Michael Panzo's Chiropractic Story

One of the most heartfelt, amazing chiropractic testimonials I have ever read. Thank you, Mike.

Michael loving life on his motorcycle.

I Have Hit a Milestone

I have hit a milestone, one that I never dreamed of. My life from 2004 until 2013, I have been under tremendous pain, which fluctuated anywhere from 5½ to 10, where I was at the mercy of the workers comp doctor who insisted I had hit a level where nothing else could be done, except to manage the pain by taking painkillers and muscle relaxers. I popped my L5 disc in a work injury where my health and body was slowly deteriorating, way before its time.

Days and nights were so miserable, at times it hurt just to breath. Steps had to be taken one agonizing step at a time. I basically had to face facts . . . this was my life and I’d just have to do the best I could without complaint.

I would be the first to admit, If God wanted to take me home, I was truly ready to go, regardless how much I love life.

Then in December of 2012, my wife woke up, where she couldn’t get out of bed due to a pinched nerve in her back. I literally had to lift her out of bed, and support her as best I could. She was in a lot of pain and couldn’t even roll over. We sure made quite a pair, in our early 50’s and feeling like we were like we were in our 90’s. She would cry, tears streaming past her cheeks, stating now she knew what I must be going through, and she just never realized the difficulty of mobility I had to endure on a day-to-day basis. Three days passed, where she stated she had to see Reed Shiraki, for she had this happen once before and insisted he could help her. At a moments notice, Dr. Shiraki informed her that he would squeeze her in his already busy schedule.

As Dr. Shiraki started to work on her, I watched intently and the movements of the “adjustments”. They seemed so mildly performed, that I thought how could “it”, chiropractic mild adjustments, have any effect what so ever. My wife went in again the following day and insisted the pain had subsided. She was seeing Doctor Shiraki a few more times and suggested that I allow him to work on me. For me, I resigned myself to the fact, that my life was what it was, after all, I already had a Doctor whom I respected, inform me, I had to face the reality, I was as good as I would ever get, and the best thing I could do for myself was just to accept it and try to make the best of it.

With prodding from my wife, I Reluctantly I agreed, for I felt, my wife would have gotten better all in good time without the good Dr. Shiraki. But what did I have to loose.

At my first visit, Dr. Shiraki took x-rays of my back where he found my spine had curved to the right from me babying my injured side and from me shifting weight away from the side that hurt. Even my hips were mis-aligned due to muscles that tightened up on one side more than the other, an after effect of my body and mind trying to over compensate in dealing with my pain level.

While most people walked with meaningful strides, I Hobbled. With all this going on, Dr. Shiraki insisted he could help if I allowed him. He indicated though, the process would be slow, but he felt positive he would be able to slowly manipulate my bones back into position, which would – theoretically – allow me to walk, not hobble and minimize the pain if not remove it. Of course, I’m thinking snake oil salesman if I ever heard one, but again, what did I have to lose. Dr. Shiraki laid out a plan; I had to get 3 treatments a week with a minimum of 86 treatments to start off with. He must have seen the skepticism in my eyes, for then he added, if I stuck with it, he was sure he could help me. In my mind, I was repeating, sure Doc, sure . . .

Its now approximately 14 short months later, and I’m worst off than ever – Kidding!

My wife now looks at me in amazement, and comments how I can actually walk like a normal person. I’m no longer hobbling with a gate like Quasimodo of the hunchback of Notre Dame, and today I was amazed to realize my pain level was around a 4, on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being low and 10 being high.

I should mention, prior to my injury, I went from someone truly physically active, 180 pound male, who hit the gym 3 times a day, 3 days a week, and on my off days played tennis, golfed and would run 5 miles just because I could. After being injured and operated on, I went to being homebound. As far as sports activities were concerned, that was a thing of the past, and I weighed 260 pounds when I first started to see Dr. Shiraki.

The effects of seeing Dr. Shiraki, as been nothing but a Blessing. He truly is one of the Angels sent by God himself to help me through my lowest point, in my life. The fact that my gait and stride is normal, I’ve been doing more walking, just because I’m now able to. My weight is now down to 245. Today is February 10^th, and I had the pride to let Dr. Shiraki know that my pain level was down to a 4, something I never thought would be possible.

I’m actually thinking of going back to the gym again, I feel that good compared to what I use to feel. My back is straightening out and my hips are once again level. I still have my bad days, but they have gotten less and less. I have been humbled before God and he has bestowed upon me one of his Angels, gifted with sensibility and determination to help his fellow men. And so I am compelled to put my personal miracle on paper . . . I was a skeptic, and now I too can see. Stay tune, as I hope to update my story and progress in time . . .

The Moral to this Story . . . God leads us to various paths which benefit us, where there is hurt – he finds ways to heal and often it evolves the Physical, Emotional and Spiritual, for all 3 realms are effected in any crises.

In my case, through the grace of God, he led me to Dr. Shiraki.