About Dr. Kirkemo & Dr. Monaghan

About Dr. Kirkemo

“I believe in the ability of the body to remain healthy if it is treated with care by its owner.” - Dr. Patricia Kirkemo

Personal Philosophy

My philosophy of health and healthcare was molded during my early childhood. I was raised in an environment that was heavily influenced by my Great Aunt Frieda Hafemeister, a naprapath, who practiced in Evanston, Illinois during the 1920's through the 1960's. She taught my family that health was achieved by lifestyle modification, a healthy diet, and manipulation of the soft tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia) and joints. Manipulation relieved structural stresses which relieved pain and improved the functioning of many parts of the body. She lived the lifestyle she taught others to achieve. My mother tried to follow Aunt Frieda's example. As a child, I ate many foods that I would have preferred to leave on my plate—"it's good for you." When I had headaches after falling from a pony at age 12, I was adjusted by my local chiropractor, Dr. Mermo, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In just a few visits, my childhood headaches were gone without the use of any drugs. Medical intervention was rare except as required by the state of Iowa.

As I became responsible for my own health at young adulthood, I joined the Army. I was inoculated with everything from tetanus to yellow fever. My lifestyle was not healthy; my eating habits and nutrition were, at best, poor; I was not able to receive chiropractic adjustments. Nothing protected me from the most unhealthy 4 years of my life. I was treated in the military medical system and recovered from each illness but had no resistance to the next illness to come along.

That was a long time ago. As I studied in chiropractic college, I relearned my childhood lessons taught me by Aunt Frieda. To this day, I seek to maintain a healthy lifestyle and diet—but I may succumb to old habits. I have found, through trial and error, regular chiropractic adjustments, healthy diet, and exercise help my body to stay healthy.

Thank you, Aunt Frieda.

Philosophy of Chiropractic Practice

Chiropractic care is a tool to be used to help a patient live an active and healthy lifestyle. Chiropractic adjustments and applied physiotherapies balance the skeletal and muscle systems of the body front to back and side to side, to improve function so a body can move normally without pain. Normal movement and normal function promotes a healthy body, relieves aches, pain, and other symptoms in an injured body, slows joint and muscle deterioration in an aging body, and keeps an athletic body functioning at an optimal level.

My job is to assist an injured body to heal and to educate the patient how to care for their body so that it's not reinjured. I do this through chiropractic manipulation, physiotherapies, posture correction, basic nutritional education when it's relevant, and activity modification. Sometimes chiropractic care is not appropriate for specific patients with certain conditions. I refer to the medical community of professionals, when needed, to include general practitioners, orthopedists, neurologists, rheumatologists, physical therapists and others.

I want my patients to know that each person needs to take responsibility for his or her health and that chiropractic care facilitates a healthy life. My patient's individual wants and needs are always considered when we create a treatment plan. Some patients are treated twice a week, others twice a year. For those patients who want regular adjustments to just feel their best and optimize their body's function, I encourage them to have regular, monthly care. Other patients may only desire chiropractic treatment for a specific injury. Such a patient is treated and released.

Dr. Kirkemo received her BA from Western Illinois University in 1979. At Logan College of Chiropractic in Chesterfield, Missouri, she completed her BS in Human Biology 1988 and received a Doctor of Chiropractic Degree in 1990.

Since that time, Dr. Kirkemo has pursued extensive additional education in the most current and the most effective methods of treating her patients. Specifically, she has received instruction in the following:

• Rehabilitation
• Posture
• Nutrition
• Headache

During 2009, Dr. Kirkemo will attend additional classes in nutrition and manipulation methods.

About Dr. Monaghan

I completed my undergrad work at Iowa State University in 5/79 with a BS in Industrial Administration which was the business school at the time. I sat at a desk for too long and had to do something else. I started at Logan College of Chiropractic shortly thereafter and graduated in 8/90.

My story.

My mom tells me that she had no problems getting pregnant but couldn't carry full term. Her chiropractor noticed by how she walked her uterus was inverted, fixed it and out I hopped. I have 4 younger brothers. We would go to her chiropractor a few times a year and I had headaches and sinus issues that I remember and as soon as I got adjusted they would clear up. Unfortunately he never tried to recruit me at all. I was working in Denver later and doing a lot of officiating multiple sports and playing some too. I was coming up was various aches and pains and as I was explaining them to my chiropractor out there, she said I had good idea how and why I was hurting myself and suggested I should look at chiropractic school. 2 years later we packed up and moved to St Louis to attend Logan.

I practiced in Australia using Activator for the first year after I graduated from Logan College of Chiropractic before returning to the States.

My emphasis in treatment is mostly functional.

How structure is affected by the habits we develop on our jobs, how we play and sleep. All important to our structure, muscle tension and how we move. I have attended a few seminars lately that have revived my interest in nutrition and detoxifying our bodies. We are finding more research how neurotoxins are causing dementia and mental capacity reduction in our elderly so the nursing homes are filling up. We are outliving our health and we must start earlier in life to protect ourselves. Adjustments, exercise/stretching and diet with some basic nutritional support that can make our lives longer and much healthier and happier.

I enjoy golf, football, softball, 1/2 marathons and some weight lifting. I have four kids and two grandchildren - yes I am getting old.

 

Everyone is welcome in our office.