Get to know Dr. Katelyn
Hello there! My name is Dr. Katelyn and I wanted to share a little about me and my story.
For this story, it goes all the way back to high school where I was very involved in my extracurriculars. Meaning, I would spend 12-14 hours at the school every day. I was a part of 6 different varsity level choirs, on the wrestling and soccer team, participated in musical theater and competed competitively in jump rope outside of school. It was a lot of work, but so exciting at the same time. I pushed myself to do everything I could before graduation, because I knew when I went to college, I wouldn’t have these same opportunities and freedoms. While I was pretty good at everything, I was never the best at anything. This is where my drive for perfection began.
After graduation, I attended Texas Woman’s University, where I obtained a Bachelors in Kinesiology with minors in psychology and business administration. I was also very active in my sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi, for 4 out of the 5 years I was at TWU. By very active, I mean I was a recruitment chair one year, vice president for another year, and president for my last year. During this time, I didn’t slow down like I thought I would have after high school. I actually did more! I was taking 16-18 hours of classes every semester, working 3 jobs, still competing in jump rope, and holding leadership positions all 4 years.
During my time at TWU,
I met my (now) husband, lost my dad due to a heart attack, and made a lifelong best friend. This friend is actually the reason I am where I am today. She changed the course of my life for the better, and I am eternally grateful for her.
After graduating together, I had no idea what I wanted to do anymore. Originally, I was interested in sports medicine, PT, OT, or some type of education. Chiropractic was never on my radar until Hailey took me with her to a Parker Power weekend. This was a welcoming orientation for new potential students to see the campus, meet some professors, and get to know more about the university. This was my sign from God that I needed to be a chiropractor and go to Parker. In August 2019, we both started classes. There were many obstacles during our first year. The first trimester, the school was taken out by a tornado. In the second trimester, the whole world shut down due to the Covid pandemic. We had to learn how to adapt and find the drive to continue through school, at home alone. This was SO difficult to keep my motivation up to get through each dreadful assignment or study session. Being a hands-on learner, this was not my ideal way to go to school. Bless my (now) husband because he would help me study anatomy, practice adjusting setups, and make soooo many video assignments. Thankfully, we were only fully online for a little while, and we were all able to get more hands-on practice starting in 2021.
Finally, Garrett and I tied the knot in August of 2020. We ended up having to push our wedding back because of all the craziness that was going on in the world, but it honestly ended up working out for the best. We were able to honeymoon in Jamaica during one of my school breaks, and we flew out the day after our wedding. God truly does work in mysterious ways! Fast forward to 2021, we were back on campus for in-person classes, and life was starting to look up for everyone!
Well, so I thought. In June of 2021, we found out we were pregnant with our first child! To be honest, I was terrified because I was in the thick of it with school and board exams. I had seen other people in my class get pregnant and have a kid while in school, but it set their graduation back. I was so tired of being in school (9 years total was WAY more than enough for me), and the thought of staying any longer than I had to was not appealing to me. My husband was over the moon excited and kept reassuring me that everything would be okay. I finally relaxed a little bit and allowed myself to get excited for he or she to make their arrival!
Next came the worst experience I have ever had. Two months into the pregnancy, I had a miscarriage. I have never felt so lonely. I felt like a failure as a woman. I have always succeeded at everything I did, so of course, I blamed myself. Looking back now, I know it was nothing I did, but it still hurt so so so bad. Thank God for my husband, my mother, and my best friend. They picked me up off the floor (literally) and got me back on track to graduate. (I will go further into miscarriage and all of the struggles in a future blog, so be on the lookout for that!)
Fast forward another year, we found out we were pregnant again in July 2022. This brought so many feelings back up. I was so excited because we were actually trying this time, but I was also terrified because of our previous experience. Nobody talks about the fear you have after having one miscarriage for future pregnancies. You already know what the worst-case scenario feels like, and the anxiety I felt about the possibility of it happening again was crippling. I continued through school and clinic pregnant, afraid I would do something to hurt my baby. I was not only learning how to adjust for the first time, but I was now trying to learn how to adjust while pregnant (which is not easy, might I add). I am so thankful for all of the professors, clinic doctors, and my internship doctors for all of their patience and guidance. Every person is different, making every doctors adjusting style different. This was very frustrating to learn because I wanted to figure it out already, but it took time and lots and lots of practice.
March of 2023, my baby boy, Anderson
made his debut into this world. It wasn’t the way I had planned for it to happen, but I am thankful that he is happy and healthy. C-section pain is NO JOKE! I think it was the worst pain I had ever felt in my entire life!! There is so much power in a woman’s body no matter how you bring your baby into this world. Again, I was feeling like a failure because I had to have a c-section as a holistic doctor. Kind of ironic, huh? Well, that's God keeping us on our toes for ya! The recovery was long and hard, but that didn’t stop me from walking the stage 2 weeks later!
Garrett, baby Anderson and myself
Finally, I was graduating with my doctorate degree, had the family I had always dreamed of and now it was time to rest! But wait… How do you rest after having a c-section and a newborn? Is it possible? With a village of help, it is possible. My mom stayed with us for 2 weeks after Andy was born and made a world of difference for us. We were trying to find our new normal as a family of 3 and it honestly took us 3 months to figure it out completely.
Around that time is when Dr. Ericka reached out to me about working at Empowered Life. I didn’t think this type of associate position was even possible. It felt like a fairy tail that I could be a chiropractor part time and still be able to be home to raise my baby! Sign me up! God knew what he was doing when he told me to go to chiropractic school. He knew I was supposed to be helping other mothers and their babies. He knew I needed something part-time because I absolutely LOVE staying home to be Andy’s mama. I am forever grateful to Dr. Ericka for reaching out and placing her trust in me to help build Empowered Life. I am exactly where I am supposed to be, serving the people I am supposed to serve. I look forward to helping your family thrive in the life you all deserve.
