 |
|
|
| About the Doctor |
|
|
“John
we found a tumor in your stomach.”
Although
I didn't realize it at the time, hearing those words started me on a new
direction in my life. All too often it's the doctor that gets all the information about the patient, and the patient gets little information about the doctor and their practice. I would like to change that. “I’m going schedule you for surgery in two days. If I find cancer I'll have to remove your stomach and you'll never eat a normal meal again.” My wildly beating heart felt like it was in my throat. I could feel my face flush. My mind raced wildly trying to make sense of the doctors’ words. The room seemed to move in slow motion. Let’s back up a few years, I was born in Tacoma Washington. A few years later I attended Arlington Grade School where in first grade, while playing on the school grounds one afternoon, I was climbing up the slide the wrong direction as many children are inclined to do. As I reached for the bar at the top I missed it and took a nose dive to the ground 8 ft. below landing on my head and tearing a number of tendons and ligaments in my neck. This was the beginning of my chiropractic problems which didn't surface for another six or seven years. I attended Gray then Hunt Junior high school where my wife Diane and I were in the same History class. Next for me was Mount Tahoma High school while Diane went to Wilson. Most of my energy and effort revolved around training for and participating in Track & Field. The University of Washington where I obtained a BA in Education was next. A series of muscle injuries, which I believe were related to the neck injury, ended my college athletic career prematurely so I became the coaches’ assistant and later was hired as coach of the Woman’s Track Club, the precursor of the current U of W Women’s Track Team. After a year of graduate school I was ready for a break and plunged into carpentry with the intention of learning how to build my own home during summer vacations from teaching. I found that I enjoyed the physical and mental challenges of being a contractor so I stayed with it rather than pursuing a career in teaching. In my mid-twenties when I could not perform my job due to back pain, a friend from church suggested I go and see her chiropractor. I did and got enough relief to go back to work. It was at this time that I considered and then postponed going back to school to become a Chiropractor. This was also when I saw, for the first time on X-ray, the damage that was done to my spine when I fell off the slide at 6 years old. The interesting thing was the amount of damage showing on the X-ray that had been done to my neck, upper back and lower back all from this one traumatic event as a child. “There is always the possibility that there will be complications and you may never wake from the surgery.” Its funny how certain events in our lives encourage us to take an in depth look at our values and accomplishments. In this case I prepared for the worst. I was prepared to die if it was my time. The surgery was uneventful and the tumor was benign. Two months later I decided to investigate going back to school to become a doctor. I wanted to spend the rest of my life helping people to be well, easing or erasing their pain and assisting them in their quest to live up to their maximum health potential. I chose to attend the University of Western States in Portland Oregon in part because of its close proximity to Gig Harbor. Another reason for attending was that graduates of Western States consistently score higher on the National Board Examinations than those attending other institutions. I am so grateful that I did. Its impossible for me to express the joy I feel with every opportunity to treat each one of you. I feel blessed with every patient I encounter. I believe with all my heart that the way I practice addressing the mind, body and spirit of each individual is the right way for me to treat you. The purpose of this clinic is to get you well and keep you well by assisting your body to heal and maintain itself. My prayers for the clinic, even before it opened, have been that God would send to this office those individuals that he wanted to receive the specific treatments that I provide. What seems to make my practice unique is that I often use techniques other than manual chiropractic adjusting. I do this because people often get better faster when a complementary technique is used instead of or in conjunction with manual chiropractic adjusting. The techniques I currently employ or recommend to you are:
My personal promise to you is that I will always treat each one of you with respect and concern. I will strive to expand my skills in order to treat you more effectively. I will only recommend treatment that I believe will be effective for you. If necessary I will refer you to another practitioner to get the care I feel you need. People often ask me how often they should come in for treatment. My answer is that it’s different for each individual and condition. Some acute and chronic conditions require frequent visits for several weeks or months to get them under control. Personally I get treatment approximately once every two weeks and more frequently when I try to work and play like I did when I was twenty. My body feels better and works best when I am getting frequent adjustments. Many conditions are treatable with this type of care, among them: chronic pain, migraines, sciatica, gastrointestinal disturbances, allergies, anemia, hypertension in adults; and colic, constipation, ear infections and vomiting in infants, to name just a few.
Welcome
to Dr. John Hallawell
Visit us on
Facebook to discover
more |
| Copyright © 2003-2010 Harbor Healing Arts Office Location | Privacy Policy | Site Map | Contact |
