John M. Bottorff, D.C., C.C.S.T., is a 1981 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic and a second generation chiropractor. He is certified in Chiropractic Spinal Trauma. He is a triathlete and an avid cyclist, runner and swimmer. He can be contacted at Bottorff Advanced Chiropractic at 362-8833 or online at www.Cvillepainrelief.com.
Mimi Powers poses with her husband, Jeff, and son, Van.
It was in 2003 that the husband of this week’s Health Hero stood on top of their house hosing down the roof, trying to keep it from being a statistic of a raging California wildfire, when the idea of moving to Indiana seemed like a good one.
Mimi Powers would travel to middle America to experience new adventures including her health.
Mimi was born in San Bernardino, California, and would move around frequently as her father was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. She landed in the small town of Apple Valley when she was seven years old.
Her mom did all the cooking with vegetables as a part of every meal. The town was so small that the nearest grocery shopping was more than an hour away. Fast food could only happen with the monthly grocery run to a larger city.
“If we were good at the grocery store, our treat was trail mix with carob,” Mimi said.
Carob is a natural substitute for chocolate.
“Our candy bars were a protein bar called Tigers Milk Bar,” she said. “We also did a lot of protein shakes, vitamins and Special K.”
Mimi reflects with some regret that her childhood didn’t have a lot of activity. It wasn’t a focus of the family. She was a thespian along with her involvement in show choir.
In the 1990s after high school graduation, she moved to Los Angeles, and then San Diego, during which time she became a forced vegetarian. Red meat didn’t find her menu because of financial challenges. Ramen noodles and vegetables were more the flavor of the day.
As life would happen while working in San Diego, Mimi met Jeff Powers of New Market. It took some time but the two married. In 2003 because the social climate changes and the wild fire they decided to move back to New Market. So, in January 2004, Mimi who was pregnant with their son Van, and Jeff packed up and drove across the country to Indiana. Mimi returned to California to bring her mother to live with them.
Mimi was in her 20s when she took over caring for her blind mother. With the caregiving, the move, the birth of her son and getting established, there was little time left for self-care. With stress and bad eating habits came weight gain and inner problems.
“My self-esteem issues grew bigger,” Mimi said. “And my pain was compounded by my weight gain.”
A surgery complication created severe bilateral tendonitis of the gluteus minimus and made walking and climbing stairs difficult and painful. A surgery to repair a frayed rotator cuff in her right shoulder reduced the pain but weakened the shoulder. Mimi felt this weakness was a precursor to tennis elbow pain. Multiple steroid shots, acupuncture, therapy and chiropractic was hapless against the symptoms. A search for systemic joint pain brought on tests that concluded with a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s Disease.
Mimi was ready to start working on herself but wasn’t certain where to go.
At the end of 2017 she was scheduled for an elbow reconstruction as the wheels on the bus were coming off. Her first move was to take responsibility. It was her mess to clean up. She refused to play the blame game any longer. She would burn the search engines up. And coincidently the “bus” happened by Quest for Balance on U.S. 231 South when a light shined.
Next week we will continue Mimi’s journey.
See you in the pool.
