Becoming a physician has been my dream and passion for as long as I am able to remember. Specializing in family medicine was a natural decision as it not only allowed me to treat the individual but see the family dynamics and home environment that was a crucial part of their health. However, the longer I practiced the more apparent it was that I was not preventing diseases or optimizing health prior to the various medical issues that the patient developed. And the sicker the patient, the more their medical treatment became piecemeal as different specialists managed their various components. We lost the underlying connections for the diseases and although the patient may have stabilized, they were not improving.

So began my journey to expand my knowledge to help my patients as well as to optimize my own health. As I began training in functional medicine, the missing pieces of improving health came together. I was understanding how our lifestyle, exposures to toxins, environment, and community began to cause inflammation, hormonal imbalances, detoxification issues, gut microbiome changes, etc. within our body and which in turn began disease processes. I was able to see a way to help myself and my patients to take true preventative steps and help improve their health.

As with all journeys, personal experience is the greatest teacher. My own decline in health began with a confluence of events – a custody battle, stressors at work, and entering perimenopause. I gained weight, had fatigue, bloating, hot flashes, and a myriad of other symptoms. I began a meditation practice, cleaned up my diet along with implementing a gut repair program, started hormones, addressed nutritional deficiencies, and began using natural skin and household products. I felt great for quite a while, then began having some recurrent symptoms. Further testing revealed mold and detoxification issues that were likely causing SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). Again, using a functional medicine approach working on mold detoxification, mitochondrial support, herbal treatment of SIBO, and a low FODMAP (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols) diet helped me to regain my health and wellbeing.

The last several years working with patients, family, and friends using a functional medicine approach have been the most fulfilling years in my medical career. I love working with people to understand each person’s unique underlying root cause and how to address it. I look forward to working with you and your family to optimize your health.