Meet Dr. Denesa

I’m a 2000 honors graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa and also hold a B.S. in Biology & Anatomy from Colorado State University in Fort Collins. I was born in the Czech Republic and immigrated to the United States in 1984 with my parents and older brother. The rest of my family still lives in Europe. I’ve lived in Colorado since then, except for my time at Palmer. My husband Scott and I met shortly after I graduated from chiropractic school and we got married in May of 2008. We both love all things outdoors, especially hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, mountain biking and golf. We have a beautiful daughter that joined our family in April of 2011 named Amira. She is constant joy and inspiration in our lives and having her is one of many reasons I especially love taking care of children and mothers-to-be during their pregnancies.

How Dr. Denesa Became a Chiropractor

I've said for a long time that the 2 most common reasons that people become chiropractors are: They've either grown up in a chiropractic family, or they have a really bad spine for some reason, and a chiropractor has saved them from a life of pain and disability. This is the story of my journey to becoming a chiropractor.

On a warm spring day during finals week while I was in my junior year of college at Colorado State University, I was visiting my parents in Denver. On my way back to school, I was in a severe car accident while trying to merge onto the highway. I was aware that my whole body had snapped forward and backward forcefully, and I had heard a pop and felt pain in my ankle, but it wasn't until I really looked around that I realized that my head had broken the windshield. I had no head pain and I could see I hadn’t cut myself anywhere, but I knew I had hurt my ankle.

An off-duty police officer was tapping on my window within moments of the accident, and, having seen the accident, had already radioed for an ambulance. As I waited for the ambulance and police to arrive I assessed the damage to my car and not only was my car about a foot shorter in the front, but my speaker box, that weighed at least 150 lbs had pulled out and broke my back window. With that much damage to the car, I was really glad I was in one piece! After one look at the broken windshield and the other damage to my car, the EMTs taped my head to a board to keep my neck still, and off I went to the nearest ER. A doctor there examined my now, very swollen ankle, took x-rays of it that showed it was shattered, splinted it, gave me some Ibuprofen for the pain and referred me to an Orthopedist to get surgery. He then simply sent me home. It didn't occur to me until much later that I had come in taped to a backboard, and the ER doc hadn't even examined the rest of me, nor even mentioned any other x-rays...for my neck, my head, or any other part of my spine!

When I saw the car a few days later (it had been towed) it was mangled beyond any hope of ever being driven again. Ohhhhh ~ now I knew why my ankle had shattered into pieces. If the impact could bend metal that much, I was lucky that only my ankle was broken.

It was a few weeks later that the migraines started. I was on crutches, hobbling around campus doing summer classes, studying like crazy, and still trying to have fun, but it was exhausting. I attributed my headaches to all the stress I was under and everyone agreed that they would go away when the cast came off and I could get around again.

The summer passed, the cast came off and fall classes began. The migraines remained. I was spending two or three days a week holed up in a dark room wishing that the pain killers would kick in. They barely took the edge off, despite eating them like candy. The doctor told me that my headaches would go away eventually.......just keep taking those pills as needed and learn to live with it.

Six months later I was worse rather than better. My migraines occurred almost daily and were so bad at times I could hardly see. There were evenings when I barely made it through school before I collapsed in exhaustion and pain. Pain pills and sleep usually helped, but it really wasn't much of a life. I was 21 but I felt 70. Things looked and felt pretty hopeless from where I was standing.......or lying down.

At some point a friend told me I should see a chiropractor. From my very first visit to his office I knew he would tell me the truth about whether I had to “learn to live with it” as I had been told. He also discovered that in addition to subluxations in my neck that were causing the migraines, I also had a scoliosis that would cause me significant pain in later years if I didn’t address it. I had never had any sort of back or neck pain, just the headaches. Who knew that something so severe had absolutely no symptoms!

He was confident that he could help me, so I started seeing him for adjustments daily for several weeks. His adjustments were gentle and comfortable, and above all else...effective. After the second week my headaches were reduced to about 1 per week. I continued to get better with treatments over the next few months until I was feeling like myself again, and now!...no pills! No more learning to live with it. And after being under consistent care since then the scoliosis is nearly non-existent so I don’t worry about being in severe pain in my later years either!

Thanks to my first chiropractor, I fell in love with the idea that I might be able to do this for other people. It absolutely changed my life, and my career path. Approximately a year and a half after I started chiropractic care, I was a student at Palmer Chiropractic College in Davenport, Iowa…and that's how Denesa became Dr. Denesa."

SPECIAL INTERESTS

"Although I love treating people of all ages, I have always had a special interest in caring for children. Out of this passion, I've also gotten quite fond of treating women through their pregnancy. Maternity chiropractic turns out to be a fascinating side effect of treating small children."

I'm currently a member of the International Chiropractic Pediatrics Association (http://www.icpa4kids.org) the National Vaccine Information Center ( http://www.909shot.com ) and the Colorado Chiropractic Association (http://www.coloradochiropractic.org) . I am also completing advanced training in the care of children and pregnant women to earn a Pediatric Diplomate degree.

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Science in Biology and Anatomy, Colorado State University 2000

Doctor of Chiropractic, Cum Laude, Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport Iowa 2005

Pediatric Diplomate Program - International Chiropractic Pediatrics Association – in progress

Certified in Thompson Chiropractic Technique