My name is Mary Crawford. I am 73 years old. I was working with the Troup County School System in 1992 when I first started having the symptoms of Fibromyalgia. I was hurting in my shoulders, arms, and legs. I could not dress myself without severe pain. I eventually had to retire from my job in 1997 because the pain was so bad. I was not able to stand or walk at all. Even after retirement, when I would go to bed at night I was not able to turn over. I would awaken all during the night with pain. I went to my medical doctor trying to find answers to my pain. He diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia. He was not able to treat me so he referred me to a Rheumatologist in Opelika, Alabama who put me on five different medications… not helping my problem at all. I went to orthopedic doctor… still to no avail. I knew my pain was real but no one seemed to understand. Then my cousin called me one day and told me of an ad she saw in the LaGrange Daily News of a doctor who specialized in Fibromyalgia… Dr. Langston. My first appointment with Dr. Langston was July 02, 2008. I am now walking better, doing my daily activities that I thought I would never be able to do. I feel better now than I have in fifteen years. I am off of all my medications except my blood pressure pill. Dr. Langston, with the help of the Good Lord, has given me my life back!!!

Signed: Mary Crawford

I never get tired of sharing chiropractic. Be proud of who you are! You are changing lives! Literally!!

Hope is that factor in life that makes a person take one more step. Hope helps you to move forward even when there are obstacles in your path. There are so many scenarios that I could spell out that would describe how powerful hope is to every man or woman.

There would be hope in relationships,health,child development, finances and the list could go on and on. I think I have proven my point. HOPE truly is what the principle states. It is ESSENTIAL!!

Yet again, here is another principle that has slipped past so many doctor patient relationships. Giving a patient hope is what drives them to their next visit. Hope is the essential factor that will allow the necessary time for healing to occur. It is not the education of chiropractic shoved down their throats the moment they walk in your door that will translate them into lifetime patients of chiropractic. It is the consistent feeding of hope that their condition will improve that will keep them on the right course of treatment not demands and requirements. There are actually 5 factors that need to be covered on each visit with a patient but I only have time today to cover this one but make no mistake about HOPE is ESSENTIAL in a doctor patient relationship. Make it a point to give others (not just patients) HOPE everyday, you never know how powerful a little hope can be with their whole life in general. Hope is essential so share it. I encourage you today! The Hope you have for the world is precious and essential. God bless!

The principle I am referring to is that “HOPE is Essential”. There are three powerful motivating factors in life. The first is love. Love is precious to us all. Fear deters us from that which can harm us but fear can and should be eliminated from our lives. Then there is hope. A life without hope is dead. Hope is that factor that ignites the inner man or your spirit for that which is good and promising.

Have you ever actually seen someone who has lost hope? It is one of the saddest sights to see. I liken it to a dog that has beaten so much that the beatings have actually destroyed the dog’s spirit. The dog will cower to anything and anyone. The same goes for the man or woman that has lost all hope. Their spirit man literally gives up inside and when that happens then events like our recent loss become more common. Hope is essential to the well being of others that is why as chiropractors that the most powerful thing you can give to your patients is HOPE. On our next visit we will expand on how to do just that. Let’s not let our recent loss go in vain. Let’s learn from it so we in turn can avoid others in the future. We never know what someone is going through in life especially a patient in pain. Until next time. God Bless–

I had my first office visit with Dr. Herwig on May 12, 2009. Upon arriving at the office I was greeted by Erin in a very friendly manner. I could hardly walk, sit comfortably for very long, could not stand or get up out of my seat very easily. I could not walk up and down stairs and had much difficulty sleeping through the night, so I got very little sleep. I had my first two adjustments on May 13th and May 14th. Dr. Herwig spoke to me about my evaluation and recommended treatment program. I accepted the program and began my care. By the 3rd week of adjustments I was sleeping through the night. I was beginning to feel better as time went on. I continued on with the program that was set up for me. On July 2nd, I left for a week vacation to Disney World in Florida with my family, and had the best time of my life. Thanks to my care plan and Dr. Herwig I can now walk, bend, sit, sleep and go up and down stairs with no problem. At one time I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia; I no longer have any signs of this. Had I not made that one phone call and started my adjustment program, I would not have been able to have the great time on vacation. I am now able to live a normal life again, which will include chiropractic care for the rest of my life. Thank you Dr. Herwig so much for giving me back my active life!

Kathleen Broyles

Feel free to share more of the great stories of your patients with all of us. It helps to fuel the fire for chiropractors abroad. God bless.

I was told at a business man’s breakfast just recently that because of my age and stage in life that I should easily expect in the near future to experience what men call our mid life crisis. The time of life when we realize we no longer fit in the culture of youth and we also begin to realize that their is end to this ride coming one day and it’s not as far off as it once was. I frankly choose not participate in the plans those men had for me but I can see how some people could have those thoughts at that point of life but the only way those thoughts can occur is by people spending the only time they have (which is today) either in the yearning of their youth gone by or fearing what is the inevitable for all of us.
Listen to me when I say that we are all guilty including myself of thinking of regrets of yesterday or glory days gone by. We also share the guilt of worrying about things we cant control tomorrow. Some people worry about even the smallest of things that we can’t control but because of that worry it robs us of the JOY of today. I plead with you to not let the thoughts of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow rob you from one more moment of the present. One very wise man taught me at an early age that literally 99% of the things I can worry about tomorrow never come to pass. He also told me that if I know they will come to pass then to address them today and not worry about them anymore. I am now old enough and have enough experience under my belt to know that the wise man was exactly right. Don’t wait until the winter of your life to implement the simple truth that TODAY IS THE BEST DAY OF OUR LIVES. It’s your choice. This principle I just shared is for everyone but especially chiropractors. You have the opportunity to serve humanity today. What else could be better than that? Have the BEST day of your life today!! God Bless!!!

I was walking the hallway in the early morning hours of an AMC conference when I could see a figure walking towards me at the other end of the long hallway. I could see that the figure was walking at a much slower pace than I but as we got closer I could see it was a well dressed elderly man. He was walking slowly with a cane. He obviously had needed a chiropractor at a much earlier age because his disfigured spine was forcing him walk while bending forward at the waste. When I got close enough to him he raised his head which gave me the opportunity to say “good morning! how are you doing on this fine day?” I continued past him expecting the same old reply like “fine! how are you?”that you typically get on that type of exchange however his reply surprised me when he said “Great! IT’S THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!! it better be because it’s the only one I’ve got.”

How right he was! He like of most of us could have come up with plenty of excuses to make it just another day to grind through because of our circumstances,past failures, health or a million other murmurs or worries we could come up with in our minds to not make today the best day of our life. I am pretty well known for preaching that your attitude begets your outcome but for some reason his simplistic response to me that day hit me right between the eyes. We are all human and we all have circumstances that we can allow to effect our day to day attitude however let’s make no mistake about realizing that it is our choice each day to make each day the best one of our life because it is the only one we’ve got. I hope you don’t mind if on our next visit I share a few more thoughts on this subject because frankly if we don’t all realize this simple truth that today is the best day of our life then we may spend the only day we have locked in the fear of tomorrow or the regrets of yesterday.

The answer to these questions are of course “NO”. I understand that we are a diverse profession but I also know that we are a divided profession. This is where the danger comes from in our probation. The division and lack of support given to one another can lead to the eventual violation of our “probation” with the general public. I have said it before and I will say it again that the doctor across the street or the doc in the next town is not competition to you. There is more than enough market for everyone. I have also shared that those same docs down the road represent the same word you do in the word of chiropractic. So, you should care what kind of gimmicks,schemes,plans and even philosophies that they represent. Many of them are utilizing those techniques in an attempt to survive and they don’t know any better. It is up to you to help support your fellow D.C. and preserve the right perceptions of chiropractic in your communities.
The great lesson that the judge shared that day is one that we should all take to heart. We are all on probation not only in our profession but also a individuals in our community,church and especially family. There is always someone listening and watching our words and actions. These people will hold us accountable to both. So you see we are all on probation. The question is will we as individuals and as a profession violate our probation? It’s ultimately up to us to determine that answer. Until next time!

It was at this moment that the lesson of the day came to light. The young man then asked the judge “so does that mean I’m on probation or does my probation end as well?” The judge answered “son, make no mistake about it we are ALL on probation. All you have to do is be born, live and then die to be on probation. Probation never ends for anyone.” I don’t know about the young man but I was floored with the statement. I had never thought of it that way but he was absolutely right. Our life is always being watched by others. We are always held accountable by our thoughts,words and actions by those around us at all times. Our life is always on probation because our life and the examples that we set are seen and heard by others. Wow! This is a powerful lesson for all of us! Now, how does that lesson tie into the chiropractic field? Well, we will dive into that on our next visit but for right now I think I will give everyone some time to think and digest this lesson as it pertains to our own personal life. I look forward to jumping back into this lesson on our next visit.

I actually would like to share another very important lesson I learned that day in court with you on our next visit. I think you will find it to be very profound. I look forward to visiting with you then.

If any of you think for one second your life is not yet what you always dreamed of then stop the pity party now. Nobody wants to hear it!! We all have our horror stories of where life has knocked us down but remember it’s not how many times you have been knocked down – it’s how many times you get up and move forward. The people I saw stand in front of the judge were not much different than you and I. The only difference was you and I have definite HOPE. Many of the people I saw this past Tuesday did not have any hope at all. I could see it in there eyes. Their soul or spirit was literally broken. Just like a dog that has been beaten so much that their spirit has been broken and they cower to everything and everyone. So were these people that stood before the judge. However, you don’t have to be one of those people because you are a chiropractor that has a very unique opportunity that fulfills one of the vital keys to success. I will share that essence at the start of our next visit and eventually we will get to the lesson number two that came from that day in court. Until then God Bless!!!