Curious to know what brought Bob to acupuncture? (click to expand/collapse)

Well, my first exposure to acupuncture was a last-ditch effort to make some real progress in my lifelong struggle with sinus and bronchial problems. I’d love to say I was always a big fan of acupuncture, but truth be told, I was on the fence for quite awhile as to whether acupuncture was a sham or not. One thing I did know, however, was that I wasn’t in a position to pay close to $800 or more for the ‘discounted’ ten-pack of acupuncture treatments that I was told I would need in order to find out.

Then, about a month after an especially brutal sinus infection, and another round of amoxicillin plus the intense dry-mouth side effects which often seemed just as nasty as the sinus symptoms I was taking it for, I heard about a local acupuncture school providing treatments for less than $30 a pop and decided to give it a try. Like many who try acupuncture, I was a skeptic, but a desperate one. I was in search of real relief and long-term prevention instead of a band-aid. Then, while driving home from the 3rd or 4th treatment, my head starting clearing up like a foggy windshield with the defroster on. I had become so accustomed to the heavy, foggy and congested feeling that I had forgotten what it was like to breathe clearly and experience a day without headaches. I was amazed! With additional acupuncture treatments, the head and lung-clearing effects lasted longer and longer and were soon replaced by a desire to bring this amazing therapy to others. However, having been raised by a single working class mother, I recognized that the high cost of acupuncture made it unaffordable to most people I knew and also discouraged many from even trying it. For this reason, it was imperative that I find a way to provide acupuncture at a more affordable price so working class folks, including skeptics like myself, would be more able and willing to try it.

Soon afterwards, I watched the Calmest Revolution Ever Staged documentary and learned about the Community Acupuncture Network, the predecessor to POCA. I was hooked. What other folks were doing in community acupuncture clinics around the country to make acupuncture more affordable resonated with me immensely so I decided to enroll in the local acupuncture school.

I confess I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I started acupuncture school and despite how profoundly acupuncture helped me personally, I remained a bit skeptical as to how much, and to what extent, it could help others.

Within weeks of starting acupuncture school, I was astonished to hear the experiences my classmates had to share about acupuncture doing the unfathomable. My classmates shared their acupuncture success stories with things like infertility, debilitating back pain, migraines, gynecological irregularities, auto accident injuries, recurring digestion problems, anxiety, insomnia and cancer treatment side effects. After hearing their stories and witnessing similar outcomes in the student clinic, there was no doubt that making acupuncture accessible to the masses was my mission. I'm extremely excited about Accessible Acupuncture and treasure the opportunity to work towards fulfilling that mission to make acupuncture and herbal medicine more accessible to my neighbors in Orlando and Central Florida.