As a child, I always knew I wanted to go into healthcare. I always wanted to be a doctor and own an office. I know that may sound weird, but I always played doctor, I played doctor on a level I do not think other kids played at. I had my parents' entire basement set up as my office; I had color-coded charts and intake forms. When friends or family would come over to play, I would hire them as my assistants, if they did not conform, they were fired from my office, I'm not kidding. The extra freezer in the basement for food doubled as the morgue for my patients who didn't make it. Even when I would play with my Barbies and other toys, there was always an office Dr. Barbie was running and patients she was caring for.
To this day, I have no idea why I had/have such a calling to healthcare. My parents are not in healthcare, but I am so thankful that they always pushed me to follow my dreams. My family is originally from Queens, New York but moved to Lancaster when I was about 10 for the schools and opportunities here. I graduated from Conestoga Valley High School in 2004 and took every science and math class I could there.
I completed my undergraduate degree from Penn State, however, I started at the Berks campus due to owning a horse and wanting to be able to continue to ride and commute home. (another thing I just loved since birth and yet, had no real exposure to, being city folks). Eventually, I transferred up to the main campus and sold my childhood horse Lexi because I knew I would pursue a doctoral degree, and that needed to be my sole purpose for a while. This was one of the hardest decisions I had to make, give up something you love, in order to fulfill another dream.
While at Penn State, my older brother Tommy was in a horrible motorcycle accident. He was T-boned by a van causing catastrophic injuries to his hips, pelvis, and legs. His fight and will to live is like no one else I have ever met. Most of Tommy’s left lower extremity, hip, and pelvis have been reconstructed and he still has minor paralysis however he can walk. I bring up Tommy’s story because it is the reason why I am a chiropractor. Outside the prescribed therapies for his injuries, Tommy made it his mission to walk. He spent hours at the gym rehabbing himself and becoming friends with Dr. Matt Mullins, from Chiropractic 1st … there is a point I bring this up to I promise.
Around 2006/2007ish I fell down about 12 steps, hard! I was in so much pain I could not move. I went to orthopedics and neurologist due to severe pain and radiation of pain, however, all they could offer was drugs and surgery. I was about 21 years old and did not want to face having back surgery, which would limit my activity level significantly. While I was running around to different doctors, Tommy started talking to Dr. Matt about my injuries and he requested I come in for an exam I figured sure, what do I have to lose? Dr. Matt explained my injury and how it was not from the fall but from repetitive trauma to my body. Remember the horse, when you ride a horse it's not a matter of if you are going to fall off, it's a matter of when and I had a lot of “whens”. I also snowboard, which involves a LOT of falls.
Being a patient in Dr. Matt’s office changed my life. Chiropractic not only got me pain-free, it showed me a way of living, a wellness lifestyle. I always knew the things we ate, the products that we used, and how we maintain our bodies matter, but I had no idea there was an entire healthcare field focused on this! I was blown away by the philosophy of chiropractic and the principles of wellness care so much that it made me switch career paths and apply to chiropractic school instead of medical school.
While at Life University, I met Dr. Scott and well the rest is history. We have a beautiful almost 4-year-old daughter, who is being raised for wellness. I love being married to a chiropractor, someone who understands the body as I do, someone who understands how thoughts, trauma, and toxins affect our health. I often try to find the silver lining in my brother's accident, and I think it's this. Without him, without him meeting Dr. Matt, my life would be very different. I love my job, I truly love running the office and seeing miracles happen every day. Miracles happen because I know how to remove subluxation and restore the neurological flow of energy into living tissue. I have the best job in the world.
So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
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