Functional Medicine

I was trying to find a doctor who was aware of holistic healing and not opposed to or threatened by it. In my search I came across The Institute for Functional Medicine. They explain that functional medicine looks at the root cause of an illness or disease and solves the problem through lifestyle changes, exercise, nutrition, and other holistic practices before using medication. It actually is the best of both worlds. It’s fairly new and it’s hard to find a practitioner who accepts insurance. A few years ago, I found an MD who was certified in functional medicine, accepted Medicare, and was just a few miles away. He was an expert on nutrition and supplements. He said that his pantry at home was full of supplements, and he recommended some of them to me. He also helped me with my nutrition which was mainly staying away from fast food and processed food. I lost 16 pounds, and my joints felt so much better. He had no problem with me seeing an acupuncturist, a chiropractor, and a Reiki therapist, and he was supportive of me seeing them. He also said that he would work with them to keep me healthy so that I could see my grandchildren grow up.

Then he left the country because he was fed up with Big Food, Big Medicine, and Big Pharma. So, I had to start over. Fortunately, in the same medical group, was another doctor who had just moved back to Boulder from Florida. She had grown up in Boulder but had a successful family medicine practice in Florida for a number of years. She is working towards certification in Functional Medicine via the Institute of Functional Medicine and looks forward to integrating this training into her practice. I couldn’t believe the timing and the synchronicity of finding these two wonderful doctors.

I feel very comfortable with her advice on nutrition and supplements, and she lets me know which supplements are best for me and which ones I shouldn’t take. She is up on all of the studies and research that has been done on all of the supplements. When she looked at the list of supplements that I was taking, she jested that I was trying to do reverse aging. Instead of taking a statin to lower my cholesterol, she recommended the Psyllium that’s found in Metamucil. I found an organic Psyllium which is better because it does not have the sugar that Metamucil has. My bad cholesterol has dropped significantly. My doctor friend that I play golf with, was looking for a doctor himself, and when he asked me about my doctor, I was kind of apprehensive about referring her to him, because he himself is brilliant, and can be very critical. After he went to see her, he came back with a glowing report. Once, I went to see her because the room started spinning when I would lay on my back. She did the Canalith Repositioning on me, and even though I thought that I would fly out of the room, the crystals in my ear cleared and the vertigo went completely away.

When I go to see her at her office, I can feel the positive energy. I immediately feel good especially with her sense of humor. There are lots of encouraging posters on the walls about emotional support and respect in both English and Spanish. There are also posters about mindfulness and meditation. She also is very supportive of my other holistic health practices. When I mentioned grounding to her, she laughed because I was the third person that mentioned it to her that day. She said that several of her patients had good results with grounding. I discovered that she also knows about chakras after I mentioned that after my chiropractor aligns my spine, he aligns my chakras. She also knew who Ganesh was when my wife told her that she listens to a beautiful Ganesh mantra to relax. Just as the other practitioners that I go to, she provides physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual support, and it’s great to finally have a doctor who is in alignment with my views on all types of healing.