I hope, no matter what part of the world you are from, you will resonate with my story and my passion.
Both my mother and step-dad had Alzheimer’s and I was their caregiver, which meant a long season of chronic stress.
Contributing to that was a major flood in 1998 that totally destroyed their home, car, and possessions.
We rebuilt with plans for my husband and me to live with them so we could take care of them but it was a long grueling process.
Fast Forward
(Out of sheer necessity and raw emotions that’d throw my story way off track…)
My mother-in-law, step-dad, mother, and husband all passed away in a short period of time. On the heels of that, I had a transient ischemic attack (TIA), also known as a mini-stroke. When I asked my doctor about testing to see what might have caused it, she said it was “unnecessary” and said to call her if it ever happened again.
That was a changing moment in my life.
It was then that I realized I was going to have to be my own health advocate. I was no longer going to trust someone else to make those kinds of health decisions for me. I took the bull by the horns, and in spite of my doctor telling me to wait til the next one, I went through comprehensive medical testing with a number of different specialists to pinpoint the reason for my TIA. Research concludes “Early treatment post TIA has been shown to reduce the 90-day risk of ischemic stroke by 80% in a population-based cohort study”.[1]
I networked. I explored alternative medicine, holistic medicine, homeopathy, Ayurvedic medicine, and finally my journey landed me into Functional Medicine webinars. I was like a sponge. Functional Medicine is a patient centered healthcare model focusing on the whole person, mind, body, and spirit. It’s not about just treating or masking symptoms. The focus is not WHAT? as much as WHY?.
I Found a Functional Medicine Doctor
Right away I could tell it was completely different from conventional medicine. From preconception to present day, one’s life story is rolled out. Clues are spotted from not only past health events but significant life events, trauma, stress…identifying antecedents, triggers, and mediators that have led to system imbalances.
Being on the right track was a relief but it was overwhelming to have so many diagnoses that I didn’t understand because conventional medicine doesn’t look for them. I was both shocked and angry that these root causes were never on anybody’s radar before. I learned that even though drugs (even NSAIDS or steroids) might alleviate your symptoms and make you feel better temporarily, they could trigger a cascade of other symptoms (silently causing havoc in your gut) creating a far worse health condition. I talk about this more here.
But even with this breakthrough, I walked away from that Functional Medicine doctor’s office discouraged and confused. For months I struggled. I needed somebody who understood Functional Medicine and could support me with protocols and making the desired changes recommended to me.
Functional Medicine health coaching did not even exist at that time. I believe that all things happen for a reason and I don’t think the day I discovered the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy (FMCA) was by accident. I was one of the first graduates of the FMCA, a collaboration of The Institute for Functional Medicine.
My own experience of exasperation inspired me to want to help you.
I was so profoundly affected by what I went through, the feeling of being all alone to figure it out, yearning to be healthy but needing more of a hand-holding relationship than a doctor could give me, that it eventually resulted in a calling to become a health coach so others wouldn’t have to go through that.
About
Functional Medicine Health Coaching
Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach
At FMCA, I learned from world-renowned IFM faculty, experts in nutrition and mind-body medicine, as well as distinguished leaders in positive psychology and coaching. The 6-month supervised practicum provided a hands-on coaching experience with clients who registered through FMCA’s Coaching Center. I was honored to be chosen as a participating Health Coach in The Institute for Functional Medicine’s Health Boost Corporate Wellness pilot program.
Certified Gluten Practitioner
Along with my certification as a Functional Medicine Health Coach, I also became a Certified Gluten Practitioner under the direction of Dr. Tom O’Bryan, who is on the teaching faculty at The Institute for Functional Medicine and is an internationally recognized authority in Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity and Celiac Disease. You can read more about that here.
I don’t want to waste my sorrows ~ I want to turn them around and use them for good. And only you know whether or not you will be part of my story and if I will be part of yours.
Thank you for spending time getting to know a little about who I am and why I started Functional Medicine Health Coaching. I hope I have the honor of knowing who you are and co-creating a plan with you that puts a happy positive spin on your story.
P.s. Please visit my Fees, Refunds, and Cancellation Policies page for more information about individual and group sessions and how to schedule a FREE CONSULT, which will initiate a Living Matrix assessment health questionnaire and automatically populate your personal Functional Medicine Analysis Report – ALL FREE – but worth hundreds of dollars!