I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. To be specific Brighton Beach. To be even more specific I went to PS 225 and Lincoln High School.
In 1944 and 1945 I developed pneumonia. It was before penicillin was invented. The first time I was in bed for 4 weeks the second time for 6 weeks. Each time I nearly died. The two experiences severely damaged my lungs and made me susceptible to pneumonia throughout my life.
I did come down with pneumonia at least four or five times in my early years. Each time I got pneumonia I simply went to an emergency unit, had them take an x-ray and diagnosed that I did in fact have pneumonia and then they would write a prescription for me for penicillin. It led one doctor to say that I probably would not live past 75 or 80 years because at that age if I got pneumonia that would probably kill me.
However, about 20 years ago, my wife was seeing a chiropractor. I had a stiff neck so she suggested that I go see her, which I did. She turned out to be a great one. Her name is Julie McLean D.C. After doing some research, I decided to see her every week. Since that time I have not had pneumonia. See my previous article on Why it’s Important to see a Chiropractor even if You have no Pain.
Somewhat before that, maybe 21 years ago, I was under the care of a doctor who shall remain nameless. For several reasons I decided to change to another doctor. On my last visit to that doctor he asked me to walk along a straight line which I did but I think I turned slightly to ask him if that was enough and I slightly lost my balance.This was years before I co-authored a paper on how seniors can avoid falling. In any event because I lost my balance he diagnosed me as having Parkinson’s disease. Also during my last visit he said I had a hernia and would need surgery.
I went to a new doctor and he turned out to be a great doctor. He was from India and his last name was Nimmagadda. On my first visit with Dr Nimmagadda he asked me what medical conditions I had. First I told him that I had Parkinson’s disease. He looked at me and said you don’t have Parkinson’s disease. I asked him how he could tell. He said, if you had Parkinson’s disease you would have no expression on your face because the first thing that Parkinson’s disease does is that it affects the muscles in your cheeks and he said you have the most expressive face I have ever seen, so you don’t have Parkinson’s disease.
The next thing I told him was that I had a hernia and my previous doctor told me I had to have surgery. He replied do you know how to do a plank? I asked, what’s a plank and he demonstrated what a plank was. He then said that if you can do a plank everyday then you may not need surgery and that’s how it all began. Here I am more than 20 years later. I still have a hernia and can do a 7 minute plank. There’s more to my history that is interesting so be sure to come back next week and continue the journey with me.
