Upper Cervical Saved Dr. Fielder's Life
Arthur Fielder was born in New York in 1949 during one of the biggest snowstorms of the decade, with his mother barely reaching the hospital in time to deliver. The infant initially could not breathe due to more than 3 liters of mucus in his tiny lungs. He was given the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis (a life threatening disorder with a median life expectancy of 37 years of age), although some physicians offered the more general diagnosis of congenital bronchiectasis. Despite being born into an extended family of 6 medical doctors and visiting numerous unrelated physicians, none could offer significant relief for Dr. Fielder's condition. He received high doses of cortisone on a daily basis and spent most of his grammar school years and half of his high school years in the hospital.
Dr. Fielder wanted to learn everything he could about lung disorders in an effort to help himself, and enrolled in medical school in Boston. However the cold weather took its toll after less than a year. At 19 years old, Dr. Fielder weighed 85 lbs and suffered from severely degraded bones due to the cortisone injections. He was "shipped out" to Phoenix, AZ by his parents to live what was expected to be his last days of life. Despite his life-threatening condition, he summoned the strength to enroll in the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and earn a Physician's Assistant degree. He ultimately worked for 16 years as a Physician's Assistant in emergency medicine, chest trauma and lung disease at multiple Bay Area hospitals (San Francisco General, Marin General, Maricopa General, and Marin County), paramedic units for local law enforcement agencies, Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, and even assisted in surgery at the first successful lung transplant in the United States.
In 1969 while training at San Francisco School of Medicine, Dr. Fielder visited an upper cervical (HIO method) health care practitioner in Mesa, AZ. He heard this practitioner had performed "miracles" for those with conditions unresponsive to traditional medical care. Immediately after the adjustment, Dr. Fielder expelled more air from his lungs than ever before and could feel something very positive had occurred. He knew he had started on a healing path.
Unfortunately the Mesa, AZ practitioner did not educate Dr. Fielder about how to continue with upper cervical care. Thus in 1969 he traveled to South Carolina to see Dr. Myron Brown-a Blair practitioner. With his first adjustment by Dr. Brown, Dr. Fielder slept for 3 days straight! After 2 years of treatment he had gained weight and stopped taking daily cortisone injections. This was nothing short of miraculous to Dr. Fielder whose own physician had told him, "You will be on cortisone until the day you die and don't even think of getting off of it!" Dr. Fielder was motivated to learn this incredible technique that saved his life. He interrupted his Physician Assistant career and moved to South Carolina to study for 4 years at what ultimately became Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic in Spartanburg, SC. His time there included 1 year under the direct apprenticeship of Dr. Lyle Sherman, namesake of the college and former assistant director of the B.J. Palmer Chiropractic Research Clinic in Davenport, IO.