When was the last time you went to your doctor and felt heard? It’s been a while, right? Ever since being diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2013 my new normal includes spending plenty of time in doctor’s offices and seeing every specialist ranging from the endocrinologist, head and neck surgeon, and radiation oncologist to my ENT for more routine care—which would be okay if I felt better after seeing all these doctors.
For the last few years, I have wanted to see a naturopath—someone who would take a complete look at my health with a holistic lens and treat my body as a whole interconnected unit, instead of separate and disjointed parts. That opportunity finally came when Inner Source Health with offices in Huntington, NY, Manhattan, NYC, and Greenwich, CT reached out and invited me to come in for a holistic health history and acupuncture session. When I saw the message, my fingers couldn’t type three little letters fast enough…Y-E-S!
Inner Source Health focuses on the bio-individuality of patients and seeks to use holistic remedies to allow the body to heal itself by itself. With a team of leading nationally recognized naturopathic doctors and acupuncturists, Inner Source Health is a one-stop wellness destination for those who want to help their body feel and function at an optimal level through diet, lifestyle, and holistic modifications.
After reading about the offerings of Inner Source Health, I made an appointment to see Dr. Dawn, whom I had met a few months earlier at a networking event on Long Island. Prior to my first appointment, the team at Inner Source Health set me up with an online portal and a health history form to complete before my visit. The lengthy form was so thorough, and I found myself answering questions that no doctor had ever even asked about—things like blood type, emotional trauma, antibiotic history, and specific bodily ailments—just to name a few.
My first appointment with Dr. Dawn was scheduled to be approximately 90-minutes and start with a full health history to review my completed form and conclude with acupuncture, which I had never gone for before. The team at Inner Source Health made me feel welcome and relaxed when I arrived. I brought along my trusty medical file for reference, which houses every scan and blood work report dating back to 2013. Dr. Dawn reviewed my most recent blood work report and then we went through my extensive health history form.
The first hour of the appointment felt like no doctor’s appointment I had ever been to before. It wasn’t rushed, but rather relaxed, like I was having a conversation with a friend. Dr. Dawn took the time to go through my form line by line, asked questions, and conversed with me about some of the issues I highlighted and what I hoped to accomplish at my first appointment. As a patient, the appointment felt therapeutic and with each question we tackled, I felt like I had more clarity and insight into my own life and body. In nutrition school, I have learned about the importance of primary and secondary foods. Primary foods represent things like spirituality, career, relationships, and money, while secondary foods represent the food that’s on your plate. Both are equally important and a good indicator of overall health. While it has been fascinating to learn about this principle of primary and secondary foods, it was even more empowering to see how it is applied in practice, which is what we did during my appointment.
When we finished going through my health history, we were already over my appointment time, but that didn’t phase Dr. Dawn as she prepared me for my first acupuncture session. I was slightly nervous about getting pricked by tiny needles, but Dr. Dawn again put me at ease and the entire process was relatively painless. After the needles were carefully placed in my hands, arms, forehead, belly, legs, and feet, I laid still on the table for 20 minutes and drifted off to sleep as I listened to the sound of ocean waves.
After the acupuncture, Dr. Dawn gave me a printed summary of what we discussed during the appointment and made some diet and lifestyle recommendations. After such an extensive discussion about my overall health, it was helpful to have a print-out of her notes that I can reference to ensure that I am making progress on her recommendations.
I was truly impressed by how thorough the appointment with Dr. Dawn was and I particularly liked the fact that her recommendations were completely do-able and tailored to me and my comfort level and lifestyle. I left the appointment with a script that had more blood tests on it than I could count, a few new supplements to incorporate into my daily routine, and a new-found sense of empowerment over my own health care. The very next day I went to my local LabCorp and had them run the tests that Dr. Dawn ordered. I never knew I could be as excited as I am to get a blood work report back, but I whole-heartedly believe that learning as much as you can about your body is critical for optimal health. While I await the results from the 22 vials of blood that was drawn, I am already looking forward to my follow-up appointment and reporting on the recommendations I have already implemented.
If seeing a naturopath has been on your list of to-dos’ or you’ve just wanted to get a better sense of what’s going on in your body, I highly suggest visiting the team at Inner Source Health. Remember, your health is an investment, not an expense!
Stay tuned to learn more about my next appointment at Inner Source Health and for the results of my blood work…
Thank you, Inner Source Health, for my complimentary session!
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