Two years. Its been two years, today, since I was rear-ended and my life changed. Nobody ever expects bad things to happen to them or for their life to change in an instant, but it often does and so unexpectedly.

For me it was on a Tuesday morning, on my way to the doctors office to go to yet another doctor to find a solution to this unexplained back pain I was having, when I was  suddenly rear-ended. Ironic isn’t, that I would get in a car accident on my way to a doctors appointment for pain… And my life would change in an instant.

At first I was in the normal amount of pain one experiences from getting rear-ended, my head hurt and I was sore all over. But as the days progressed my pain and issues grew worse.

I remember, the Saturday after the accident my roommate and I were waiting in the checkout line at Khols and I had to quickly reach for her to hold onto her because all of the sudden the world went black and I was afraid I was going to pass out. I luckily didn’t but that was just the beginning of some of the worst for me.

So, I went from having pain in my mid-back to having increased mid-back pain, severe pain in my head and neck and unexplained dizziness. The doctor told me that I basically added insult to injury. Great… As time progressed I was seeing multiple doctors and going to appointments, several times a week, but I wasn’t doing better. Maybe slightly, but my progress was minimal and no one had answers for my constant, insane, dizziness or why my neck pain was not getting any better.

Over the past two years I have seen at least 10 different doctors been to three different locations to get MRI’s, x-rays and a PET scan done and been in two different states with many and I mean many appointments. And out of all the doctors and all of the appointments I have been to only one doctor had the solution for me.

I moved to Texas last October because I was in so much pain on a daily basis I could no longer take care of myself and I couldn’t keep asking my friends to help me out. So, I uprooted my life, had to quit the job I had loved and been at for four years and moved back in with my parents at 26 years old. It was a huge blow to the ego and the hardest decision I ever made.

And when I first got here I was met with the same disappointment as I had in Tampa. One doctor even refused to see me completely because I was a car accident victim and he refused to treat anyone with an active car claim, even though he is acclaimed to be one of the best spine doctors in the country. My mom took that one hard because she couldn’t understand how any one would deny treating someone who was in pain but for me it was just another notch on the belt of disappointment and to chalk it up to the sucky medical system.

I was seeing a chiropractor on a regular basis, both in Tampa and in Amarillo and you know what, chiropractors care way more about you as a person than any MD I have ever come in contact with, besides one. Both of my chiropractors cared and tried their hardest to help me find a solution even if it meant they wouldn’t be the ones to treat me. Once they realized that their treatment wasn’t helping me they reached out to other doctors asking them who I should go to or what I should do.

In April of this year my chiropractor here in Amarillo finally reached the point of not knowing what to do so he reached out to a college and they recommended I go see this particular doctor. So, an appointment was scheduled and at the end of May I went to this doctor.

Here is the thing, at this point I had given up. I honestly thought that this intense chronic pain was going to be my life forever now. I had been trying for a year and a half and had seen at least 10 different doctors. I had tried my damndest with no results. I was tired of fighting for something that felt like a losing cause. So, when I walked into that building and into the doors of that doctors office I was honestly just going to please my mother and my chiropractor, and to say I did it but once again it was a bust.

You guys, my mom walked out of their crying and I walked out of their speechless.  This doctor looked at me asked me a question and before I could even finish my statement he announced that he knew what was wrong with me. Then he would ask me to continue and do the same thing again. All I had to do was talk and he knew what was wrong with me and how to fix me. And then when he did his physical exam he actually explained and showed me with my body what was wrong, why it was wrong and how he could fix it. He didn’t even have to look at my imaging to know, he did to humor me but he didn’t have to. This doctor had the solution for me. After what seemed like forever of trying to find the answer I had it within grasp.

I had to wait another month before I could begin the treatments he wanted me to do and during that time I was just praying that I wouldn’t be in the 10-15% of this not working, like I had been with everything else, and that these treatments would actually work and that by the end of the six to nine months I would be better again. (The photos above are pictures of some of my treatments.)

I am happy to say that as of the end of September I finished my treatments. Guys, not only was it successful but I finished earlier than expected! I actually found a doctor that cared, I found a doctor that had the answer and I am not 100% but I am way better than I was two years ago. I had given up hope that I would ever utter those words. I had given up hope that I would ever get to have a life outside of my bed. I had given up hope that I would live a life where I wasn’t in constant pain.

I am happy to say that as of last week I have a part time job! I am happy to say that I don’t spend all of my day in pain, some but not all! I am happy to say that I can drive again! I am so happy to say that I am doing better than I was two years ago or even six months ago and that once again I have hope for my life!

I will still always have some pain because of some of the damage that was done and may have to go in for “touch up” treatments on occasion but in comparison I feel 90% better than I did two years ago. I honestly still can’t believe I get to say that.

I know this has been a long post but I wanted to share on the anniversary of that horrible day of the good news and that I have hope again. And I am so thankful to so many different people for their help and encouragement during that time. If it weren’t for those of you that helped I wouldn’t have gotten to the point of getting better. I am so grateful that God places people in our lives to help carry us when we no longer can. So, thank you to those that were some how apart of my story these past two years!

These past two years were the hardest years to date but I have learned a lot from them and I know it will help me in the future. And I am excited to see how my story continues because of them. Never thought I would utter those words either.