was married and didn't need my help. However, my two children needed many things done for them and it was because of them that I kept making the monumental effort to get out of bed, fix their meals and wash clothes. Without them, I believe I would have just stayed in bed and never bothered to get up. They were my reasons for living.

From the beginning of my illness, I have had to go beyond myself for help. I have asked God repeatedly to give me the strength needed to bear this illness. I didn't ask him to make my problems lighter, but I did need his help to endure them.

A person is virtually alone in sickness. Sure, the doctor knew where the tension was and could relieve it, but he did not know how it felt. My family could give me sympathy, but there was no one that could possibly know my feelings except God. During times of great stress and troubles, He doesn't seem far away or abstract.

Finally on Sunday night the 23rd, I felt a change in the mid-section of the spine that produced a loud pop, and I had some relief.

The next morning I had a movement when turning my head to the left that brought on a severe headache for a few minutes. Also, brought on that very relaxed feeling that comes after an adjustment or a good movement. I thought I had a good change with the axis and the thoracic vertebras and the nonfunctioning brain feeling was finally relieved.

A little while later, a small pain came in the right side of the neck. I was quite pleased. I knew tension had shifted to the atlas. Later in the day I was due to go to Dr. Toman and with the tension there, he would be able to adjust it and would mean another small step closer toward having a straighter spine.

When I go and he has to adjust the axis, I feel as though my condition remains status quo. A feeling of making progressive forward steps is essential to my morale. Any movement that I have, even though it may bring on severe discomforts, if I can reason that it is a forward step to a more normal spine, then I am happy.

I spend much of my time drawing sketches of what I think is taking place in the spine. I know that the symptoms created by one section of the spine are also directly related to tension in other areas. A pull at one point also pulls the other parts.

I wondered how this nonfunctioning brain feeling was associated with the disoriented feeling that comes with hypoglycemic feelings that I used to have.

This illness has been long, uncomfortable, and expensive, but I must say it has kept me fascinated. I feel as though I am experiencing a miraculous discovery. Even though chiropractic was first discovered in 1895 and is known to many people, it is new to me.

Another of my frequent complaints is numbness of the two outside fingers on each hand and around the mouth. These usually go together. The movement that precedes these is not a clicking sound, but feels like something would slip slightly in the neck. Sometimes I would not even have that slipping feeling. Sometimes it was only preceded by a sudden feeling of severe anxiety and then the numbness would start and lasting for several minutes. Afterwards, I would usually feel better than before the movement took place.

On the 24th of January 1972, I had three large movements. One occurred in the lower thoracic vertebras. The second one later in the day seemed to be at the temple and it seemed to involve the lower jaw, but it was so fast that I'm not sure. The third seemed to move several vertebras in the right lower thoracic area and also seemed to affect the lower part of the sternum. This gave me an odd feeling in the epigastric area. Immediately, I started burping and hiccuping. This lasted for several minutes.

For example, I was having reactions in the stomach. In an abnormal position its function would also be abnormal. I can see a probability that the blood vessels could be constricted or twisted. Gall bladder ducts would have abnormal pressure on them, etc. The structure of the body affects more than the nerves alone.

Certainly if a duct is constricted or twisted, that organ could not function properly. Or if an organ was being pressed upon by another one, its functions would also be altered. I believe that such things as hiatus hernias are simply due to mid-spine displacements.

During the last week of January, my tension was mainly at the right shoulder blade creating much soreness and hurting when I moved that area.

On the next adjustment (the 29th), Dr. Toman seemed to have some difficulty in getting the desired adjustment at that spot, but it did move he said.

During my exercises the following day, I got a large movement in the neck vertebras. It seemed to be in the middle of the neck, a little lower than the movement that I associated with the axis.

This in turn made a severe soreness in a muscle on the right side of the neck. I believe it was the sternocleidomastoid, but I'm not sure. This brought on a severe headache on the right side.

As before, in about an hour the bleeding was very heavy and contained many clots. I became quite frightened fearing a hemorrhage. After about three hours , the heavy bleeding ceased.

I still had not taken a trip to a gynecologist for this bleeding. Since the flow was not heavy most of the time, I decided to let nature take its course.

The flow soon stopped. The March period lasted for 20 days, but was only heavy about five days with the remainder only spotting.

My energy was good at this time. My desire to do big jobs around the house has started coming back. Even though I was again having a severe soreness at the right shoulder blade, this did not stop my "working mood."

After climbing up and down off a chair for days without any problems, something happened that made the chair slip from under me and I found myself on the floor. (Needless to say, that the last time I will ever use a chair to stand on.)

In a flash, my mind was recalling my jolt playing basketball and its terrible consequences. All I could think was "Oh no not again." When I got up, I felt some small abnormal feelings in the lower throat and behind the tonsils. These feelings were not severe. I had been experiencing some of my "good feeling" before the fall and as soon as I got up, I realized that I still had it unlike when I jolted myself playing basketball. So I thought I had simply jolted those muscles in the neck and did not think I had hurt myself very much. I waited until the next day to call Dr. Toman. After describing my complaints to him, he thought I was okay so I didn't visit him until a week later when I was scheduled for my regular appointment. His examination that day revealed no particular changes in the spine.

After having the pain at the right shoulder blade for several days, that area finally moved. We had been for a ride in the car that evening and had returned home and gone to bed when I was awaken with a spasm in the left side from the hip to the foot. Immediately, I headed for the shower. I realized that the hip had shifted some more and the pain at the right shoulder blade was relieved. (I wish that old hip would soon shift all the way up.)

Several days later while on another ride, I had large clicks in the right side of the neck that made me think that the axis had dropped down some more. This gave me terrible symptoms with my eyes. All the next day, I felt that I couldn't get them focused at all. This was extremely uncomfortable. My eyes had not bothered me to this degree for months and months.

It seems these days that I am testing (not by choice) the old spine to see how much it can tolerate. On March 20th, I was outside on our driveway and there was one small patch of wet mud on it. I was angry with our dog for having left the yard and bend over to give it a little smack for punishment. My right foot hit that small patch of mud and slid one way while the other foot went the other way producing a sideways split. During this I felt a movement take place in the mid-spine. After getting up, the neck started clicking like it does when it is shifting down, and the left hip started pulling up. Even though the fall made me frightened at the time, instead of feeling badly after this shift, I started feeling better. So I knew the movement had been for the good.

Also, about two months ago a car backed out of a driveway and hit our car on the right rear fender just missing the gas tank. My husband and I weren't hurt, but my head just barely missed hitting the door from the impact. We were lucky and thankful.

On March 25th, I had another large movement in the neck. The clunking sound produced was so loud that my husband who was standing nearby said, "What was that? It sounded like it came from your neck." It seemed to me that the entire neck had shifted. The only reaction I felt to this very large movement was a feeling of pressure being taken off an area behind the left cheekbone extending from just below the left ear

The next day, I had another large movement in the mid-spine. These movements were so big that the hip was noticeably coming up.

I am so happy these days. The bigger the movement the better I like it. I want my spine straight so much. Life is too wonderful to spend being limited in one's activities.

Perhaps if it had, I could have avoided this illness. It has robbed me of so large a part of my life. I have not been able to see my children in many of their school activities and in so many other things. If my complaints were other than my eyes and equilibrium, I would not be so limited.

Again, as so many times before, as soon as I express such self pity, I become ashamed of myself. I have been given so many wonderful things and should be thankful for them and not think about all the things that I do not have.

The end of March 1972 is here. It has been three long years since I have stopped working at the hospital. My "good feeling" (other than short visits) has evaded me since the jolt playing basketball in 1969. Today I am more appreciative than ever of the fact that I experienced that miracle after only three adjustments. The memory of that feeling has kept me going through these long, long, months. I keep waiting for its permanent return.

At approximately 1:30 a.m. on April 7th, I was awakened with two large clicks in my neck. I would have thought this was only a dream if a headache had not developed on the left side.

The headache persisted throughout the day growing in intensity. I was due at his office at 6:30 p.m. for my regular two week appointment. By that time, I felt quite nauseated and did not feel like making the trip there. So on one hand I needed an adjustment very badly and on the other hand I did not feel like going. Dr. Toman was to be out of town the next day so I needed to see him that night. This was a terrible spot to be in.

Several showers had been taken during the day to try to get relief, but did not. With many headaches, I have felt nauseous, but this was the first time I actually vomited. Finally after lying quietly on my abdomen in an extended position on the slim gym in a dark room and using the vibrator, the vertebras on the right hand side shifted down and relief came shortly afterwards. Later, Dr. Toman told me that he does make house calls.

During the day Saturday, I felt okay with no great problems. In the evening my right hip developed much soreness. The tension seemed to want to pull it downward. My hip tension was usually on the left side pulling upward.

On Sunday I had a terrible spell of anxiety. I had not noticed any movement preceding it, but I did have an odd feeling in my epigastric area. I applied the vibrator to the midspine. This helped very much and relieved much of the discomfort on the right hip.

When I saw Dr. Toman on Monday, I told him I thought the tension was rather high. He said,"Yes, its pretty bad." The vertebra, slightly above the waist around the 10th and 11th thoracic was difficult to adjust. This was the spot that had such tension when I had the anxiety spell on Sunday. When I have anxiety, I usually have a lot of activity in the low thoracic area of the spine. He also gave me a very hard neck adjustment. I do not believe that he has ever used that much pressure before.

Again, as so many times before, my discomforts were severe, but instead of being sad, I was very happy and elated because I know the spine will not be straight until it does shift down, so when I have big changes, I welcome them.

My daughter and I tease each other quite a bit. One of her ways is to lightly pat me on the cheek and say"you're a good kid." On April 20th just as she started to do this, I turned my head causing her to pat the chin. My mouth was slightly open and the pat created a slight jar to the jaw causing a movement to take place at the temple. My head immediately felt like a movement had taken place. A click in the spine soon followed and I could feel the spine shifting down on the right side and pulling up on the left hip. Surprisingly, it also made a very relaxed sensation
in my throat.

During the night, I awoke several times with the right ear aching. The next morning, after being up for a few minutes, the right ear started popping and continued for some time. I tried to clear it by closing my mouth and holding my nose and blowing pressure through the eustachian tube. This pressure created a sharp pain in the ear and then it seemed to open. It reminded me of trying to inflate a stuck balloon. First it is hard to blow into and then as it unsticks, the air passes through. This relieved the popping.

That slight jolt that she gave me on the chin evidently was enough to move something that involved the pressure on the right ear.

On May 16, 1972 many changes took place in the midspine. This created a severe pulling in the front through to the back. I believe there was a big change in the position of the diaphragm. With these changes, I began burping and hiccuping for several minutes. Once before I had a movement here that created these reactions.

After this adjustment, many movements took place in the lower  cervical vertebras at the right shoulder and also had movements behind the right ear.

The next morning I was very happy because I had not started to bleed vaginally. However, about ten o'clock the bleeding did come. The last time I took them I had been spotting a little between periods, but this time I had not been spotting at all and the menstrual periods no longer seemed a problem. That is why I thought, perhaps, they would not bother me this time.

I finally had Stan get some Tylenols at the drug store. They gave me relief with no apparent side effects. I should have had him get them for me sooner.

The last part of May has been very stressful for me and my family. My Mother who is 79 years old was visiting my sister in Florida and had to be hospitalized.

Before she left for Florida she had been under the care of a medical doctor in Virginia for high blood pressure and the doctor thought she had an allergy. He prescribed some medications and told her she would feel tired for awhile and would have to get used to the medicine and to the different level of blood pressure.

The family knew this and so her feeling tired did not seem alarming. The doctor gave her permission to make the trip to Florida. After arriving there, she kept feeling tired and did not have much of an appetite. One night she got out of bed to get a glass of water and fell landing on her nose.

This made it necessary for her to be admitted to a hospital for

the first time in her life. The doctor in Florida told my sister that the medication she was on was bad and was supposed to have been taken off the market. If she had continued to take them, she would not have lived more than a couple of days more. I guess it was a lucky thing that she fell.

The first and second week of June the movements in the spine seemed to be a rotating type. The tension spot is at the 10th and 11th vertebras. I put the vibrator there; and as it relaxed that area, I got clicks behind the right ear. Something seems to be pulling downward and to the left there. Also, my left hip seems to be rotating forward. The 10th and 11th vertebras seems to be the pivot point. Muscles around the right eye and some in the left one also are pulling downward.

One day I was checking in my anatomy book trying to gain a clearer understanding as to how the muscles were pulling the eyes, et. I came across a picture of the base of the brain. It cleared so many mysteries for me. I have wondered so many times as to why I felt so extremely fatigued when my eyes were bothering me.

Now, I saw how the optic nerve was so closely related to the pituitary gland.