Now you have to understand that I had never been to one, so the thought of having my back "cracked" scared the heck out of me. That was pretty much the last thing I wanted to do at that point; however, I was in a lot of pain and great discomfort so I was willing to try anything. After having gone to visit my boyfriend, his mother decided that it was her Chiropractor I should see as he was the best, and has spoken at many conferences and written many articles. Seeing as I didn't know whom to even see for my Chiropractic care I decided to call the next morning.

On the morning of October 16th, 2000 I called the office of Dr. Jeffrey Ptak, Chiropractor. As soon as I introduced myself, they already knew exactly who I was. Margaret (my boyfriends' mother) had been there and explained the whole thing. They asked me to come that evening for an information session and made an appointment to see Dr. Jeff the next day.

I was skeptical at first, who needs an information session to have a doctor's appointment? I learned so much that evening. I had no idea what Chiropractic care could do for you. I thought it was just for back and joint problems, but the fact that it actually starts with your immune and nervous systems intrigued me. You see, I was constantly sick with flu, cold, strep throat, fatigue, you name it, if it went around I caught it. What could I lose, I was in so much pain I could hardly walk at this point, and the handfuls of Advil were making me feel so sick. Little did I know what Chiropractic would do for me.

On the morning of the 17th I went to see Dr. Jeff. After my scan, x-rays, and a consultation he did my first adjustment. Wow! Although not cured what a difference. I was told I would need to come back each day that week, to stop with Advil, and once Jeff studied my scan and x-rays he would come up with a plan of care for me to get back to my pre-accident state. That seemed impossible to me, but I was willing to try if he thought he could help me. I needed to remain positive if it was going to work and I desperately wanted it too.

At my next adjustment, Dr. Jeff had examined my scan and x-rays in detail. I was to have an adjustment everyday for three weeks and then we would reassess. I was looking at approximately 18 months of care to get to my pre-accident state, which seemed like and eternity. Upon further discussion with Dr. Jeff, I discovered that he could not only help with my accident injuries, but also many other health problems I was having, primarily, my menstrual cramps and constipation problem. I had suffered from severe menstrual problems since the age of 16 and had always my entire life had constipation issues. This would be a miracle if he could help me rid my body of these problems. Doc also told me that most people find a "gift" after such a traumatic experience. I would just have to wait to see what that was.

After my three weeks of care I was reassessed and told I could graduate to 3 times a week for 12 weeks and be reassessed again. This continued and I felt better everyday. Still, I found no gift, Dr. Jeff said it would take a while, but I would find it, everyone always has. After graduating to twice a week, he declared me the poster child for 2001. I was sailing through my care and could only attribute it to my positive attitude and striving to get better. Another assessment showed I could graduate yet again to once a week!

The night before my next evaluation, almost one year to the day of my accident, I still had found no gift. I stayed up most of the night thinking about it. I was angry, had I missed it, could I be the one person who wouldn't get one? As I got into the shower the next morning, it came to me. My gift had arrived.

I couldn't get to Jeff's office fast enough to share it with him, how could I not have seen or known it. It was obvious, it was right in front of me the whole time. After my evaluation, I knew I would be graduating to maintenance as I had come to my pre-accident state. Finally I would get to tell Dr. Jeff my story. I proceeded to tell him that it had been 9 months since I was really sick. I had had a cold, but it only lasted 2 days. I hadn't had any severe cramping since my first adjustment and I felt fabulous. For the first time in years I wasn't tired. I had energy; I felt alive and was happier than I had ever been. My gift was my health and seeing the positive side to things. I could never have imagined how wonderful I would feel.

Dr. Jeff confirmed that I could graduate to maintenance. He was astounded that we were able to do it so fast, originally we had thought a full 18 months of care would be needed, but after only 49 weeks I graduated to a maintenance schedule. Positive attitude is what it was, you will never get better if you don't want to or try to.

~ M. S.

I love and appreciate you and your staff, and all the time you take outside of your practice to inform us about health. It's literally taken me a lifetime (I was sick with bronchitis and tonsillitis five times a year as a kid) to remember who I really am, perfect, whole and complete.

I hold you and Patricia in my heart and prayers as you embark on this miraculous roller coaster of giving life. I'm sure all your friends have told you, go every where you can NOW. The baby will only be quiet for another few months, at best, because it will start to kick pretty soon.

I can't wait to meet your child. I know he/she is God's miracle. You're going to make awesome parents. Don't worry! Life takes care of everything.

Love,
Odette

I did not include in my instructions for parents, especially parents with difficult or unusual deliveries, that their infants might benefit from adjustments made by a principled and reputable practitioner. I had never been to a Chiropractor and knew little about the benefits, and nothing about subluxation. My husband, on the other hand, had found Dr. Jeffrey Ptak and chronic back problems that had plagued him since Vietnam were finally relieved. His panic attacks, for which he has been taking medication for years, have become manageable and he no longer takes any medication.

My personal involvement with Dr. Jeff began in January 1999 when I was told that I must have surgery to remove part of my cervix. Surgery was in my mind a last resort. I have always felt that there must be a less offensive way to restored health, and wanted an approach that included connection to the Source of all being. My husband convinced me that I was looking for Dr. Jeffrey Ptak. I was ready for what for what Jeff was imparting to his patients. The teacher had appeared! So I began the trice-weekly routine that has greatly altered and enhanced my teaching and my life. More importantly, it has also worked wonders on a little person who is very special to me.

Last January, as I began 'adjusting" to a new way of living, I became very concerned about my grandchild, a lovely baby girl named Nayelli. I was present at her birth and witness to interventions that were deemed 'medically' necessary. My daughter's 'labor' began... artificially induced with Pitocin, and ended 36 hours later with a 200 pound doctor pulling on Nayelli's skull with a vacuum aspirator. Nayelli's head was badly misshapen with a very large cone-like swelling. Having witnessed many births, including 5 of my own, I was shocked at the sight of this tiny person. My daughter did not fare too well either. She began hemorrhaging about an hour after giving birth, and spent the night being worked over until the bleeding was brought under control.

Once Nayelli was safely home, everything appeared normal; mother and daughter were adjusting nicely. However, around three months of age, when babies usually become very social and love looking at and connecting with faces, Nayelli seemed to avoid connecting to people. It was almost as if she was overloaded and had to disconnect. She would look to the side, rather than directly at any one. She did this, even, with the people who loved her.

At first, I, alternately, worried about possible autism or a genetic disorder. My daughter checked with her pediatrician, who recommended a specialist: and my husband and I advised our daughter to take Nayelli to Dr. Jeff.Just prior to her sixth month birthday, Nayelli visited the Chiropractor. Within two or three adjustments, Nayelli began to connect continuously, and her smiling little face was the first thing I saw when I made my usual visits. Her grandpa was so relieved and overjoyed with her progress that he made sure she saw Dr. Jeff regularly, by taking her himself. In just one month's time, Nayelli's has changed from a somber, cautious child to an exuberant little mass of humanity. I couldn't be happier. My family and I feel fortunate to have found Dr. Jeff in time to change the probably difficult future my grandchild might have had to endure. My belief in beginning at the beginning, by helping parents get what they need to raise great kids now includes working to remove those first subluxations.

Chiropractic is great for kids!

Now my college and high school classes include references to the drug free Chiropractic side of LIFE. Just as I have special guest speak regarding the conventional side of child birth and child rearing, I, also give equal time to Dr. Jeff to present the case for chiropractic adjustments which opens us up to the Wisdom that made and maintains our body, if we once get out of the way.

~ Marilyn M.

Friends told me to seek out famous psychic healers. I went to see two "world famous" psychic healers, and then two faith healers who told me that my problems were in fact "spiritual" problems and that they would " end them upon our meeting." But what they termed to be "demonic shuddering," and not seizures, continued to plague me daily. In desperation, I sought spiritual help from Buddhist and Hindu mystics who told me the same thing. A "bad karma thing," they said, "from another life." Nothing they did, or had me do, spiritually, helped. They told me that they had never seen anyone so demonized. I began wondering how long I could endure without going totally insane. I thought I was burning and mortifying in hell. After years of heartbreaking disappointments, I found myself in a severe suicidal depression. I lived in a totally helpless and hopeless state, aloof, afraid to tell my family and friends because of what it might do to them.

Then one day, it was suggested by a friend that I visit Dr. Jeff Ptak. I had been developing a new ailment that was very acute, pain and numbness from my neck down to my left hand. At first I rejected the idea but then the pain got stronger the numbness more pervasive, and I began to have weakness in my left hand. I finally submitted.

One my first visit Dr. Ptak and his staff began by educating me as to why and how Chiropractic was unique and different from all other forms of health care that is available anywhere today. He then did a diagnostic test (EMG and thermal scan) on my spine, and told me that I should be in extremely poor health, as the results showed that my Atlas vertebrae (1st bone, top of the spine) was 289% in a crisis state. Jeff showed deep concern and explained again how the life-giving currents originating in the brain, that would normally flow down my spine and throughout my nervous system (to give healing power, strength, and health), were being severely blocked at the Atlas where the brain stem is housed.

I asked him if that might cause "seizures," and he explained that it is only logical to assume that contained and restrained energies would discharge in the brain being blocked from traveling their normal pathways down the spine. Dr. Ptak told me that I should be extremely fatigued and in poor health from the "Atlas problem" (subluxation) alone. With much hesitation I began to tell Dr. Jeff all of my symptoms and all that I have done from the demonic shuddering and chronic fatigue to the neurological problems and my seizures. "No wonder you are having constant seizures, fatigue and mental imbalances. No wonder you've been incapable to heal over the years from the least little thing," said Ptak. "Together we are going to end all of your problems." I thought he was "way over the top," making such a bold statement to someone in my condition. Heal me? After all I have been through? A "chiropractor" is going to heal me of my problems? "No way," I thought.

Then after listening and hearing Dr. Jeff's simple teaching and looking closely at my own diagnostic tests, I realized that every major body problem I had had showed up on my diagnostic tests as a "crisis" on the EMG and Thermal Scan. Then Dr. Jeff's "lighted spinal nerve chart" verified all the suffering areas of my body, showing that they stemmed from the Atlas vertebrae. That impressed me very much, and Dr. Ptak's Law of Health in relation to life-force energy made total sense to me. Then I was shown my spinal X-Rays, and they looked really bad. Total arthritis, with sharp protruding bones that had grown, like teeth, with spurs joining my neck vertebras--causing nerve damage. It made me ill to look at it, but Dr. Jeff boldly and confidently told me, "I've healed worse. So don't you worry." So I went back every day for 2 weeks and 3-4 times per week for an additional month. I was in total pain in my neck, wore a neck brace per Jeff's instructions, and even did home traction as he suggested. I really had my doubts and I was in much fear. My arm was numbed, my hand was weak, my neck hurt, and my seizures continued. And all the while Dr. Ptak remained confident of my healing, encouraging me each visit and reminding me that time, repetition and effort was the only way.

After still a few more weeks I started to think that I am not going to go back. It was a little traumatizing, and my mind started telling me that no "chiropractor" was going to end my problems. That same morning I went to my mailbox and there was a letter from Dr. Ptak not to let the trauma and thoughts keep me from coming back. He told me that the best and quickest way to heal, to end all the pain, and gain my vibrant health once again, was to unceasingly put myself through it. "Continue to come 4 days per week, ice and endure it," he told me. And his letter was WAY too synchronistic, so I figured he must know what he is doing. So I hung in there, and after another month and a half of many weekly visits I awakened one morning to the thought that I hadn't been awakened by seizures in a couple of days--as I had been each morning for years.

I had slept passed 6 AM, for the first time in 6 years. Then a few more days passed and nothing, no seizures. Shortly after this time, I began feeling strength in my body that I hadn't felt in years. My neck pain was gone. The numbness and weakness in my arm and hand and resolved. I was truly a new person. It was at this time that I felt that I could reduce the frequency of my visits. Dr. Jeff disagreed but I felt great and wanted to live my life. Over that next 2 months my seizures began to return. I had 2 or 3 in March and April. Dr. Ptak assured me that I was not starting up with my seizures again I just needed to stay consist with our care plan, and given time, my seizures would in fact not return and the frequency of our care will lessen. He told me I was still under corrective care and that my maintenance program was still down the road.

After 6 years of devastating everyday 40-60 seizures, misdiagnosed and turned away unhelped by medical experts, completely overcome with fear and with feelings of helplessness and hopelessness and brought to a desperate suicidal state, and "a few neck adjustments" ended my problems? I would have never believed it. I now have joy, energy and hope that I thought I would never have again. Today, I am out of my neck brace and healing nicely. I no longer have to take mega doses of vitamins each day just to get out of bed, and I can now function like a normal person.

In closing I would like to say that I cannot give enough praises to Dr. Jeff Ptak. It was his sincere concern and confidence, along with his outgoing kindness and love, that engendered an enduring trust that allowed me to go the distance. He has brought me from the depths of despair, pain, and depression, to joy and health and has made me a believer in his expert ability to diagnose complex problems, that other doctors cannot, and his remarkable method of healing. To all of you that are struggling, please hang in there. If I had stopped when I thought I should have I never would have been able to re-experience good health, joy and happiness again. Please follow your plan and see it through. Thank you Dr. Jeff. Thank you Chiropractic.

Sincerely,
"Name Withheld"