Debbie Heck:  

Life I've done a few different things since 1973. I married Tom Heck in 1975 while we were students at Purdue. He graduated but I became severely ill with Crohn's disease and spent 2 months in the hospital. Fortunately, that condition went into remission when I became pregnant with our first child in 1978. We have 3 children, Gordon (1979) married to Brooke, Kyle (1982) married to Angela and a Purdue engineering student, and Katie (1984) married to Jeremiah, finishing a philosophy degree at Asbury College. After completing a home ec degree at Ball State in 1980, I had a typing business at home which enabled me to be home with my kids and earn some money, although I felt a strong calling to become a doctor. In 1992, I went from home ec to Dr Heck. I'm a family physician. While I loved delivering babies, cost and politics became prohibitive. Pain management is a field few doctors have entered, especially those in primary care. I do primarily medical management rather than procedures (such a epidural blocks--the anestheologists can handle those things). There is a stigma associated with pain management just as there has been with treating depression and anxiety disorders, which I also treat. I found so much of what is involved in treating those conditions involves 3 things: Respecting the patient, Listening with all your senses to fully understand what the person is trying to convey, and Believing what you are told (unless there is a compelling reason not to--afterall, there are liars among us). But people in pain become sad and when seeking help they become discouraged and feel nobody understands or believes them. Unfortunately, doctors have treated patients this way and people have not gotten better. I decided to do my best to break that pattern. Sure, I have some people fool me, but should I avoid treating the 90 percent just because there might be 10 percent who are out to scam me? NO! You might be surprised at what event had such a great influ...Expand for more