Gerald L. Whalen

My full name is Gerald Lee Whalen. I was born among the rolling hills of rural southern Wisconsin in the amiable farming town of Darlington. I had the privilege of attending PALMER COLLEGE OF CHIROPRACTIC, the birth place of chiropractic, located in Davenport, Iowa and graduated with honors in 1979.

My original inspiration to be a chiropractor emerged out of the life transforming miracle of my first chiropractic experience at the age of sixteen.

Several months of rapid growth and weight gain resulted in unrelenting, incapacitating and frightening low back pain. I felt immobilized and my participation in athletics came to a standstill. Absent an obvious injury, the peer pressure to play through the pain was intense. I felt isolated and abandoned. I agonized over being physically debilitated the rest of my life. Totally distressed, I fervently sought relief from medical and orthopedic specialists to no avail. My hopes were dashed each time.

My aunt recommended her chiropractor. Even with a trusted recommendation from her sister, my mother was very reluctant to expose me to a chiropractor and had to defy the medical establishment and society’s view, held at the time, that chiropractic was quackery. The last resort visit to a doctor of chiropractic seemed like a miracle beyond belief. The relief I feverishly sought was almost instantaneous. Much to the contrary of medicine’s and society’s view, the chiropractor knew something about healing the other doctors didn’t. I passionately wanted to know that something too.