Dan Fox calls himself a 'lifelong learner'

A year after obtaining his chiropractic degree in 1983 from Cleveland Chiropractic College in Kansas City, MO, Dan Fox went to work at his father-in-law's clinic at 2nd and Myrtle in downtown Downey. He bought the business, (Wm.) Sheets Clinic, after seven years. It has been known as Fox Chiropractic since.Thus for 26 years he has aimed at keeping his patients' nerves, bones and muscles working well together. Chiropractic practice focuses on the spine, as the spine supports the body. At the same time, it protects the spinal cord, "the main pathway of the nervous system. Nerves in the spine carry signals that control sensation, movement, and function throughout the body. Chiropractic works to keep the spine aligned. This helps keep nerve signals flowing freely and the body healthy," while keeping joints and muscles pain-free, according to a clinic pamphlet. Fox recalls taking courses in physics, biology, microbiology, and the like, and a heavy dose of anatomy in college, not to mention his earlier preliminary two-year course work in physiology and anatomy at Cerritos College in the mid-70s. In other words, you get the same training given to medical students, but without the 'medicines and the surgeries,'" he said. The reason for the noticeable time gap between prep work and college graduation is because his mom, who was of Pennsylvania Dutch stock, took sick and he had to take care of her. She died of colon cancer, at age 65, in 1979. His dad, who worked for the Southern California Gas Company, died in 1989, "ten years to the day." His origins were English-Irish. Not too many people appreciate what chiropractic does, he says. It's the manual manipulation or adjustment of a patient's bones, to relieve pressure on the nerves as evidenced by headaches, pain in the neck or lower back, etc. Indeed, he says only about 3-5 percent of the population ever visits a chiropractor. As of five years ago, "I believe there were 15 of us practicing here in Downey. The work of educating the public about the profession is cut out for our national association." He went on: "I was not an athlete in high school. But just the same I lettered in basketball, baseball and football because I was manager of all three teams. This was what probably caused me to lean towards chiropractic as a career. My wife, Debbie, whom I met at church where we worshipped and sang together, introduced me in fact to Chiropractic College." She is the office manager at First Baptist Church. Born at the original Downey Community Hospital in 1956, Fox attended Downey Elementary (located where City Hall stands today), West Junior High (now West Middle School) and Warren High School. In addition to his chiropractic degree, he got a BS in human development in 2003 from Hope International University (on the Cal State Fullerton campus), and he's currently working on his Teacher Certificate in health science or special ed, while he substitute teaches. He ran for the school board four years ago but lost to Tod Corrin. His desire to increase his range stems from a natural curiosity about things. He likes to read, take classes, learn new stuff. He wants to further improve himself. "I'm a lifelong learner," he says. "Right now, three institutions define my main interests outside work: church, the Chamber (of Commerce), and Rotary." (He sings and is lead worship at First Baptist Church and very active at both chamber and Rotary, where he has served as president). While leisure activities have included travel (New York, London Cozamel, Mexico and especially Hawaii), watching sports, movies, and Broadway/Broadway-type shows, a real favorite pastime is scuba diving, thus trips to Hawaii and Cozamel. "Me and my 21-year-old son, Rob, shore dive at usually thirty to forty feet down, in places like Corona del Mar and Catalina. The deepest we've dived was at 105 feet. You see fish, coral, anemones, seal, urchins," he says. Warren High grad Rob is taking film production at Cerritos College while working at Disneyland. Daughter Lauren, 25, who majored in child development at Cal State Long Beach and is married, has her temporary teaching contract at Unsworth Elementary expiring in June. Fox showed me a demo mini-skeleton showing the body's bone structure, including the spine, vertebrae, joints and discs. He also gave me a crooked promo pen bearing Fox Chiropractic's name and these "eight danger signals": 1) headaches; 2) low back pain or stiffness; 3) pain between shoulders; 4) loss of sleep; 5) neck stiffness; 6) arm or hand numbness; 7) painful joints; and 5) leg pain or numbness, as an admonition to "see a chiropractor immediately." In the mean time, to raise his business profile, Fox said, "I'm developing a website."

********** Published: May 14, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 4