About Me

How My Journey with Naturopathic Medicine Began

I was blessed to have a mom who was always my biggest fan and advocate. Our house was filled with endless love, laughter and support. I hardly knew what stress, heartache and hardship were until my mom started getting sick. In my preteen years, she was diagnosed with a myriad of autoimmune diseases that I had trouble pronouncing, let alone wrapping my head around. It was something she conquered with a strength and grace that I am still today amazed by. Even through all of her pain and illness, she never once let her role as a mom falter. My brother and I never went without anything; every horseback riding lesson, school dance, play or project she was there.

It was when I got sick in high school that I really saw just how deep and devoted a mother’s love can be.  I was a mystery to virtually every doctor we had seen. I got a virus that left me with crippling nausea and stomach problems, yet every test was clear. I went through a gamut of awful tests and when the doctors couldn’t find anything, I was brushed off and sent for a psych consult, which is done all too often with puzzling cases. This answer was not an acceptable one for my mom and she fought with every doctor out there to keep looking, keep trying and find a better solution. She knew her daughter and she knew this was not all in my head. A 25-pound weight loss, feeding tube, and countless bad reactions to medications later, we found an alternative medicine doctor who changed it all. I will never forget the feeling I had when he held mine and my mom’s hands, looked into my eyes and said, “we will fix this, I will make you better.” And I did get better, I made a full recovery and promised to devote my life to helping others the way this doctor and my mom had helped me.

Since my recovery, my mom has had ups but unfortunately too many downs with her various autoimmune conditions which has only pushed me to be better. To anyone who is suffering or watching their loved one suffer from a chronic disease, I understand. I understand the helpless feeling of not knowing what to do and having trained medical professionals who are not able to give you answers. I understand the anger that comes with watching such a strong and wonderful person suffer. The questions of why does this happen? Why her? Why can’t we find out how to make it better? I understand the disenchantment with medicine, an industry that, at times, seems more concerned with the bottom line than the patient’s quality of life.  There is a big difference between helping a patient survive and helping them heal and live to the best of their ability.

I’m trying to change our world and do everything I can to bring back the quality of life to these patients. That is why I chose to become a doctor of naturopathic medicine. I have seen the work that this medicine can do when you find and treat the cause, treat the whole person, educate them and prevent future illness.  No one deserves to live with a chronic condition. My goal is to inspire hope and empowerment in my patients and be someone they are able to trust who will be just as much of an advocate for their health as my mom was to me.