Functional Medicine With A Dysfunctional Doctor- An Introduction
"Functional Medicine with a Dysfunctional Doctor" is what I am calling this chapter in my life. It's a little dark humor/ inside joke with myself that keeps me laughing through the struggle.
I am a doctor who helps people with chronic, complicated health issues. Ironically, I find myself deep in a health hole, just as complex as any I have ever sleuthed and solved before in my patients. I thought it might be useful to share as I unravel my own complicated situation and reach my full potential again. Do you mind reading a little catch-up sesh? I hope not, because it's necessary. Details matter, as I always tell my patients!
On September 9th, 2005, I became a mom and a doctor the same day. No joke. My classmates were walking while I was pushing. It was a "Holy shit! I think this means I am a grown-up now!" kind of day. (If I only knew how true that was! Zero to 100, baby!)
I was also in the middle of my second massive autoimmune flare, brought on by the formaldehyde in the cadaver lab 3 years prior. As is typical for me, I experienced "remission" during pregnancy, but it was like a nuke hit me post-natally. It was a gnarly flare that made me non-functioning as it slowly progressed. I tried to push through, but I ended up closing my practice because I couldn't finish a sentence without forgetting where and why I started it. I still don't remember much from my eldest's first 3 years of life, which is, I think, the cruelest part of the whole experience.
I got out of that second flare about 8 LONG YEARS later after learning and applying basic functional medicine principles. It was, in retrospect, relatively uncomplicated once I started looking at how my body functioned differently than textbook and made some pretty substantial shifts to the way I ate, slept, worked, and moved my body. (It's not always what you'd think, either. I had to STOP working out all the time. This great story includes lots of simple things that make a big difference! I will share it soon. Promise!)
Since my second "remission," I have spent the last 10+ years helping (mostly) women to unravel extremely complicated, chronic health struggles using the principles of functional medicine and functional neurology. It's like medical detective work considering the body as a whole ecosystem. It is the only way to see seemingly unrelated symptoms emerge into a pattern that leads you to the root cause(s). It's hella fun, guys!
Even more than fun, it is so rewarding. The ripple effect of a healthy person, women in particular, is profound. So many stories of whole families changed, community passions launched, and careers blooming. Some transformations were "simple" fixes, while others were massively complex and painstakingly slow. Still, some remain a mystery, which makes my drive to keep learning more about the body so strong and necessary as a functional medicine doctor.
Attending seminars, reading research, and hunting for answers require a lot of brain space, energy, and time. Unfortunately, I hit a wall with my health once again. And once again, life is shifting me away from what I had planned to do forever. About a year ago, my own functional medicine doctor insisted I close my practice for at least 6-12 months, as she was highly concerned about the speed and intensity of my brain degeneration. It's bad, but don't fret- I have been worse, by a lot, in the brain department. It is scary, but I know how to recover her. I just need to stop the assault.
I slowly came to grips with the severity of my situation, which I really worked hard to be in denial about, btw. I broken-heartedly passed my beloved patients along to another doctor in our area and took a few months to lick my wounds and hibernate.
I am in my mid-40s. I've been around for a few chapters. And a few painful endings. I trust life will bring something even more beautiful out of this, as it always does. But, I am of no use to anyone if I am not well, myself. I cannot be the woman, the wife, the mom, the doctor, and the change maker I know I am capable of being at full potential. But I have all the tools, knowledge, and determination to pull myself up once again. I want to take you on the ride with me if you want to come.
If I am real real with you about what healing actually requires sometimes- the ups and downs, the patience, the victories, the heartache, and frustration- IF even doctors who know so much about the body aren't immune (no pun intended) to the struggle, then, MAYBE you can forgive yourself for not having it all figured out, either. As I share how I am helping myself, my greatest hope is that I can illuminate something for YOU that helps you find your way out of your own health hole.
It's the tiniest way I can fill my heart and keep the ripples going, despite not being able to personally handle the capacity of a 1-on-1 practice while I heal myself again.
My plan for this blog is to openly share the details and reasoning behind my game plan as it shifts and changes along the way. The key to untangling the knots is the flexibility of your plan, using what goes right and wrong to customize it for YOU. I want to show you how to do that! I will also share stories of my "flares of Christmas' past" and how I regained remission and beast-mode status so you can do the same.
I plan to show some of the journey on social media, so follow me wherever you don't get the social media yuck. I am trying to get my shit together to show up regularly and authentically there. As a generally private person, it's taking me next-level bravery, so I am slowly growing into it.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post. As I humbly, semi-jokingly claim "The Most Dysfunctional Functional Medicine Doctor on Earth" title, my intention is for this painful chapter to have a beautiful purpose. If this sounds like something that may help you, come along with me. Let's rise together, my friend.
