As a small child Dr. Ken experienced poor health.  He suffered with a chronically weak immune system making him susceptible to asthma, pneumonia and measles.  In and out of medical offices and hospitals, even at a young age, things didn’t seem to add up to him.  There had to be a better way.  A more honoring and self reliant form of health care.

That’s when, on a warm summer day, at the age of 23, his life would be forever changed. 

While visiting with friends in a quiet suburban neighborhood, Dr. Ken noticed an old man working in his vegetable garden next door.  That’s where Dr. Ken heard a ‘voice’ tell him that this man had something he’d always wanted…something he had been looking for.

He approached the gentle old man with some small talk about how nice the weather was.  When he looked up, Dr. Ken could see in his eyes that he knew exactly why he was there.  The old man returned to his gardening and began to use the planting of seeds, nurturing them, and harvesting their produce as a metaphor for healing.  That’s when he asked the simple question, “Do you believe in miracles?”  Dr. Ken was taken aback as no one had ever asked him this and on top of that, he knew he was living a miracle right then and there.  It turned out that this wise gardener was Dr. Clair O'Dell, a chiropractor with over 70 years of experience and over 20 family members working in the profession.  His explanation of the vitalistic principles for which the profession is founded were everything Dr. Ken had grown to believe.  Principally, that the body is a self-healing organism. 

Dr. Rakowicz, throughout his years of study, dreamed of pioneering chiropractic in a country where it did not exist.  Upon graduating, with little money, a suit case, and an adjusting table, he ventured into South America.  He was looking for the ideal community to open his first practice.  He chose Mendoza, Argentina after several months of travel in Peru and Chile.  Mendoza is the fourth largest city in Argentina and is nestled at the base of the tallest mountains in the Southern Hemisphere.  It’s a desert community of over one million people famous for their Malbec red wine.  As soon as he arrived in the city he began to practice on the people he met.  Five years later those original patients remained loyal and committed to regular adjustments. 

It was in that first year that he became involved with the Argentine Chiropractic Association (AQA).  This organization is made up of university educated kinesiologists who have been formed as chiropractors through the group’s post graduate program.  Dr. Ken was invited to teach a chiropractic technique called Gonstead.  One of many techniques that he studied at Sherman Chiropractic College.  During his years involved with the AQA, Dr. Rakowicz acted as a liaison between his school in the states, Sherman Chiropractic College, and the AQA as they worked together developing the profession in South America. 

In 2002, shortly after 9-11, Argentina slipped into a deep and troubling economic crisis.  The government took bold measures to try and prevent total economic collapse.  It was at the height of the tensions that Dr. Ken decided to return to the states with his new bride, Cintia.  In October 2003 Cornerstone Family Chiropractic was officially inaugurated.  And Dr. Rakowicz began to serve the community in Howell, Michigan. 

Gone, but not forgotten, Dr. Ken continued to feel connected to the people in Argentina.  During a return trip in 2006, when hundreds of former patients turned out, unsolicited, to be adjusted, it was apparent that Dr. Ken was called to serve. 

Since that time, Dr. Ken returns to Mendoza for what has become an annual event.  Former patients organize a weeks worth of appointments with hundreds turning out to receive their life enhancing adjustments.  It is truly an inspiring trip which leaves all that are involved more whole, at peace, and alive!

Meet Dr. Ken