MY STORY

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EARLY DAYS

My 92 year old mother tells me that at an early age, when asked what I wanted to do when I grew up I would say, “I want to touch people and make them smile!”.  By my teenage years I had decided that I would become a pediatrician and set about studying the requisite maths and sciences to prepare for a career in Healthcare.  Enrolled in a Pre-med Arts and Science program at Trinity College at the University of Toronto in 1977, after 2 years I began to deviate from my intended course and transferred into Chemical Engineering.  After completing 4 years of study, a part-time job in the restaurant industry became a new passion as I trained for restaurant and hotel management.

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FIRST CAREER

For nearly 10 years I moved my way up in the hospitality field, working in and managing restaurants in downtown Toronto, and becoming part of the management team of Four Seasons Hotels in both their Yorkville and Inn on the Park locations.  In 1991, a developing dream became reality when I applied all that I had learned in food, wine and exemplary service and opened (in partnership) The Pine Apple Inn, an intimate fine dining restaurant in a historic home on Main St. Unionville.  Business boomed as we provided downtown quality food and service in the suburbs, a real treat for the discerning clientele of Markham and Unionville.

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In 1993 it nearly came to an end.  Preparing for a busy lunch hour I moved a table, and in the right(or wrong!) combination of bending, twisting and lifting, I injured a disc in my low back.  I literally fell to the floor and couldn’t get up, as searing pain shot from my low back down my leg to my foot—a full blown case of Sciatica.  I followed the traditional medical protocols of pain medication, muscle relaxants, anti-inflammatories, physiotherapy, massage therapy with NO relief.  Every step became a chore as it felt that my legs would give out.  Sleep was impossible.  As I continued to get worse over the course of 4 months, my doctor explained the only option left was surgery, and began the referral process to an orthopedic surgeon.

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Two weeks later, as I was showing a couple to their table in the restaurant, the gentleman asked politely, “How long have you been like this?” referring to my obvious pain and distinct limp.  When I explained my story, he reached into his pocket to offer a business card and said, “I am a Chiropractor and this looks like something I could help”.  No hard sell, no empty promises, and at this point I was willing to try anything, as the chronic pain negatively affected all aspects of my life.

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The same week I booked an appointment to be assessed to see if mine was a Chiropractic case, and after a complete examination, began a course of Chiropractic treatments.  Lo and behold, a MIRACLE!  After the first treatment, I was able to stand upright without grasping for the nearest support to keep my balance.  By the second week the leg pain radiated only to the knee.  And within 3 weeks I was painfree and able to carry on a normal life.  I continued with a 6 month stabilization plan, and in that time learned the basic principle of Chiropractic:  That the body is a self-regulating, self-healing organism that is capable of healing when there is no interference to the proper functioning of the nervous system.  Incidentally, the “snapping hip syndrome” that had plagued me since my teenage years and forced my withdrawal from sports (and our family doctor said would “go away”) stopped with my very first adjustment!!  This was my inspiration to return to school to become a Chiropractor in order to help people the way I had been helped.

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FULL CIRCLE, SECOND CAREER

I sold my interest in the restaurant, and moved to California in 1997 to study at Palmer College of Chiropractic West in San Jose, California, the sister college of the very first Chiropractic College in Davenport Iowa. Graduatiing in June 2001 Magna cum laude I stood 3rd in my class and prepared to return home to Canada to set up practice in my home town of Markham/Unionville after passing the rigorous Canadian Board Examinations.

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I became certified in instrument-adjusting Activator technique (Levels I and II) and principally use Diversified, Thompson and Gonstead techniques.  In 2002 I pursued a course of study in Applied Kinesiology, a functional-based assessment and treatment technique which approaches care and outcomes in a measurable form, which I continue to apply in practice every day. With an aging population, we are seeing more incidence of musculoskeletal problems as we live longer.  In practice, I see patients of all ages, and have a particular interest in the treatment of seniors, sciatica, spinal stenosis, peripheral neuropathy and Chiropractic pediatrics, knowing that many of the issues that plague us in adulthood begin in childhood.  With the growing opioid crisis and devastating side-effects of long term pain medication, Chiropractic will have an increasing role in in the non-pharmaceutical management of musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction.

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Truly, a young boy’s dream to “touch people and make them smile” is now an everyday event in my life as I continue to help others achieve a better quality of life.