From Four Naps a Day to Functioning

Well, I had been sick for many years. Was passed from one GP to another, specialist after specialist, test after test, scan after scan, and there was never any answer. It always seemed like, "Well, we don't know what to do with you. We'll send you off to somebody else." My husband said to me, "You need to call these people. I keep seeing their information online. You need to call them." So, finally, I stopped being stubborn and I did. Got right in, got the labs done, the in-body scan, had my appointments to talk with Dr. Reno and his nurse, Jamie, and it was a huge game-changer. It was looking at me as a whole person instead of a body part that might need to be scanned and poked and prodded and then passed off to somebody else. So, it's That was what brought me here. Totally different experience, right? Very different. Yeah. Very different. It's very interesting. And besides, you know, your husband saying, "Come on, go here." Is there Was there any turning point that you decided you're like, "Okay, I'm going to leave"? When my regular doctors finally decided that the issues I seemed to be having with my lungs, with my brain, with my heart might best be diagnosed by a podiatrist, I thought, "Okay, they're clearly not taking me seriously." I thought either I give up entirely, literally give up, because if they're not taking me seriously, the people who should care for my health, then maybe it's just a lost cause. And I thought, "Well, the alternative to giving up would be calling." And I did. A podiatrist, really? Apparently, they thought that "Well, you know, we've had every other body part checked. We can't figure out why the the hard time breathing, the the taste of metal in my mouth were coming from my lungs, the all of a sudden going from severe hypothyroidism to hyper. My levels were below off the charts from very high, and they couldn't seem to figure anything out other than just over-medicating." Oh my god. I'm sending you to a podiatrist. Apparently, that's Yeah, so I do have a lovely pair of orthotics to wear, but uh they didn't do anything for the rest of me. So, I appreciate that. I mean, that's nice. My My arches thank them. Podiatrists are usually very nice people. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Yeah, it's really not. So, let's go into I guess you named a few of your symptoms, but how is this impacting you day to day? The way that my health was going, I have a special needs daughter and I need to be able to take care of her. She's 18. She's not an infant, but she still needs a lot of hands-on care. I couldn't go a day without taking three or four naps at a time, and those naps were two to three hours each. That is no way to live. It's no way to be able to take care of your family. I could barely function. My brain wasn't working. I couldn't function, and it was I can't do that to my family. And I thought that's the equivalent of giving up. You know what I mean? Yeah, I can I can see why you felt that way. Yeah. Well, which is really unfortunate cuz you were doing everything you could. You know what I mean? That's really So, let's talk about when you came here. Like your experience with that first discovery call and um the initial visit for the labs before your initial provider visit. Yeah. Um I honestly, because of the years that I had experienced my health care providers and their kind of attention to to the way I had been feeling, I had hopes, but I wasn't holding my breath, if I'm being honest. Partly because I didn't understand the whole concept behind functional medicine. It's not understanding that you're not treating a symptom. It's we're going to find out what's causing the symptom, and we're going to take care of that. That's not I couldn't wrap my head around that until I met with with Jamie and with Dr. Reno and and you know, they kind of explained the whole process. And even the folks that I talked to on the phone prior to setting up appointments, their explanation of the whole process and what this business stands for. It was okay, well now now I have hope because it's looking for the root cause. It's treating the whole person. It's not let me give you a band-aid and a prescription. Here's your lollipop. Have a great day, you know. You're a bank. Wear your orthotics. Here you go. You know what I mean? I can go for that. So yeah there yeah it was a good times. Good good times. But it's just been huge. I mean there are still some things I mean it's not an overnight fix. It's definitely not an overnight fix but to know that there are in the course of the the visits that I've had, the labs that I've had, the conversations that I've had with the staff here, with Dr. Reno, with Jamie. And it's conversations. It's not I can give you 7 minutes until my next patient comes in. You know, it's conversations. It's being a part of the way they feel like I can help fix my health, not live with the issues. I mean that's huge. It is really tough because a lot of primary care and like just GPs, they are really working within these insurance constraints. Mhm. So to give them, you know, the benefit of the doubt. Yeah. You know, they they really have limited time and limited reach of what they can do and we we have a much larger reach. Right. Which is a lot of people benefit from. Yes. You know, so what about that lab visit? The first lab visit and the InBody scan. What was your experience? Well, it was brand new to me. I thought this InBody scan gadget was just hysterical. I thought how the heck am I going to stand on this thing and not tip over. But it was very interesting. The information was very informative and I wow, I'm quite the mess. That's really what really what I thought. I mean just looking at everything and I thought it it just gives so much information and I and It does. you know. It does. I was very a little overwhelmed by all the information but very impressed. And the thing is is that every InBody scan after that, you can kind of keep track because I have the app on my phone. So you can keep track of the history. You can see your progress. And the labs, I was amazed at just the the all of the labs that were done, how comprehensive they were. It wasn't just a we're just going to have you come in, check this one level, and then well, you know, it doesn't look like there's any change, so you're good go you know, go home. And it was very very comprehensive, and I thought these people mean business, and this is a good thing. We do. We do mean business with that. Yeah. So, um let's talk about your initial visit with the provider. How was that? Going in, was it you know, was it also overwhelming? Was it How did you feel when you left? You know, how did you feel when you entered? It was incredibly reassuring. It really was because so everything that I've done as far as visiting providers and such here has been on on telehealth. You would never know. So personable, so easy to to and very concerned with every lab that was done, with every scan, with everything that we talk about. You know, I don't feel like I'm talking to a wall. I feel like I'm talking to somebody who's understanding and absorbing what's important to me, you know, and that's it's not anything I'm used to. So, it's a very nice change. How did Colin and Jamie, I guess, walk you through the process because it is a lot of information. I mean, I looked here and I looked at the labs. I'm like, oh my god, this is crazy. Yeah. Well, they were very good to explain why they do certain labs based on my concerns were when I came in. And they didn't just limit those labs to the specific area. I mean, they really were very like I said, very comprehensive because an issue here might be caused by a blood test over here. So, they were very very thorough and very good at explaining why they were doing certain things, what certain labs meant, how lab differences can affect overall well-being, overall health. They were not dismissive and I thought that was just that was it for me. I don't want to do away with general practitioners, with my regular doctors. I understand that there's they're doing what they the best they can do with the tools they're given. Tools being insurance and regulations and things like that and but this is night and day. It's night and day. So, how are you feeling now? I'm feeling so much better and a huge part of that is knowing that the way I was feeling is not in my head. You know what I mean? It's knowing that there's a reason that I was feeling the way I was feeling and there's a way to address it. Maybe not fix it completely, but address it and I can do things and they're helping with that. Telling me what I can do on my end to make a difference. It's I had my daughter, she's 18 now and she was born with significant special needs and I had her at a hospital where they don't just do everything for you. They teach you how to take care of your kiddos. They teach you how to do what you're going to need to do to survive in life and this is the same thing. I don't want to go someplace where they say we'll handle everything for you and then send you on your way. I want to know how to take care of myself when I'm not here, when I'm not on a a Zoom meeting with them. It's I want the tools to take care of myself and know that we're doing this together and not, well, we're just going to give you this and and you'll be on your way and it'll be fine. That's a really good way to put it that to teach you to like give you the education and equipment that you need. I really like that. And Colin talks about it all the time. I do the podcasts and like webinars with Colin on the back end. Yeah. So, I feel bad cuz anytime I'm on the front end, he's really like, "Come on, you can do it." Yeah. I feel oh my god, I can't. Whatever. It's a personal problem. But he always talks about gaslighting. Yeah. The gaslighting within the medical community based on, you know, like you don't you don't feel okay, but your labs are coming back okay, there's nothing they can do. Therefore, instead of validating you, they gaslight you and you you leave feeling Yeah. like very mentally not It's like a It's like a stunt, you know? He talks about that all the time. So, incredible that you were able to like totally beat that Well, and how many times they say, "Well, maybe you just need therapy. Have you talked to a counselor lately?" And then you get on a waitlist for 8 months. And I'm like, "Yes, thank you. I have a counselor who also thinks I should go get a second opinion." That's right. No, it's it's not because it's reality. Yeah. And a lot of people deal with that, right? So, one-stop shop. That's what somebody said once. I do a lot of testimonials. Somebody said one-stop shop. Yeah. I really like that, too. Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, to me, this whole place, everybody I've ever talked to, is all about empowerment. You know what I mean? It really is just so in To me, it's very obvious that the purpose of this place and these people is to empower us to take care of ourselves. You know what I mean? It's like I It's like I tell my husband, "You're not the boss of me. I am the boss of me." And you're not wrong. Yeah. So, how would you feel How do you feel about your health now and your future than you did before? lot more hopeful. A whole lot more hopeful. A whole lot less in need of It's psychiatric treatment. It's crazy, right? The mental It's not though because the the mental pressure that they put on you to invalidate you when, you know, you're the only one that's feeling this way. Yeah. It's really, really crazy. And we hear about it a lot of like, "Yeah, everyone has um you know, things that they come in for or maybe they just want you know, to check everything, whatever." But, coming from a practice where you're being invalidated, that's like that's like a whole 'nother game. That has a whole 'nother element to everything. It makes me wonder when the general medical field is going through their education process and their training. I know at some point they're trained to you can only spend a certain amount of time with a patient before you need to move on to the next one. How are they trained when there is no clear answer for a specific complaint? Do you know what I mean? I don't know because to me that that training is very different than what I have seen from here. Colin said something really interesting last week to me actually. He said on the podcast said when you're going to see like a care provider, you're going for an answer. You're going for a solution. And a lot of the times when you don't leave with that solution, you feel not invalidated but you still feel that lost more lost, right? And you feel like you you wasted your time. Mhm. And he said a lot of the time that you know care that solution that you they give you is a medication. Yes. not even an answer. It's just a medication for a symptom. Yes. That's really that's true. You go to a store looking for something you don't find it, you leave. You're more lost. Right. Right. And that's the example he used which he was correct. Yeah. So when they're I I it's got to be a part of I mean I don't have a medical background, I'm a marketing background. But I would assume it's a part of training. You know, it's part of their education. Like they need to leave with something. Right. Right, if you don't leave with a prescription then. Or or a referral. Back to the functional medicine, you said you didn't really understand it at first and then you kind of got into it. How would you describe functional medicine to a friend who had no idea what it was? I would say that that functional medicine is it's the way the whole body operates. It's the way the whole body works because you can't treat one part of the body and expect the rest of it to work perfectly. You know what I mean? You have to treat the whole thing and that's diet, that's you know, overall health and testing. It's I guess I'm not still great at explaining it but it's it's just this this feeling of understanding that I know that the hormones, the the GI stuff, the brain stuff, the everything everything works together, you know, and if you're only treating one part of things and expecting the rest of the body to work perfectly, it's like you walk away with a pair of orthotics. You know what I mean and expect that your brain is going to function top notch. I do. I thought that was a good way to explain it. And so how would you if one of your friends came to you and said, "I'm on the fence." What would you say? I would say give them a call. Absolutely. Absolutely give it give it a chance because there's something to be said for treating the whole person and not just a piece, you know, because when all of you is operating like a well-oiled machine, you work so much better, you know, and somebody that pays attention to the entire machine so much better than just 12 people that pay attention to one tiny little part and expect there to be this cohesiveness. There isn't, you know, it's just not there. And what about the pain points? You don't take insurance. You can't go through insurance. It's far away. You don't know what it is, right? What what are all these pain points that maybe you thought about or you think that somebody else would think about? How would you address those? Well, we we did have those concerns, my husband and I. Um but you know what the alternative was? Is me being completely not non-functional. After a minute, I'm going through insurance and doctor's appointments and the time that all of that took to get even worse. This is well worth it. If there's information that people, you know, would like need more understand better understanding, this I had no shortage of contacts here to to explain to me what the benefits of functional medicine were. None was at any time I had a question, I'd reach out, I'd call, and all of my questions were answered. Um the distance it doesn't matter for me because traveling an hour to be able to feel the way I do today as opposed to the way I felt a year ago, I wouldn't have been able to drive a year ago. The cost, we make it work because it's that important. It's that important because if it's a small price to pay to be able to function for my family. You know what I mean? I it's it's a very small price to pay. Beautifully said. Is there anything else you would want to add? Um yeah, I I would say that the thing that also made it easier for us is the membership, you know, and being able to have that as an option that lowered prices for us for the for the labs, for the IV therapy that I got today. Obviously, it's it's something I would have done anyway, but we're on a budget, you know, we're a single income family and this just made it so much easier to take care of my own health, you know, and that is hugely appreciated. That's an option, you know. Exactly. Exactly. Which is very nice. It's you you know that the patients come first and it's that feeling speaks volumes when you walk in the door from the people that are behind the the desk, the people that we talk to on the phone, the people that I the lab techs, everybody. It's amazing. Well, thank you.