A New Format

Since I've hardly used this blog, and when I did it was either a for a rant or a good story to tell, I figure I will use it as an educational tool. I am completely revamping my business, my websites, my resume, and now my blog. I still have yet to figure out how to incorporate the Blogspot site into other sites, like you can with WordPress. I'm becoming more in tune with these things, thanks to some help I am getting these days from fellow business professionals. One reason why I haven't been very successful in business is because I always tried to go it alone. Those days are over. Networking with likeminded people is crucial in this day and age. I once complained that it's because people do not like my autistic mannerisms. BUT, that is something people don't even find out about until they've walked through my door. Getting people to do THAT much is the trick!

So, in the days to come this blog will be used to give little health and wellness tips. Nothing fancy, nothing controversial. My newest venture is to get out of the office more and onto the road. The Sufletesc Center has become Mobile Integrated Health Solutions. Mobile does not mean that I am going back to doing house calls. Doing that is how I ended up with chronic pain in my shoulder, which has since healed up nicely. It does mean that I will make business-to-business "house calls" to places like trucking companies, private offices, community events, etc. "Integrated" means that I not only offer chiropractic care, but I also do D.O.T. physicals, employee health screening, employment & athletic physicals, and functional medicine services, just like I always have. This is the new deal. For the time being, I will be serving all of Minnesota from Duluth to Fergus Falls to Worthington onward to the southeast.

For more information about what I've been up to lately, you can see my NEW website at http://www.mihsUSA.com . Or, you can follow me as I take the show on the road on my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Saint-Louis-Park-MN/Mobile-Integrated-Health-Solutions/126862493842?ref=ts . There's more to come!

The Next Chapter

It's been more than a month since I last wrote. My writing habit comes and goes. For a while I have a ton of stuff running through my head. Then I go into that "empty box" where my head just doesn't feel like thinking of anything. Since I last wrote, I hopped back on the "what am I really supposed to be doing with myself" wagon. Thanks to that autistic tendency to want to try to fit in with different groups of people to see where you can fit in, I ended up losing my job as a security guard at the theater here in Minneapolis. People complained because I said things, rather I wrote things on their Facebook page, that made them feel uncomfortable. My explanation was that being autistic makes it hard for people to draw the boundary lines between what should be said when and to whom. This much is really true. But the fact that they fired me for it and merely relocated another guard to another position led me to file a charge of discrimination with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. I'm not even going to follow up on it, really. Whatever happens happens, and in the meantime I have moved on.

While being a "healer" always ends up being the answer to what I was really meant to do in life, building a clientele continues to be my weakest point. I can help a three-month old overcome colic when everything else failed, I can help a family member overcome vertigo when a medical doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong, I can uncover deeply-rooted emotional hangups that keep a person sick thanks to medical intuition, but I can't build a practice. Go figure. Just last night I figured that I really shouldn't be surprised. After all, not knowing how to correspond appropriately and with the right people has ALWAYS been my downfall. It still continues to be my downfall. But just like Dr. Temple Grandin, if not for the people who knew of her gift and stuck up for her, she probably would have succumbed to the same lack of social propriety.

On that note, I recently decided to make lemonade out of lemons. I designed a class specifically on living with autism spectrum disorders -- a class about ASDs taught by an audie. What a concept! I advertised it to several local community education programs, 117 of them to be exact. So far, I have about six of them that I scheduled this class with for their upcoming Fall community ed programs. I am also taking this opportunity to seek out the advice of a psychologist who may be able to give me some practical advice. The one who has experience working with audies was all booked up (surprise surprise). So the one I will have an appointment with this coming Wednesday specializes in anxiety disorders and depression. I can't say I have any issues there, but at least it was something that stood out as different from the rest of the people on my insurance provider list. The difference is that I know where to start -- I am a person with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder. I didn't know that just 13 months ago.

I guess there really is no "next chapter". I am just revisiting the previous one, but now knowing what my shortcoming is. And it's something I'll have to deal with and make known to potential employers. I have gone back to trying to promote myself through making phone calls and proposals for providing chiropractic and examination services. I even list in my most current brochure that I myself live with an ASD. I pretty much had to do that in hopes of cutting down on the amount of strange looks I get if and when people visit my office and see somebody they judge as not being "doctor-like". I have to make do with what is and forget about what isn't. Another thing I am looking into is what possibility there might be that I can get some kind of disability compensation. Sure I can work. But functioning is a different story. Functioning as a "neurotypical" may always be an impossibility. It would be nice if there was somebody who could walk in front of me whenever I am going to make a presentation or reach out to a new contact and say, "Here is a physician who can help you, as long as you overlook the fact that he may act differently because he is autistic."

Audies DO live in a world of their own. It is up to the neurotypical to learn how to coexist with them and communicate with them in a meaningful, functional, non-judgmental, progressive way.

A New Venue

A light bulb went on in my head just a couple days ago. I started putting together some of the pieces of the puzzle of my life in a more meaningful way. First, I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and I do not have the ability to get out there and promote myself and be present during the daytime hours. Second, thanks to the early days of this CFS problem when I was pretty much houseridden, I became hooked to the internet. I still spend quite a bit of time online, just not in chatrooms anymore. Yes, I have my doctorate degree, which I've felt is going to waste for quite some time because I have not been successful in business. So, how can I get myself out there AND make money at the same time. All this time I've been focusing on creating my websites, tweaking them, making up brochures and ads, all to promote myself. In the past year or less, I started answering questions in different health forums, and I found that I really enjoy that very much. So, finally, it dawned on me what I should do.

The question came to me, "How can I answer people's health related questions online AND get paid for it?" I'm actually quite surprised that I hadn't thought of it sooner. The answer is -- by creating a virtual office. That is what I am in the process of doing now. I found a website where people can call in or write to experts in different categories. If they approve of my credentials and profiles, then away we go. If they do not, then I'll create my own forum on the website that I already have, and I'll advertise it all over the place. All you have to do is click a button and you have me in a chatroom, live and at your service. I already know what I will be charging, and I already have about a year of experience doing this online. Now let's see what happens. It WILL be up and running soon. It's just a matter of how many people I can attract. I figure I can't be invisible forever. Yes, I am here to serve, as a physician, as a healer, as a shoulder to lean on for people who are in need. This IS my calling.

Recently my wife and I saw the movie "The Proposal". Although a very funny movie indeed, there was one somber moment where a question of mine was answered out of the blue. Because of my floundering business success, I had been asking myself lately what it is I was REALLY meant to do. I figured that I wasn't being very successful because I wasn't doing the right thing. Then Betty White answered my question in the movie with this line: "Whatever you do, that's what you'll be." Now it's no mystery to me. I'll keep being what I always was -- a healing practitioner. Let's see how this new venue works out.

On Being Aligned With The Divine

I am in the process of listening to the new audio presentation of Dr. Wayne Dyer's "Excuses Begone". It is a powerful presentation, and many of the things he says I have never heard before. That's what makes it special. The main message is that we should throw out every excuse we ever used for our not being able to accomplish something and instead think from an "awareness" perspective. The "awareness" part means that all that exists is a manifestation of God. Thus, acting from the awareness that we ARE The Divine made manifest means that excuses should never enter the picture. Excuses are the product of the ego, not of God. Also, the more we think about what we SHOULD be doing, where we SHOULD be, how much money we SHOULD be making, etc., we are thinking from the perspective of the ego. God simply is, and God simply does -- as us, through us.

Yes, I have accomplished quite a bit in my life. I've suffered many health challenges. I've had many life experiences, both as a hospital patient and as a health care provider. I've earned a graduate degree. I have a lovely wife and home. I like where I live. The positives in my life are many. However, taking to heart what Dr. Dyer points out, and what many great sages throughout the millenia have said, I find it odd that God would be content with being sedentary. If God is acting through me, as me, then he must really enjoy having all these ways in which he can love people and help them without actually having anybody coming into the office to receive. Interesting concept. Rather humorous, at that.

So, anyway, I had some ideas of what I wanted to write. But I think I just used them all. It's 5:00 in the morning now, and I really need to get to bed. I have to go back to my $11 an hour job as a security guard in a theater this afternoon.

Enter The "Holistic Physician"

Last week while I was working at my security job at the Guthrie Theater, I got talking to a couple of the ushers. Most of the people I work with already know that I am a chiropractor. But what they don't know is that I am very holistic in how I care for my patients. "I address all of my patients' health concerns," I said at one point in the conversation. At that moment, one of the ushers I was talking to perked up and started asking me all these questions about her high blood pressure problems. She wanted to know what natural ways there are to take care of it. I then thought to myself that THIS is why I became a doctor -- to help people with their health concerns in a holistic way. I didn't become a "back pain specialist," and I really hate being mistaken for one. Even though my business card says that I am a "holistic chiropractor," the word "chiropractor" insinuates, in most people's mind, that I take care of only back pain and headaches. I've been in health care for over 26 years now in many different capacities. I certainly never intended to limit myself by becoming a chiropractor!

What people DO understand is the word "physician". D.D. Palmer, the founder of the chiropractic profession, always frowned on chiropractors who would call themselves "chiropractic physicians". Many medical doctors with an ego would also frown upon a chiropractor considering himself to be any kind of physician. I've always been neutral to using this term because, as the Latin origin of the word "physician" implies, a physician is a practitioner of a "natural science". (Source: the Online Etymology Dictionary) So the question would then be, could I simply call myself a "holistic physician"? To answer that, I turned to the good ol' internet, that magical land where all knowledge can be bestowed. Alas, I came up with an article who answered that question with a profound "yes". Here is the link to the article: http://www.radicalmedicine.com/holistic_physician_defined.html .

According to the article, there are six different healing professionals that can use the title "holistic physician": medical doctors, osteopaths, chiropractors, naturopaths, dentists, and acupuncturists. Therefore, I feel at ease to change my business cards to read "Dr. Patrick V. Suglia, Holistic Physician". Then, to be in accordance with Minnesota state law, I would list chiropractic care among the services that I offer. I do offer a slew of others, such as health status testing (which the American Holistic Medical Association calls functional medicine), routine and specialized physicals, Reiki healing (which the AHMA refers to as energy medicine), and others. I won't go into detail about them here because you can always see everything I do on my website at http://sufletesc.twicmn.org .

People haven't quite made the full paradigm shift yet to fully comprehend and appreciate the words of Thomas Edison: "The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest her or his patients in the care of the human frame, in a proper diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease." The human frame IS the specialty of the chiropractor, and the other mentioned items are the concern of any holistic physician. The paradigm shift started only 18 years ago when in 1991, for the first time, more visits were made to practitioners of "alternative" medicine, with chiropractors leading the figures, than to general practice medical doctors. Yes, the paradigm is still shifting. More and more people are learning about the wonderful HOLISTIC benefits of chiropractic care, while the current being created by the medical establishment, who is trying to hold on to their dying ego, continues to try to push us further from the public's interest. Until the paradigm shift is complete, which I hope I live to see, I will, for now, call myself a Holistic Physician.

Writing Cramps

As you may notice already, I hardly write in this blog. But when I do, it's pretty much to the point. People tell me I'm a great writer and that I should consider it for a career. That would be great, if I was a writer. To tell you the truth, I really have to have something pounding in my brain, begging to come out, in order for me to write well. Otherwise, if I just sat down to write because I had to, it wouldn't sound good at all. Such is life! So, that's about all I have to say right now. I'm still waiting for the next great spark.

Chiropractic: Realism vs. Idealism

Yesterday there was a post on the Minnesota Chiropractic Association's newsgroup announcing that the association was looking for doctors to volunteer their services at a local walk-a-thon. At the walk-a-thon, doctors would be working with medical professionals to help care for the participants, and the purpose of the walk-a-thon is to help raise money for breast cancer research. Another chiropractor wrote in, chastising the association for wanting to promote a "medical" paradigm of chiropractic which would cause the general public to not recognize chiropractic for its true holistic value. I couldn't resist writing back to this guy. Here was my reply:

"I hear you. After being in practice for 9 years, 7 of those years in Minnesota, I've come to realize a few things. First of all, people do not understand chiropractic the way we PRINCIPLED chiropractors do, but to "get to them" we have to approach them from an angle that they do understand -- the medical paradigm. I've also come to learn that when you approach people from the (chiropractically) realistic viewpoint, they see this as an idealistic philosophy that they most likely would not buy into anyway. The second issue is the fact that we are here in Minnesota means that people will AUTOMATICALLY be misconstruing chiropractic for a branch of medicine, which you and I both know it is not. We also know that there isn't enough chiropractic philosophy being taught in our own state's chiropractic college, which means that many chiropractors in this state also have this misconception, unfortunately. On that note, I regret to say that I had a MUCH better practice when I still lived on the East Coast. People here just don't have the same mentality."

Yes, it depends on which chiropractic college one goes to whether or not they are going to be subject to the medical, or "realistic", paradigm of chiropractic or the chiropractIC, principled, or "idealistic" paradigm. (Insert here a side note for chiropractors that whichever one you are exposed to, the schools lack the ability to teach you how to market yourself and become successful. That you have to figure out on your own.) Are you a doctor who does physical rehab in your pain relief and personal injury clinic? Or are you a chiropractOR who tells their patients that EVERYONE needs chiropractic care in order to function at their very best potential in life? This is the difference between realism and idealism. The general public identifies MORE with the realism because to them the idealism is just that -- an idea. And why is that?

Here in the United States, people constantly have the medical paradigm of "health and wellness" in general jammed down their throat. You have to take this pill for that, you have to get this vaccine for this flu, you have to take medicine to prevent this disease, and anything "alternative" has no merit unless the American Medical Association (aka "God") says so. Plus, God, in this case the AMA and the pharmaceutical industry, has the greatest means of getting their words of advice, or dare I say "scare tactics", out there: the media in all forms. Thus, the pain relief chiropractor has it made, especially when he partners with a medical doctor or physical therapist. Enter chiropractIC where we proclaim the truth that the body is a self-healing, self-regulating organism that needs to external influences and only to be free of the interferences that caused the dis-ease to begin with. That cause is the subluxation (misaligned bone) that impinges on and interferes with the proper function of the master regulator of the body: the nerve system. Such a lesson in reality is just too hard for people to grasp after they've been told that their bodies are incapable of such greatness and will constantly be dependent on medicine to survive in this world.

It is probably evident to you by now that I side more with the "idealistic" view of chiropractic. Yet, here's another point I absolutely need to make. The realistic and the idealistic paradigms need to merge. Just after I graduated from chiropractic school in March of 2000, a doctor who graduated from National College of Chiropractic in Chicago said to me, "You need to throw out all the garbage you learned about subluxations and get real." Likewise, chiropractors from my own alma mater, Life University in Atlanta, say, "You need to throw out all the garbage you learned about medicine and get real." Okay, here's what's real. Because of medicine, I am still alive after almost dying at the age of 5 months from salmonella. Also, because of medicine my heart still beats after having open heart surgery to correct an aortic valve defect at the age of 19 years. Because of a chiropractOR who corrected my subluxations in the summer of 1986, I overcame a ten-year bout with chronic sinusitis. Because of a chiropractOR who corrects my subluxations, I am able to function quite well despite having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Because I am a chiropractOR who corrects subluxations, a pediatric patient I once took care of no longer suffers from chronic ear infections. BOTH medicine and chiropractic have their place, and they need to stop throwing stones at each other. Here's the tricky part, though -- the general public needs to know this, and they need to be able to think for themselves without all the brainwashing.

This is possible if we get rid of false gods, our own egos, and simply join hands to serve the people we are supposed to be serving. This is NOT impossible because it happens in many countries around the world -- outside the U.S., that is. The "realistic" and the "idealistic" chiropractors get together to go to countries such as Guatemala, Peru, India, and many other undeserved areas to do one thing -- get people well and help them stay well. One relieves their pain while the other helps their bodies function optimally. Choose your paradigm. It still does the job. And in these countries, people flock in droves, filling up entire sports arenas, waiting their turn to be adjusted by a chiropractor. There is no AMA to tell them this is quackery. Their own governments support and promote this because they know how this helps the people of their country!

Let's put the stones and rocks away and get to work. We BOTH have places in this world, and we BOTH are here to make a difference!