EPISODE SUMMARY
Guest: Stacy Schenkel
Stacy Schenkel has lived in Lubbock since 2008 and met Ruth through the Chamber of Commerce. She works at Refuge Services, a nonprofit organization that does equine therapy with children of all ages and adults with special needs, both physically and emotionally. They also have a veteran program where they do psychotherapy incorporating horses.
Stacy suffered an injury, an impact at a music festival. A crowd surfer came from behind and dropped on her head. The impact knocked her down to the ground, and she experienced severe pain. After a week, Stacy went to her primary caregiver and was placed in a c-collar and told to wear it for a week and then go back to normal life. She described her pain as a shooting fire up her neck and into her head. The pain occurred randomly but was more consistent when she was running. She modified her lifestyle and gave up running. Stacy began seeing a regular chiropractor, but she believed that the twisting, jerking, and popping couldn’t be good for her. She followed up with the doctor and had x-rays done and was told she had some bulging discs and that she needed to see a neurosurgeon. After seeing the neurosurgeon, Stacy began physical therapy, which she did for 2-3 months. This would relieve the symptoms for very short periods of time. She also tried muscle relaxers and over-the-counter pain relievers but didn’t believe they were good for her long term.
Stacy talked with Ruth about seeing Dr. Elder. She began the process with a screening to see if she was a candidate for treatment. Once she was adjusted, she stayed in alignment for close to one year. Initially, after her first adjustment, there were follow-up visits just to make sure she was still in alignment. Some symptoms went away right at first. She describes the experience as a totally different concept of chiropractic care. She says the adjustment doesn’t hurt at all. She said the proof that it is effective is that it affected her entire body, from her neck to her ankle. She had an ankle that caused her problems and would swell. It was one of the first things to get better. The shooting pain went away. Stacy uses the words “life-changing” when describing her treatment.
Stacy has this to say about meeting Ruth, “ I'm so grateful, and I don't think it was accidental that you and I met and that I had the opportunity to be your husband's patient. I think it's incredible. I think God guided us where we were to be at that point and time.” Her advice to others is the sooner you can get your neck fixed, the better. She loves seeing people transform, especially from a less-than-traditional type of therapy.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Welcome, welcome, welcome to What Pain In the Neck, the podcast. I'm Ruth Elder, and I am here in Lubbock, Texas with one of the first people I met here in Lubbock and it's my friend, Stacy. Stacy, why don't you say your full name and just introduce yourself?
My name is Stacy Schenkel, and I have lived in Lubbock since 2008 and met Ruth through the Chamber of Commerce.
That's right. I just remember I have this memory of-- we came to Lubbock to run the Blair Clinic. I knew three people in Lubbock-- had met three people, seriously, and they all worked at the Blair Clinic. I needed to do something A, to get friends, and B, to meet some people. I knew that the Chamber of Commerce was really active here. I had read online that the Ambassador Core was really active. The very first thing I did as a Chamber Ambassador, I was invited to some kind of ribbon cutting at-- what's that place you worked? Office something
Officewise Furniture & Supply.
Officewise, that's it. I had moved there two weeks earlier. I think that's when we met.
I think-- yes.
Because you work there at that time, right?
Yes, I did.
All right. Right now you have a name tag that says office manager-- no longer at Officewise.
That's correct. I now work at Refuge Services. We are a nonprofit organization that does equine therapy with children all ages of-- adults with special needs, both physically and emotionally. We also have a veteran program where we do psychotherapy with incorporating horses.
Super interesting. I venture to say it's probably a really good fit for you because I know that you really like and love animals.
I do. I am a dog rescuer and have a soft spot in my heart for animals.
I know that now. I didn't know that at the time when we met. The way the Chamber Ambassadors work is we get together around lots of different businesses and we both went to a lot of events. Do you remember what it was that made you interested in talking to me more and how that came about?
I seem to search out someone that looks like they don't know people, and introduce myself and try to make them feel welcome.
That would be me at the time. I appreciated that.
I've made several good friends that way.
I do the same now. We started talking, and then at what point did you realize that it would turn into something more than just you having a soft spot for me being the newbie?
When you told me about what your husband does, I was definitely interested.
What was it that caught your interest? You don't have to remember word for word, but what was the part of the message that caught your interest?
I had had an injury, an impact at a music festival. A crowd surfer fell on my head.
Oh, my goodness. Can you describe that in detail what that was like? What happened exactly?
It was pretty far back in the crowd and I've never crowd surfed personally, but I knew back of the crowd it wasn't very common. Someone came from behind me and literally dropped on my head.
The whole person?
Yes.
On top of your head?
Knocked me down, took me to the ground and I experienced-
Did you pass out?
No, but I was in severe pain.
How long did the pain last?
A week probably. I went to my primary caregiver and she got a c-collar for me, told me to wear it for a week, and then I could just go back to normal life.
Did you?
I did as she said, but I did not go back to normal life.
Why don't you tell us about that? What wasn't normal? What kind of things were you going through?
The main thing is when I did normal activities I would be going along and things would be normal, and then all of a sudden they wouldn't be. I had a pain that I described as a shooting fire going up my neck and over to my scalp and forking. It was one-sided.
It'd be a shooting pain?
Yes.
Was it through your face, or through your head, or through your neck or--?
It was through my head from the back of my neck and on the side.
How often would that happen?
It was random. I could just flip my hair and it might happen, or I could be washing my hair in the shower, and all of a sudden have it if I turn my head a certain way. I was a runner and that's when I had more consistent pain in my--
When you were running?
Yes.
That was more of a constant pain rather than the shooting pain?
It was still the shooting pain, but it was like it was firing off repeatedly.
Oh, my goodness. The thing that used to really help you was now hurting you?
Yes. No doubt.
Pretty big impact.
Yes, definitely. I just modified my lifestyle-- I pretty much gave up running.
Oh, no.
I walked but I gave up running and I sought out additional help by going to a regular chiropractor. I've been to the chiropractor before. That was not a new experience. In my mind that jerking and popping and cracking couldn't possibly be good. I did follow up with my primary care doctor later and she had x-rays done. I was told I had some bulging discs, and she wanted to send me to a neurosurgeon.
I actually canceled the appointment and asked her-- I returned to my primary care person and asked, "Could I not do physical therapy? Would that benefit me?" She said, "Yes, but I want to make sure that you see the neurosurgeon first so that I'll know if you're in a car accident you're not going to die because it's impinging on your nerves." She was afraid that if I had some severe trauma that the outcome would not be good.
What happened at that point?
I did go see the neurosurgeon and got cleared to do physical therapy, which I did for probably a couple of months, weekly.
You went once a week?
Yes.
All right. What happened? I know you got exercises and--
I did some exercises, but the thing that gave me the most relief was traction. I'd lie down horizontally and put my head into this device and it would stretch my neck out. I would stay in it for I think 10 to 15 minutes. That gave me great relief until a couple more days and then the pain would return.
We started this conversation with when we met. I'm actually a little bit unsure of the timeline here. When you had the accident, how long from you had that accident till you started physical therapy?
A considerable length of time.
Considerable like weeks, months, years?
Years.
Years? Oh, my, so you suffered a lot.
I did
A long time. We left it at physical therapy. How long were you doing that therapy for?
I think it was a couple of months, maybe three months at the most. I was getting relief but it was obvious it was not a long-term solution.
It wasn't healing. It was just giving you relief.
Relief from the symptoms.
That was for two to three months. Was that about the time we met or was there some time in between there?
There was a short amount of time, maybe a few months. This is what I'm the most curious about. Here I am, brand new to town, you don't know me, you are just a nice to me because you're a nice person. You thought she probably needs someone to talk to and I did and I appreciated it. Then you have this serious problem and you've been to a neurologist, and physical therapy, and chiropractor. I'm telling you something. I probably said, "We're a chiropractor, but we specialize and we do something a little different." That was pretty brave to want to even listen to me. Do you remember what it was that made you decide to even consider talking to me about that?
It was several things actually. You were very informative as to the process. I thought, well, this is something different. I don't want to keep doing the same thing if it doesn't work. I thought I need to check this out. I need to look into if I'm a good candidate.
Actually, that's a great way to put it. Somehow you understood that and that is often what I say because our process starts with just tests. When you talk to me I didn't know if you were a good candidate either before the tests were run. That's how we always start. A lot of people think and I still usually get met with suspicion a lot of times.
If I scheduled the screening they're going to make up something and make me go through a whole rigmarole, but it actually is exactly what you said. We only want to take you on if we think we can find something that we can help you. If we can't then we would help you figure out what's the next step. It's how our process works. I may have said something similar to what I just said. Does that ring a bell?
Yes, it does. I believe I actually went for a free initial screening.
This was really early days because we were in Dr. Blair's original clinic that we now fondly call the museum. [laughter] What did you think when you walked into that very old building on Avenue Q and 34th?
I got the feeling that this was a new adventure for you and Dr. Elder because there were no additional staff.
Yes, we have to start almost from scratch.
Yes. The decor was clearly dated, which I love mid-century. That's great. It was actually inspirational and--
It truly was original mid-century. It had been there untouched pretty much since mid-century.
I really did love that.
Yes.
It lit a certain eerie of authenticity to the process because a lot of people who practice anything are in it for the mission but also to make money. As they grow they reflect that in the surroundings. I thought this is the real deal because they're serious about what they do. They don't care about putting on a show and I was all into checking it out.
Thank you. Those are very kind. It's how we feel about it. It's really meaningful to hear you describe it like that. What I really would like to know when you came in for the screening and you had the test run, what was that like? What happened and how did you feel about it? Why don't you talk about that?
The first testing was very thorough, I thought. Just all the processes, the tools that Dr. Elder uses, I was fascinated and I still am by how they work and-
Yes, it's different.
It is, it is very different. Rather than somebody just saying, "Okay, lay down, we're going to do this, we're going to push here and we're going to do that." Y'all wanted to know exactly where the problem was, and again, if I was a candidate.
Obviously, you were. He must have found the problem. Then he explained the problem and then what happened next?
There was a follow-up testing as well and that just blew my mind. Having to stand on scales on different feet, and go through the alignment grid that was done. It was very eye-opening. It showed me just how out of alignment I was. One hip more forward, one hip more up and shoulders. You don't even realize these things as you go through your daily life that you are out of alignment pretty much everywhere.
Then after those tests, he explained the findings.
He did.
Then back in those days you had to go to a dentist office to get a CT scan done.
That is right.
Because we didn't have our own machine yet.
Yes.
At that clinic, we had a very, very old x-ray machine. We just decided to upgrade the technology when we came. These days it's much easier. It would've been easier for you to start these days because we can do everything in-house. To me personally, the looking at those pictures, the CT scans is the most exciting part because everybody is as different on the inside as they are on the outside. Everybody's injury is different from everybody else's. To be able to actually see it I feel like it's the most important thing. I don't know, was there a sense where you could-- do you have any memories of that?
I just remember thinking that it would be addressing the core of the problem. Then that was incredible that you could pinpoint it to a specific cervical vertebrae.
That's what motivated you?
Yes.
Because again, I'm sitting here in awe, like you would be brave enough after all the serious things that you had to move forward with something so different.
Yes. One of the things the doctor had done for me was prescribe some muscle relaxers and told me to take over-the-counter pain relief. That's not how I wanted to live. I wanted to address the problem, not the symptoms.
Did it?
It did. When I tell my story the words I use are life-changing.
Really?
Absolutely.
In what way?
Once I was in alignment, once I was adjusted, I stayed in adjusted for an extended period of time.
When you say extended period of time, I don't mean an exact amount. Are we talking a few days, a few weeks, a few months?
It was close to a year.
Really, so you had one adjustment in the first year approximately?
Yes. I had to pick up a five gallon water jug at work, and that was the first time that I had to be realigned.
[laughter] You picked it up awkward and stressed something?
Yes.
Unfortunately, despite the healing once you've had an injury, even if it can get to be really good. Most of the time be a little bit of a weakness there. When you said you had one adjustment, you had more than one appointment?
Yes. There were weekly follow-ups to just make sure I was still aligned.
It was weekly at first and then it gets got spaced out. If it was a yea, you're probably at that point were having checkups about once a month, would be my guess?
Yes, I reached that point, and then the spacing just grew longer before the need for follow-up.
I want to ask you two questions here-- two follow-up questions. What was the adjustment like and what did you think when you had it? Then once you had that adjustment you went through a healing period, did everything go away all at once, or was it gradual, was it up and down? What was it like?
There were some things that did go away right at first. The adjustment was, of course, like nothing I'd ever experienced because it's a totally different concept of chiropractic care.
Did it hurt?
Not at all.
Did you think it was a hoax because you didn't feel it?
I'm very optimistic.
If that's true.
That was not my thought.
That was not your thought.
Yes.
That's good. [laughs]. That's true. You are one of the most positive people I know.
Thank you.
I like that about you.
After the initial adjustment and then the little brief resting time before getting back in my car to go onto something else. It was actually on a Friday, and I have some issues with an ankle and it stays swollen. One of my coworkers and I had talked about it a short time before. I went to work and I told my coworker, "Look at my ankle." She said, "What did you do? The swelling is gone." [laughter] I said, "I had my neck adjusted." [laughter]
It's so cool.
Then that showed me that it was legitimate. That it wasn't an outrageous concept or anything and I didn't think it was, but it was proof.
The proof is in the pudding.
Exactly. It was proof that it affects your entire body, from my neck to my ankle. [laughs] That was pretty remarkable for me, yes. That was right away that that happened pretty much, but other things did get better with the time.
When you say other things, what things did you notice?
I had a knee and a hip that would bother me from time to time, and that pretty much went away. [laughs]
That's good. That's good. This was-- must have been around five years ago?
I'm thinking so.
If we were in that building and it was shortly after we came here it was around five years ago. Maybe five years and a month or two from-- and here we are talking today. What's been the long-term process and how are you today?
That shooting pain that I had all often has completely gone away.
That's good.
Completely.
We continue to be friends.
Yes, we do.
From time to time you do come and get checked, is that correct?
Yes. There have been situations where I feel a little off, and if it's persistent I'll come and be checked. There are a lot of times when no adjustment is needed, but a lot of-- it's about 50/50 probably.
If you're feeling something sometimes it's gone, slipped back out, and then sometimes it hasn't?
Right.
Unfortunately, after a trauma like that even as we put it back in place and correct it a lot of times there'd be a little bit of a weakness there. It's a smart thing to do to come and get checked. Before we move on to the next thing. When I say checked, how strenuous, how difficult and inconvenient is it for you to come and get checked? Is it a big deal?
It's really not. You have different types of equipment. Basically, I just lay down on a standing massage table and get lowered with my face looking out. The graph is run and Dr. Elder does a lot of things using my feet and ankles and directs me to push in or push out.
One of the tests that he does to check and see if the neck is in alignment is actually checking to see if your feet look level. Because if there's a nerve pinch there it creates a muscle spasm that travels down your whole spine and pulls one hip up, and it looks like one leg is short. Turns out the nerve supply goes all the way from the neck all the way down to your ankle as you discovered in the beginning. It's pretty interesting.
Yes, it is. It's a fascinating idea.
It's a little bit more than what we're doing in this episode to explain how all that works. I just wanted to give a picture of. It's not you haven't been coming three times a week, it's not all the time. It's just once in a while you come in and get it checked just for peace of mind.
Yes, I would say four to six months or longer.
That's great. That's the smart thing to do when you've had a big trauma like that, and you've gone through the process of healing you don't want to start going backwards-
Definitely.
-and get back to that. I feel like it's a small investment to keep on top of it and get checked every few months.
I totally agree because it's quality of life.
It's so fun. This is why I'm doing this podcast and this is why I'm doing what I do with my life. Is what lit the fire in the first place, watching people get their life back. It's like you are hearing neck pain, bulging disc, an accident, and it's easier to go, "Yes. Okay. Yes, one of those." This impacted your life all day, every day.
Absolutely.
Then when you started to heal you got your life back.
Yes. Incredible.
That is fair to say, right?
Absolutely. I'm so grateful and I don't think it was accidental that you and I met, and that I had the opportunity to be your husband's patient. I think it's incredible. I think God guided us where we were to be at that point and time.
Actually, that was my thing back then because it was so overwhelming to be here and be brand new in Lubbock and have-- I felt like it was such a big work. I would just every morning just say, "God lead me to the right people today." I suppose I still should start every single morning and pray that. Sometimes I do and sometimes I pray other things, but it's still true today.
I just love watching that transformation. Stacy, do you have any advice for other people that are suffering and have had an injury? Whether it's in their neck or something else, some big trauma happened in a split second and then their life is changed. What do you tell that person?
I would 100% tell them to come to see Gordon, Dr. Elder, because that's the hub of your nerve system right there. Just like my primary care physician said, "I wanted to make sure you didn't become a paraplegic or die in a car accident."
That might be part of the process that happens in that screening, what other things do we need to do? Do we need to send you to a neurologist? Do we need some other orthopedic tests? What is the whole picture? Definitely, the nerves that are traveling through the upper neck is an essential part of that process.
Absolutely, it should be the first go-to.
Most of the time.
If you don't have an injury that's taking you to the emergency room this is your first stop.
I will say if there's like true trauma, obviously, if you break your leg or there's true trauma you go to the emergency room first. Yes, it should be if you know about it. I have seen that as well that people who know, or maybe it's one of our patients that already come here and they have a trauma, so they know to call us right away. The suffering is substantially less. The healing can start sooner. The long-term effects are less.
Absolutely.
The sooner you can get it fixed the better. I will add to what you said that, yes, it's important to come here and of course, we will check you out. I agree with everything you said. Also part of our process is a full evaluation, and our main goal is getting people the help they need. I will say that when there's trauma it doesn't have to be the end of your life. Even if it's been a really long time and you've tried a bunch of things, there's more things that you can try.
That's for sure and still go to the concerts. [laughter]
Yes, truly, because we're talking about getting your life back, so you don't want to keep living in fear, right?
That's right.
You want to be able to do that. Also not be afraid that you'll have shooting, stabbing pain through your head while you're there.
Absolutely. I've seen some great concerts since then and had my daughters with me for some and we've had a really good time.
Hopefully, somebody falling on your head is a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Also, the nice thing now is if something happens you have another tool in your toolbox to deal with it. Also even more significantly because you're a nice person. You're here spreading that message that if there's trauma there's help available.
Without a doubt.
Stacy, is there something else that you're wanting to say that I haven't asked you about?
Just with what I do now, I occasionally work with clients, and that could involve me walking around holding onto some little kiddo's belt for an hour with my arm raised above my head.
Because they're sitting up on a horse?
Yes.
They're sitting up on a horse and you're holding onto them?
Exactly. I don't think I would be able to do that had I not found help for my neck here.
Actually holding arms overhead is pretty strenuous on the neck if you have an injury.
It definitely is. I still feel it but I don't have the pain in the neck. It's just like a--
What pain in the neck?
Right. Exactly. [laughter] It's just is attention created from holding my arm up there for so long.
Yes. The muscles get tired. That's normal.
That's something we have in common is seeing people transform from a less traditional type of therapy.
Actually, it's a little outside the scope of this episode, but it is something that we are really passionate about, and it's another thing that my husband and I, or here at the Blair Clinic we work very hard to build relationships with all kinds of providers. All kinds of specialties so that when people do come in for that screening we have the whole toolbox available. If it turns out we're not the answer or maybe we're only part of the answer, we have all these other places that we can recommend and send people to. That's pretty cool.
It is. It's wonderful.
I want to come out and see your place sometimes.
Oh, you should.
I don't know if I could come and get a tour.
You certainly could.
I would love to do that and then I can tell our listeners about it.
Absolutely.
Is there anything else we haven't talked about that you wanted to say?
I don't think so.
Do you have a motivational quote or a life verse or something like that, that motivates you day to day?
I actually have a lot of things, but something that I could try to think about every day is, you never know when someone is suffering physically or emotionally, and to just be kind and have grace for people. They may be in pain.
That sums up who you are.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for your time. I think that that is the spirit that you talked to us today as well.
Thank you.
I appreciate you.
I appreciate the opportunity to let people know how my life has been changed.
Yes. Thank you.