My Story

I was pretty young when I realized that my mom was struggling with her health and I knew that she was constantly exhausted and struggling. Her first symptoms of multiple sclerosis were at the age of 19. My momma gave everything she had to raise her babies though.

Then my dad, at the age of 33, became extremely ill. In a period of six months he went from being able to do his job as a commercial electrician, to barely being able to walk to the bathroom. He died within 5 months of starting chemotherapy.

I was 13 when my dad died. Even then, I knew that my parents’ illness was not caused by one single factor and a single cure would never work.

I chose medicine pretty early on as a child, I wanted to help people. Playing a part in caring for my mother with multiple sclerosis, my father with cancer, my paternal grandmother with cancer and my paternal grandfather with dementia, only heightened my desire and aim.

Unfortunately, when I entered the medical field, I realized that the conventional medicine field was not what I had envisioned at all. It was a system that simply didn’t allow time to take care about people. It was about seeing as many people as possible, in the least amount of time, to make the most money for big companies.

One day, I was working in a rural primary care clinic when my manager told me ‘Walk out of the room if someone has more than two complaints, you only have 15 minutes with them, so tell them to come back another day’. It nearly broke me because I don’t believe that’s how healthcare should work.

As I became increasingly discouraged with the healthcare system and my work, my own health started to decline.

I couldn’t remember words to finish sentences. I was so exhausted that getting ready for bed was a monumental task so I just slept in my clothes. My acid reflux was getting worse and a host of other awful symptoms were popping up. I ended up on 6 prescriptions a day. Most of the conventional testing was not giving us the clues we needed to get a firm diagnosis.

Then I had a colleague recommended I consider disability. That right there, was my turning point. At that moment, I decided I was going to make a dramatic shift and take my health into my own hands.

As I started reviewing the current research, I stumbled across functional medicine. They didn’t abandon everything I had learned in conventional medicine but instead enhanced it with the current research that the pharmaceutical companies aren’t too crazy about! Functional medicine weaves together the latest research, not only in biochemistry but in psychology, sociology and other fields of science to help the entire person heal. 

I had just discovered functional medicine and started to implement its’ principles when my sister was diagnosed with lesions in her brain and spine consistent with multiple sclerosis.

I have implemented the principles of functional medicine. I no longer take any prescriptions. My improvement has been dramatic. My mom is doing much better and my sister’s symptoms of multiple sclerosis are controlled enough that she is teaching English in Thailand where it is HOT, and doing well without prescriptions!

We stand as a testament, there is hope and healing available.