Every day in practice your reason for practising is being tested. People come and see you and you make assumptions about where they are at, what they want and to what extent they will follow your advice and guidance.
In this series of blogs I am tracking on one person who came to see me recently. I want to point out the lessons that he has brought to me.
Introducing a man who I shall name Bill.
4 months ago this chap, Bill came in to see me. Bill’s an ordinary bloke – a 45-year-old Oka rubbish truck driver
He’s an honest hard working fellow who gets out of bed at 3am every morning – works hard – goes home, has a few beers and falls asleep in front of the Tele at night. His life, by his description is ordinary.
Bill comes to see me and when asked how I could help him he said “Me back’s stuffed and I want you to crack it”
I asked him how long had he had it – “A few weeks” he replied.
Getting a case history and systems review was like drawing blood from a stone. He either didn’t remember anything of his history, didn’t care or didn’t think himself worthy of such attention. I think probably the later.
He gave agreement to a consultation; examination, scans and x-rays followed by our Pre care Appointment.
Herein lay my first part of my first lesson from Bill. He presented as an under 50 year old with an acute back issue. Why go against the guidelines by x-raying him and put him through a 3 visit initial care process when I could just “crack” him and send him on his way as the regulators of our profession would have us do.
The defining point here is that I saw something more in Bill than maybe he (and the world) saw in him. I saw that he was in our practice for a reason much bigger than a “crack” in the back. I referenced my metaphysical premises, the principles of chiropractic. My mission as a chiropractor is to do what I can to reconnect Bill the physical with Bill the spiritual.
So, it was on to the next step. The Pre Care Appointment.
The visit following the PCA, his ROF was the quickest in history.
Bill, you’ve got bad bones,
Bill, you’ve got bad joints
Bill, you’ve got bad nerves
Bill you need adjusting.
I think he thought I was a bit of an idiot. His reply was “No shit – I told you that at the first visit me back’s stuffed and I want you to crack it”.
The second part of my first lesson from Bill now emerged. My recommendations for care were against the government’s magical, un-evidence based guidelines of a 12 visit maximum.
I recommended 12 weeks of care of twice weekly checks.
Why did I do this? Why did I risk my license by ‘over-prescribing’ this care to this person?
I know that subluxation and its associated effects disconnect people from their magnificence and it is my intent is to reconnect people to their birthright.
The Chiropractic process is the best thing I know to get this job done and I was willing to give Bill the opportunity to experience what is possible.
Whether he chose to accept it or not I don’t really care. From my heart and a logical process of reasoning, I owed it to him.
My decision to offer Bill what I considered to be optimal recommendations for care had to be filtered through a sequence of considerations – one may call them philosophical constructs.
So, outside of the desire to relieve our practice members’ suffering, why do we do what we do in a chiropractic context?
I suggest that it comes from the understanding that;
Every person is unique
Every person has within a blueprint for his or her perfection
Every person deserves to be free of any interference that inhibits their realization of their potential.
I think that it is imperative that we as chiropractors get clear distinctions on the logical considerations of our professions philosophical constructs. The principles have stood the test of time. The science, the art and the politics change every day but the philosophical tenants are our ‘true north’.
Bill’s first lesson for me – be clear on my reason for doing – it affect everything.
