I lived a seemingly healthy life (yearly colds and ear infections). As a kid I was constantly up to discovering new things like how many ways you can get stitches on your face. All was well until a random event occurred during the Christmas holiday season in 1991--my "check engine" light came on. My highly important 6th grade life was interrupted as I was rushed to the hospital because of severe pressure building up inside of my head. Test after test was performed to discover what was causing my brain to swell. X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs were employed to no avail. It seemed as though my random screaming episodes (due to the swelling and lasting sometimes up to an hour) would have no answer. And then, almost a month later, it all stopped.

Years went by and I found myself in college struggling to understand what I was going to study and why I continued to get chronic ear infections. I soon lost interest in classes and gave up on a budding opportunity as a musician. Despite my growing popularity in the local music scene a dark cloud seemed to be gathering and I found myself spending days at a time in my basement apartment. Relationships I had once fostered now withered. Again, I found myself at a doctor's office at Christmas time with the "check engine" light on. This time I received a bundle of pills to combat a new "bipolar with depression" diagnosis.

I finally gained some footing a few years later and in the Spring of 2005 enrolled in Chiropractic school. I did not really know what I was getting myself into as I had only been to a Chiropractor a couple of times prior. A year into my new school I ended up in the hospital yet again. This time I had some bizarre neurological symptoms show up following a SCUBA dive. After being treated for the "bends" I was released only to return shortly thereafter as the symptoms I was experiencing were getting worse, including seizures. Then, as was with my previous brain/hospital experience, it simply stopped. That summer I again battled an ear infection using antibiotics as I had done many times before. That winter I was bedridden for a week with the flu.

Finally in the Spring of 2007 I began sinking rapidly--the "check engine" light came on and didn't shut off. New symptoms began showing up in abundance--indigestion, acid reflux, allergies, and lower back pain/disc problems. All of these in the midst of training for a marathon. You see, for all intents and purposes, I was living a healthy lifestyle but for some reason my body seemed to be slowly coming undone.

That summer an ear infection found me once again this time with a vengeance. My left ear was swollen shut and I had an intense pain developing on the left side of my face. It continued to get worse until I was no longer sleeping at night. Anyone who has ever experienced Trigeminal Neuralgia (Tic Douloureux) can understand the feeling of fire that was shooting across my face and down my jaw. At its most intense and worst this condition has claimed many lives due to suicide. It was during this time that I was introduced to Upper Cervical Specific Care.

The Brainstem