EPISODE SUMMARY
Guest: Peggy Coffey
Peggy Coffey grew up in the Littlefield and Lubbock areas in West Texas. Her dad was a farmer, and they had a hard life, but they managed and were a close-knit family. He retired, and they went into the insurance business. She went to work for a company named Texas Instruments and worked there for about 26 years. Then they closed the plant down, and she went to work for a few other places and ended up with the police department in the property room, bringing in evidence from crime scenes and storing it.
In her 20s, Peggy went to work for a company called American Cotton Growers. She had to stand up all the time and started to struggle with that. It progressively got worse. She was experiencing extreme pain in her lower back and was bent over to her left side, and could not stand up straight at all. She was having sinus issues. She had been on all kinds of drugs, pain pills, muscle relaxers, and steroid shots. She was told she would have to have surgery and have rods put in her back.
Peggy’s mother had a friend who recommended Doctor Blair, and so they made an appointment. She didn’t think it would work. The doctor took x rays, and she found out that her back pain actually stemmed from her neck. When she had her first adjustment, it did not hurt; it didn’t even feel like he had done anything. It took a while, but she slowly started seeing improvement. She could finally stand up straight and do things she hadn’t been able to.
Peggy has been coming to the Blair Chiropractic Clinic for 46 years now and has seen three different doctors run the clinic in that time. She keeps coming back because she knows it helps her, and if she loses her adjustment and it’s caught in time, then she won’t be in any kind of pain.
Peggy says, when pertaining to the Blair Technique, “Well, there's nothing scary about the technique they use at the Blair Clinic and everything, and it's just a wonderful thing. I really don't know what to say about it. I can put my praise to it and let me say that also that it's not only for back pain, but it can also be for asthma, it can be for headaches, it can be for kidney problems, it can be for other things.”
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Welcome, welcome, welcome to the podcast. What Pain in the Neck. Peggy, I'm so happy that you could join us today. Thank you for being here.
I'm glad to be here. I hope I can help someone understand the situation that they're in and how this can help them.
Very nice. I just wanted to start by telling the story. I have this memory of the first time I met you and you were one of the first people I ever met in Lubbock. I was super awkward with you but anyway, tell us your name and a little bit about your upbringing and a little bit about your background.
Well, my name's Peggy Coffee. I was born and raised in this part of the country. Have lived here most of my life. I have moved off every now and then, but I've always come back.
This part of the country is Lubbock area?
Lubbock area, yes, ma'am, I'm sorry. I really stayed more time in Littlefield, Texas than I did any place else and then I moved down to Lubbock and I've been here ever since.
When you were growing up here in Littlefield and Lubbock area, what was life like for you? Describe a little bit of some of your memories from growing up.
My dad was a farmer and we had a hard life and but we managed and we were a close-knit family. He retired and they went into the insurance business and I went to work for a company named Texas Instruments and worked there for about 26 years. Then they closed the plant down and I went to work for a few other places and I ended up with with the police department in the property room. What we did is the officers would bring in evidence from crime scenes and everything and we would store that property.
Interesting. Somewhere along the way your health took some twists and turns. Can you describe what happened and what your journey was like, how did you start to decline and then what was that like?
Well, I was in my twenties, latter twenties. I went to work for a company called American Cotton Growers and what they did they made denim-free like blue jeans and stuff. I had to stand up all the time and I got word that I couldn't stand and then it just progressively gotten worse.
When you say you couldn't stand, what were you experiencing?
I was experiencing extreme pain and I was bent over to my left side and I could not stand up straight at all no matter what I did.
Where was the pain?
In my lower back.
In your lower back and you were standing up, leaning over to your left?
Yes. My mother had a friend that went to Dr. Blair and she said, "I think he can help your daughter." We made an appointment and went to see Dr. Blair and he said, well, he took X-rays and everything and he said, "I think I can help you." He said, "But I can't make you any promises." He said, "But I believe that I can help you" Of course it was in my neck really not in my back.
I have two questions about that. First of all, when your mom's friend said, "I think Dr. Blair can help", what was your thought and how long did it take you to see Dr. Blair?
My thoughts were I really didn't think it would work. I had been on all kinds of drugs, pain pills, and all kinds of stuff and muscle relaxers and steroid shots and all that. Really, my first thought was, I don't really believe that can work. It didn't take us, I don't know, very long to get in to see Dr. Blair. He was a busy man but he was one that would try to see everybody that he could and like I say, he took the x-rays and everything and like he said, he said he thought he could help me. It is not that it stemmed from my back, it stemmed from my neck.
What did you think when he said that? Fix my back by fixing my neck.
Well, again I had my doubts, somebody tell you that and you got the is in your back and going down your leg and all that things. You think, well now how can that be and he did explain to me that all the nerves and stuff in your neck and all that are connected and just because you have pain in one spot doesn't mean that's where that pain is coming from.
That makes sense.
Like I say, I had my doubts and it took me a little bit to come around after he adjusted me and everything.
When you say come around, you mean get better?
Excuse me. Get better, yes, ma'am.
Okay. It wasn't instant, but it started--
No.
Describe that process a little bit.
I've been coming to the Blair Clinic for about 46 years or somewhere like that.
That's amazing. We're gonna get into that a little bit later.
It's hard to look back at on that and I don't know how long it really took me. Maybe a month, maybe not that long. I don't know. I could finally stand up and I could walk and I could do things that I had not been doing.
To me, that's what's so amazing about being here at the Blair Clinic. I have a little bit similar story myself and that I couldn't do normal things and then very slowly and gradually I was able to get those things back. Even to this day, that is the most exciting part of my day to day, is people starting to get their lives back. Will you describe a few things that you felt like you weren't able to do and how you felt like you could, to the best of your memory, like what were some limitations that you had and then what were some things that you really appreciated gradually be able to get back?
Well, really I could walk, but I was so bent over I just could not stand up straight. When I say bent over, I mean really bent over to my left side. Then when I started getting better and when I could stand up and I could walk, that was great and then I had a two year old daughter that we live with, my mother and dad.
Oh, that's strenuous.
She was taking care of my daughter for me because I was not really able to.
That's rough.
She was doing things that I didn't know she was doing because I was taking medicine and stuff and I said when I started all that stopped, you don't need the medicine. That's one thing I want to emphasize. You do not need medicine when you're in the Blair Clinic.
That was a big change.
That was a big change, yes.
You got off the medicine. Did Dr. Blair tell you? Do you remember or did you just do that on your own?
I had gotten off the medicine before I went to Dr. Blair and the only thing that he said that he didn't want you taking any aspirin or anything or drinking any caffeine the day that you came for your appointment and everything. Those were the only really two stipulations that he ever gave me to do.
The old school doctors, they have the caffeine thing. I think that newer research has shown caffeine is okay and personally I'm happy about that.
Well, me too. To this day, I still don't drink caffeine when I come to the doctor. It's just a habit I got into and if I'm going to the chiropractor and all that and another thing I like to say and this may not have anything to do with anything, but people think a chiropractor is just popping bones and stuff like that. That is not the situation here at the clinic at all.
From your perspective, what is the situation here? Can you--
It is only manipulation of the places where needs to be-- I don't know the word-- worked on, that's not the word I want right now, but that's the only one I can think of.
Just use it in in your words. That's good.
There's no pain. Even when the doctor does the adjustment, you don't really know he even done any, there's no pain no anything and that's what's just wonderful about the whole thing.
Something that I wanted to go back and ask you about. You had a big time health crisis, you said 46 years ago?
Yes.
Then you started with Dr. Blair and here we are talking about this at the Blair Clinic, this many years later. Clearly you've told us what brought you in there in the first place. One of the things that I often hear is I don't want to start going to a chiropractor because then I have to keep going. Here we are talking 46 years later so maybe there's something to it so what has that journey been like.
I know that when I first met you would travel quite aways to get here. What is it that keeps you coming back, and how often do you come back, and why do you come back?
Okay, the reason I come back is that I know that it helps me, and if I lose my adjustment and we can catch it in time, then I won't be in any kind of pain.
Essentially what I'm hearing you say is you don't want to go back to how you were.
Yes, I do not want to go back there. I don't want to not be able to do the things I'm doing. For 46 years, I have been able to stand up and walk and do things that I thought I would never be able to do in my entire life. I had a friend one time, and she told me, she said, ''This just doesn't seem right.'' I said, ''Okay, you go with me to see Dr. Addington.''
Yes.
He let her go in there, and he had to give me an adjustment. She said, ''That's just magic.''
Yes, [chuckles] it does seem like magic, doesn't it?
She said, no, that's just magic, that can't be. I said, yes, it is magic but it's a miracle that somebody has come up with a situation that will help someone like that and not have to go through all the-- Because I was told you'll have to have surgery. You'll have to have rods in your back and stuff like that. Well, I didn't want that.
Yes, no rods, and you still haven't had surgery?
No, ma'am. I haven't had surgery for 46 years, and I will never have surgery as long as I can go to a Blair Clinic where they do what I think is best for me.
Yes, so that's pretty good motivation for occasional checkups and adjustments as needed.
The checkups and everything. I personally usually come once a month, but if I have to have an adjustment and you will have to have an adjustment, it's not a one-time thing.
Yes, well, some people do and some people don't.
I have to have one. If I do, then I have an adjustment. Then I have to come back the next week after I had it, and the doctor would check me again but if I don't have an adjustment, then I only come once a month, and that's it. That's just to make for sure that I'm still in adjustment and alignment and everything.
It's like a little insurance policy.
Yes, it is.
Yes. Very good. I wanted to know, over the course of those years, there's been three doctors here at the Blair Clinic.
Yes, Ma'am.
It's called the Blair Clinic because it was started by Dr. Blair, and he was your first doctor and then Dr. Addington bought the clinic and continued his legacy for 30 years. Now, it's my husband, Gordon Elder. I was wondering if you would want to describe a little bit about what was the same and what was the difference and technique-wise, what you've noticed?
Okay, basically everything, the technique is basically all the same. Of course, when Dr. Blair was alive, he had trained Addington.
Yes.
Dr. Addington took over, and Dr. Gordon Elder come in and Dr. Addington trained him. It's all basically the same thing.
Yes, Dr. Addington trained him, but also he was mostly trained when he came, which is why Dr. Addington wanted him.
Right, and it was a blessing that we got Dr. Elder. A blessing because if not, the people that were coming to Dr. Addington, we don't know what we would have done if we hadn't had somebody to come in and taken over the practice.
Yes, so the continuity is good but also, one of my reasons for asking this questions, I'm hoping that people from all over will listen to this podcast. There's a continuity in the Blair Technique. Dr. Blair developed a way to help more people and more severe cases, such as you're describing yours was, so help more people with worse health conditions, with less adjusting. He developed a technique, a system for doing that.
He was teaching you to describe the doctors that were here at the Blair Clinic, how they were trained, but also there's a system through the Blair Society with Blair doctors all over the country. Just like there's been continuity over the years here with the same great results, there's Blair doctors across most of the country now and even somebody in Australia and Brazil and Europe.
We're hoping one of our reasons for coming here to the Blair Technique is we're wanting to continue the legacy here in Lubbock, but also continue the teaching legacy of making sure that this type of care is available all through the country. To our listeners, if they want to find this type of care, they can contact us or the Blair Chiropractic Society and find a doctor that can be consistent with this type of care.
If someone's like that, if someone's listening and they're in pain, they're bent over, they have severe back pain or severe pain, maybe other places, but I guess you're best qualified to give advice when it comes to back pain. They've tried a whole bunch of things and taking a bunch of drugs or at their wits' end, not knowing what to do, and someone says, ''Go see a Blair doctor. He specializes in the neck, and I think he could help you.'' What would be your advice?
Also, I wanted to touch on if you've tried a lot of things and you're skeptical and it's scary. Can you address that in particular?
Well, there's nothing scary about the technique they use at the Blair Clinic and everything, and it's just a wonderful thing. I really don't know what to say about it. I can't put my praise to it and let me say that also that it's not only for back pain, it can be for asthma, it can be for headaches, it can be for kidney problems, it can be for other things.
Yes.
This is off the subject, I guess.
No, go for it.
Since I've been going 46 years, I used to have a lot of sinus problems. I had to run to the doctor for this, run the doctor for that and I very seldom ever have to go to the doctor.
That's wonderful. Your sinus problems have cleared up?
Yes, but then I want to emphasize that to everybody that it's not only for pain as serious as mine was. I realize everybody's pain is serious to them but it can help offset kinds of things besides just that.
Yes, that is wonderful and I'm really glad you touched on that.
I'm sorry I got off the subject.
No, no that is the subject. I really want to just have you tell stories of how it's like. That is really good and it's a very important point, I think. It actually reminds me of something that I heard over and over. I started working with Dr. Muncie in California who was actually Dr. Blair's best friend. He said, ''When you have a bone out of alignment in your neck pinching on nerves, it's killing you on the inside.''
I feel like I can acutely, almost feel that when it's out of alignment. There's like some part of the life force is not right. On the flip side, when you stay in alignment and get checkups and chiropractors will often call it being open and clear meaning the nerves between the brain and the body are open. That that flow, it is like a life force that's supposed to be there. It's working right. Sometimes we don't even know that we have problems unless they start to clear up.
That's very true. Like you said, I can almost tell now I couldn't at one time, but I can now. If I'm getting maybe out of adjustment, my whole thinking, my whole attitude on life just changes. It's like there's a heavy weight that's on me sometimes.
That's a good way to describe that.
When I get adjustment, it may take me two or three days, maybe a week even sometimes, where I'm getting the feeling back where I was before I was out of alignment and everything. That's another thing. To me, it changes your perspective on life.
Yes, I agree with that. It really, truly gives you your life back. When the neck is out of alignment, it is almost like a dimmer switch goes on, your will and your outlook can just-- I'm really, really, really glad that you brought that up. Is there anything else that you've been thinking about that you have on your heart that you wish people would know?
I just wish everybody would try the technique. You come to the clinic and try the technique because it works. It may not work for everyone because we can't say that, but I don't know of anyone that's come and it has not worked for, myself personally.
I can address that a little bit because I have seen the inside part of thousands of patients by now that have come through Blair Care. Our process always starts with the screening. The screening is designed to find out if we can help you or not. The doctor will run some tests. The recommendation is that all people who have a spine should get it checked every six months, just like all people who have teeth should get them checked every six months.
Once in a while, people come through here and find out that they are fine or that maybe somebody has pulled a muscle or something but that's not particularly what we specialize in. If you have a pulled muscle, let's say, your body is working right, your body will heal that muscle. If there's a structural problem that needs to be put back in place, then those six-month checkups can determine that.
Try it, come and talk to us. the other thing is with my job description, I don't do a lot of the daily seeing patients day to day. If you call the Blair Clinic, I will take time to answer questions. I've been working on the inside of a Blair clinic since 1994. I've learned a couple of things along the way. If there is a question I don't know, I have an in with the doctor. Let's see. Anything else you would like to add?
I don't think so. Like I was saying, I'm just so grateful that Dr. Addington did get Dr. Elder to come because like I said, I don't know what we would've done because there's no one in this area that does the method. At one time, there wasn't even anyone in Dallas that did it, did the Blair.
Yes, now, there is in Dallas. Yes, there's no other Blair chiropractor at this point that we are recording this within 300 miles. Unfortunately, we do see people who travel quite a bit and it's part of our purpose and vision, and what we're working towards is teaching more doctors so that we can have doctors and mostly, Blair Upper Cervical doctors in mostly every community.
I moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and I traveled 500 miles to come down here once a month to make sure that I stayed in alignment.
You traveled 500 miles once a month?
Once a month, yes, ma'am.
What do you wanna tell us about that? That sounds pretty that's pretty drastic.
That's pretty intense, but you know what, it's nothing like that you wouldn't do, knowing that you're going to be able to get up the next morning and walk, and get around, and do everything that everybody else does and you were not able to do, so you will do anything in this world to keep that up. At that time, like I said, there wasn't very many doctors around that did that. Yes, there's chiropractors, but it's not a chiropractor per se. This is something that's not like anything.
You're talking about Blair Upper Cervical doctor?
Yes, ma'am. There's nothing like that. I'm just telling people, you need to go and get yourself checked because your life may completely change if you do.
You're talking about not being able to walk versus walking, and you were just motivated to keep walking and keep moving.
Yes. You don't want to ever get back to the position that you were in because it is a journey. In 46 years, sure, I've had problems along the way but nothing as serious as I ever was before when I started.
I think we have come to the portion of the program that is-- my name is Ruth and this is the ruthless part of the program. It's where I'm going to ask you some surprise questions about you. If the question is surprising or uncomfortable, you don't have to say, but this is not prepared. I don't think you expected it and they're just random because the reason I'm doing that is we talked about the pain and what it was like to not do normal things, and part having a normal, happy life and be able to do normal things is to have a little fun. Life is better when you're healthy, would you agree?
Yes, it is. It's a whole lot better.
Are you ready?
Yes, ma'am.
If you were to give your younger self, let's say, 18-year-old self, a piece of advice, what would it be?
To live a more normal life. To not do some of the things I've done. When you're 18 years old, you do a lot of things that you don't normally would do, so I would try to take care of myself better, really and truly. That's the main thing.
You think maybe your physical problems came because you got knocked about of it?
I think my physical problem, I was probably a lot younger than that, I was maybe in elementary or some school, or something grade in like that, I don't remember. We had a school store that they sold candy, and they sold ice cream, and they sold cokes, and they sold hot dogs. We would go over at lunch and we'd buy stuff. I was over there one day and I had been not paying attention. I was walking along there and somebody had thrown down a piece of paper with chili on it. I went down, and when I did, man, I landed on my tailbone. I think that's what originally my problem was from.
When you fall on your tailbone, it's like a ripple, a domino effect all the way up.
It took years for it to show up, but still, that bad. Still, I think that's where my problem started.
If you had absolutely no limitations, money was not an issue, age, transportation, you could just do something with no thought of any consequences, what would it be?
I'd just travel. I'd like to see more of the United States. Maybe some countries outside of the United States, but I would travel.
Travel. That's a very common one. If you were a food, what would you be?
Probably an enchilada.
An enchilada.
[laughter]
That's a very Texan thing to say.
[laughter]
It is. We like our Mexican food.
Peggy, I just want to thank you so much for coming on my podcast today. I just know that someone who's going to listen to this is going to find some hope and help from you, and that is why we both decided we wanted to do this. Is that right?
Yes, ma'am. I appreciate you letting me speak. Like I say, I've been coming here about 46 years and I want to get the word out as much as I can, and everything.
You got help because a friend told your mother?
Yes.
I got help because someone told me, and this is just another way to let you know that if you're suffering, there's help available.
Right.
Thanks again.
Thank you.