05/23/2026
I had my first chiropractic experience when I was just 13 years old.
I was an active teenager — highly driven in academics and athletics. By that age I was already six feet tall, and at the time, pretty clumsy and awkward. Then I began experiencing something frightening that I could only describe as numbness in my legs. I couldn’t properly feel my legs or sense where they were in relation to the rest of my body. It made everyday life challenging, frustrating, and honestly very scary.
I explained my symptoms to my parents, and we began searching for answers. We visited countless specialists, including neurologists, who performed every test imaginable trying to determine what was wrong. A spinal tap came back negative, ruling out multiple sclerosis. The only test that showed anything abnormal was a nerve conduction study, which revealed that the nerves in both of my legs from the waist down were firing improperly.
Meanwhile, my symptoms continued. The numbness was significant and was not improving.
Now that I understand the nervous system and the incredible role it plays in the body, I realize how serious those symptoms truly were. When you begin losing normal sensation, weakness often follows. Problems involving the nervous system rarely “just go away.” They typically progress.
After nearly $10,000 in medical procedures and testing, no doctor could provide a diagnosis, a solution, or even a direction. It seemed as though I was simply expected to live with the condition — something that felt completely unacceptable.
Over the next several weeks, my family shared my story with anyone who might offer guidance. One of my dad’s coworkers, Judy, said something that would ultimately change the course of my life:
“Oh wow, that sounds like a nerve problem. Send her to a chiropractor. They specialize in the nerves.”
At the time, the only thing we knew about chiropractic was that people went when their backs hurt. But my back didn’t hurt. My legs simply didn’t work correctly.
My dad took me to his chiropractor, Dr. Stephen Zajac, in Buffalo, New York. Dr. Zajac listened carefully as I explained my symptoms and then performed a chiropractic examination. He explained that my pelvis was rotated and that it could be affecting the nerves supplying my legs.
He asked me to lie face down on the table and performed my first chiropractic adjustment.
I felt different almost immediately.
The best way I can describe it is that I felt reconnected.
Over the next three visits, I experienced what I can only call the miracle of chiropractic. The strength in my legs returned. The numbness completely disappeared — and it never came back.
My family and I were amazed that something so simple, conservative, and natural had never been suggested sooner.
Looking back now, I firmly believe chiropractic should often be one of the first options people consider, not the last. All of the expensive testing and procedures did nothing to solve the problem. Chiropractic care changed everything.
After recovering, I went on to excel in athletics and continued utilizing chiropractic care to help my body function at peak performance. In November of 1991, I signed a four-year full athletic scholarship to Niagara University to play Division I women’s basketball. Then, in May of 1996, I moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to attend Life University and pursue what would become one of the greatest callings imaginable: becoming a chiropractor.
I truly do not know where my life would have gone without chiropractic care. It is not an exaggeration to say chiropractic changed — and very possibly saved — my life.
I thank God for Judy, my dad’s coworker and friend, who shared the message of chiropractic with our family. And I thank God for this incredible profession.
Today, it has become my life’s mission to help others experience better health naturally through the gift of chiropractic — the same gift that changed my life forever. Dr. Steely
