The Practice of Medicine “A Journey of Self-Discovery and Self-Healing”

To ring in this New Year of 2015, I have decided to follow a format that is quite different from previous articles, in part to honor a request from my patients and in another part to share a story, which I hope will prove as valuable to others as it has been to me. So, this article is less about teaching scientific principles and more about bonding on an emotional and experiential level, a place that can be just understood, without the need for interpretation or even words.

I am the second of five children, born just a year apart and raised in a small town in western Nebraska. My father was the consummate general practitioner, doing everything from setting broken bones, to removing inflamed gallbladders, to delivering the final three of his own children, and responding to an emergency call for his best friend who, as it turned out, he could not revive after a massive heart attack. My mother was a registered nurse, who tended to patients on the ward and who was skilled and meticulous enough to be awarded the task of managing and scrubbing in the operating room for her uncle, a prominent neurosurgeon in Omaha at the time. Medicine, surgery and caring for those in need was in my bones and in my blood. Becoming a doctor was a dream I was born with, which became a reality.

I received an undergraduate degree in chemistry, because chemistry made sense to me as opposed to biology, which I considered rote memorization of random facts to get through an examination. I loved learning about atoms and orbits and protons and neutrons and electrons. I loved organic chemistry and the stick models, which helped me see a world beyond the limits of the human eye. In my last year of medical school, I was chosen for a surgical honors class, which afforded me the privilege of first-assisting both a vascular surgeon and a cardiac surgeon, something medical students were rarely allowed to do. I felt a beating heart, watched blood pulse through arteries and bile drip out of the liver. I touched the living anatomy. I was fascinated and amazed and hooked! I was going to advance my medical career as a surgeon.

I finished a general surgery residency, completed a fellowship in pediatric liver transplantation and pediatric surgical research and worked in a pediatric surgical practice for almost nine years. These years as a surgeon further refined my understanding of living anatomy, from the tiniest of the premature babies which required me to wear magnifying glasses, even with good eyes, to the children I was both able to mend and those for whom the cancer surgery didn’t achieve my desired outcome. Even though I couldn’t see anything when the operation was complete, the cancer refused to be vanquished, returning again and again, preventing the child from continued life.

Surgical practice was challenging, with little time for reflection or perspective. In the heat of the battle or a busy operative schedule with multiple responsibilities and every other night call, the trauma had to be tended, the operation had to be completed and care provided, without much time to figure out why or how things were happening in the first place. Things changed in my late 40’s, however, when studying for surgical boards, I was given a book by Barry Sears, a PhD biochemist called Enter the Zone. He talked about how food, eaten according to principles of biochemistry, controlled every step of how a the body functions, from how energy is produced, to how cells repair and renew, to how inflammation was either produced or not produced depending on the amount of protein, carbohydrate and fat calories eaten at a given meal, a method I have termed insulin/glucagon balance.

But, wait a minute! I thought that biochemistry had to do with feeding my patients through an IV or feeding tube or managing medications or breathing equipment. Biochemistry had to do with how I was thinking and feeling and functioning, every day of my life??? I thought if I considered something about my life to be wrong, for any reason, that I could simply will things a different way. Just as if I considered that something was going right, it was because my will was strong enough to make it happen. It seemed that I was functioning as a head disconnected from a body.

As it turned out, with nothing to lose and much to gain, I ate my first biochemical meal and noticed a difference immediately. I was no longer retaining fluid, I had more energy, I had a better overall sense of well being and, best of all, I was not having out of control cravings for desserts, including cakes, pies, cookies, ice cream and chocolate, especially during two weeks of every menstrual cycle. I started to lose and maintain weight, something which had been difficult to do all my life, in spite of intense physical exercise. At 40 years of age, I had a major AHA moment. As with other experiences in my life, I had to know why eating in a specific way would or should have such a dramatic impact on how I was functioning.

So around this same time, I had the opportunity to change directions and left the surgical practice to study Functional Medicine. A textbook of basic biochemistry became my constant companion, starting from page one. Lo and behold, with now the time and educational resources for a different perspective, answers to many unanswered questions were revealed by and rooted in basic science. Biochemistry served as the springboard of a Functional Medicine practice, based on teaching the practical application of biochemistry to my patients and witnessing tremendous improvement in all aspects of a person’s day to day function. I built a facility to house a medical practice focused on education and active participation to eat well, sleep well, heal well, maintain physical strength and remain flexible in body, mind, heart and spirit.

For over ten years, I was working 12 or 13 or 14 hours a day, seven days a week. There wasn’t every other night call, but there were multiple different hats I was wearing, including doctor, phlebotomist, accountant, personnel manager, building superintendent, sleep technician, janitor, billing supervisor and landscape maintenance. Captain of the ship took on a much different meaning!

Very gradually and somewhat subtly I was forced to a realization in my own life, when I recognized that what I was teaching my patients and applying myself could only take me so far. Taking hormones and supplements and Identifying the triggers and mediators of disease was not getting to the root of my own disease. Despite practicing biochemical balance and supporting basic biochemistry, I was tired all the time. I was bloated all the time. I had out of control cravings again. I was gaining weight. My cholesterol was continuously rising. I had swollen hands and ankles. I had horrible cystic acne. I was in nearly continuous pelvic and hip pain to the point where, if I rolled over while asleep, I would be awakened. In order to get myself out of bed in the morning, I had to roll out of the bed onto the floor and push myself up. I had no strength. I could barely make it through every day, often falling, exhausted, into a deep sleep, after getting home from the office. I had little will or desire. When I ate anything, it felt like a rock had fallen into the pit of my stomach after eating anything. I felt like I had to eat more just to have the energy to process the food I just ate. I was hungry all the time, but eating was making me sick. I would be asleep for at least an hour after many meals. To be able to have just enough energy to maintain the exhaustive schedule, I was eating very little, sometimes less than 500 calories a day.

At this point, I had the great fortune of being introduced to vortex water (which is the topic for the next article) and about a year later, Symptometry, root cause therapeutics and the science of cell nourishment. Very slowly, I was able to eat again, getting energy from food consumed in reasonable amounts. The joint swelling went away, along with the pain. My hair stopped falling out in clumps and became vibrant and shiny. I could sleep and move again! I had energy to get through the day. I was able to start walking outside on a regular basis. Through my own experience, I was learning that applying the principles of nutrition and biochemistry does not get to the root cause of the disease and is, in fact, several thousands of steps removed from the chemistry and physics of cell nourishment. A human cell runs from its center, the nucleus, powered by atoms and atomic energy, directing the construction and reconstruction of the enzyme machinery that allows and provides for life in a human body.

The science of cell nourishment is what now governs my practice. I have recovered from serum sickness and anaphylactic shock related to deer fly bites, without steroids and without epinephrine. I have regained hearing in my left ear. I no longer have the cardiac arrhythmias associated with menopause. My cholesterol is normal, with the proper balance of good and bad cholesterol with normal triglycerides. My HgA1C, which peaked at 5.7 is now 5.1, perhaps the best indication of an enzyme surplus. I have lost thirty five pounds, accomplished and maintained without will power. I walk an hour a day at a brisk pace and maintain a busy schedule from 4 AM to 9 PM. This is a major change from a lifelong pattern of arising just in time to shower, get dressed, grab a drive through breakfast and get to the office by 8 AM. I am now preparing most of my own meals from scratch, cooking exclusively with canola oil. I rarely eat restaurant food of any kind. I drink vortex water, take fulvic acid on a daily basis, supplement with dehydrated molecules for complete multivitamin and mineral support and take a balanced formulation of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids, derived from red and black currant seeds. I use therapeutic products made by dilution and succussion, which when dissolved in the mouth, deliver nutrients to the cells in the precise form and amount required for optimal cell nourishment and optimal cell function, addressing needs even to the level of the DNA. I take no prescription medication of any kind. I do not take supplemental hormones. Beyond childhood immunizations and vaccines required to work in a hospital, I have never taken the flu shot, a shingles shot or any other vaccines. I am aware that no food is safe to consume, GMO or otherwise. I select and prepare food with the help of a technique call chromatography, which reveals all the chemicals, minerals and heavy metals in foods, good and bad, even those that are 100% natural. I eat food low in cholesterol, low in saturated fat, low in calories, low in sodium, low in potassium, low in fiber, devoid of heavy metals and low in health disrupters. I do not eat chocolate of any kind. I do not drink alcohol in any form, nor any kind of tea or coffee. My skin is clear and healthy. Several people who had not seen me for a few years did not recognize me! I feel better now than I have felt over the course of my life. In retrospect, I had an energy deficit and an enzyme deficit for decades of my life.

With the help of a homeopathic physician and the science of cell nourishment, I have personally watched as atrial fibrillation, mitral valve prolapse, uterine prolapse, osteoporosis, nasal polyps, chronic sinusitis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, plantar fasciitis, migraines, systemic lupus erythematosis, food and chemical sensitivity, celiac disease, shingles, high blood pressure, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, eczema, psoriasis, cystitis, herpes simplex, chronic deep venous thrombosis, cytomegalovirus, Ebstein Barr virus, palpitations, sciatica, chronic diarrhea, anemia, low platelet count and bladder cancer has been reversed and eliminated without the use of drugs prepared in an allopathic way, whether synthetic, herbal or botanical. Hair regrows without transplantation or prescription drugs. Patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, multinodular goiter, radiation induced hypothyroidism or even total thyroidectomy have had thyroid function improved or restored, with shrinkage or elimination of the goiter and reduction or elimination of thyroid medication.

Providing for cell nourishment by supporting electricity, energy balance, pH balance and an enzyme surplus, assures that the innate ability of the cells to produce hormones and neurotransmitters, replace worn out tissue, clean up trash and defend against invading microorganisms is maintained. You do not have to live a life of medicating daily, with coffee, tea, food, prescription drugs or alternative, for lack of energy, lack of sleep, weight issues, sinus drainage, sinusitis, influenza, gastro esophageal reflux, constipation, bloating, food intolerance, urinary burning or infection, vaginal dryness, impotence, dry skin, pain, hair loss, high blood pressure, hyperactivity, attention deficit, behavioral issues, mental or emotional issues or memory loss, to name only a few. I have direct experience to know that diseases, previously thought to be incurable, are indeed curable, applying the science of cell nourishment. When I knew that I was not functioning optimally, however, I had to surrender everything I thought I knew and be willing to follow the direction of others scientists before me who walked the path of complex multisystem organ dysfunction to vibrant and optimal health. Applying the principles of cell nourishment, provided to you by those with experience in this technique, allows you to live in a symptom-free, disease-free body. Be willing to take a chance. Be willing to have a different experience. All the best for 2015!