About Me
Hi, I’m so Happy To Share my Story With You!
I spent years becoming a doctor and finally realized that health doesn’t happen in the doctors office! It starts at home, in the kitchen, and with what’s at the end of your fork.
But what brought me to this realization is a journey I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
When I got sick several years ago I didn’t think much of it. I thought of myself as a “pretty healthy” person who tried to eat well and exercise at least 3 to 4 times per week. But it seemed like my health (and my life) changed overnight.
I had been feeling fatigued and tired for some time, but I told myself that it was because of my crazy schedule and work hours. It wasn’t until I developed severe debilitating joint pain and stiffness that I took notice.
My health (and my life) changed overnight…
Initially, I chalked it up to flu season and being exposed to sick patients at work. BUT when my symptoms didn’t resolve after a month and my pain and stiffness continued to worsen, I knew I wasn’t dealing with the flu!
At this point, I couldn’t even roll over in bed without excruciating pain that would wake me up crying. I decided to consult a friend and colleague who is a rheumatologist. He ordered a multitude of labs and told me it sounded like I had an autoimmune condition.
Based on my symptoms, I knew what he was saying made sense but how could that be? How could someone seemingly healthy and active suddenly go from working out 3 to 4 times a week to barely being able to get out of her chair or blow dry her hair?!
The results of my blood work blew me away. Most notably, my CRP level was sky high! For those of you who don’t know, CRP (C- reactive protein) is a protein made by the liver. It is also an inflammatory marker which means CRP levels in the blood increase when there is a condition causing inflammation somewhere in the body.
My rheumatologist called me right away…”Well, it could be lupus or maybe cancer…” The second those words were spoken it felt like time stood still for an eternity. I was speechless, I was terrified, and I was in shock.
“Well, it could be lupus or maybe cancer…”
“Well, it could lupus or maybe cancer…”
So many worst case scenarios raced through my mind while I was waiting for the results of yet more tests. I wasn’t just going to accept that I had an autoimmune disease or cancer. No way!
I decided to take matters in my own hands and started myself on prednisone, a steroid we often use for its anti-inflammatory properties. And guess what? Within 24 hours, 80% of my joint pain and stiffness improved! I couldn’t believe it! I continued the medication for a week with complete resolution of my pain and stiffness, but the medicine left me physically exhausted, bloated & swollen like a balloon, and completely messed with my digestive system.
As it turned out, getting rid of the pain was just one component of getting better. Reclaiming my health was a whole other story.
I was determined to figure out what was happening with me. Just taking medications and calling it a day wasn’t going to cut it. I turned to an anti-inflammatory elimination plan to figure out what foods were triggering an inflammatory response. It was almost like doing research on myself.
My findings were quite eye-opening. So many of the “healthy foods” I was eating turned out to be inflammatory for me. Nonfat Greek yogurt (something I’d been eating for breakfast for years) being one of them! Rice, on the other hand, (which I avoided like the plague because it was a “carb” and “carbs are bad for you”) was perfectly fine if I had it with cooked vegetables. Eating it with an animal protein triggered an inflammatory response. I followed a step-by-step protocol, originally created by nutritionist Lyn-Genet Recitas, the same exact one I now utilize with my clients.
I turned to what is known as Functional Medicine, a personalized approach to healthcare that involves understanding the root causes of complex chronic diseases. It’s an integrative approach that combines the biological framework of conventional medical practices with the holistic framework of non-conventional practices in order to prevent and reverse chronic illness.
In plain English, conventional medicine treats the disease while functional medicine treats the person.
