Welcome to my website. I am hoping it is a place where you can find information to use to improve your health. As a Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner since 1997, I have had the opportunity to work with thousands of women in their pursuit for total health and wellness. And honestly, I am on that journey myself. As a mother of four children, I am making healthcare choices for myself and my children on a daily basis. So, we are on a journey together.

In the past 5 years I have come to believe that healthcare should  get back to basics. A heavy emphasis should be placed on proper nutrition, water intake, vitamin supplements and stress management in your pursuit to feeling well. I believe that food should be regarded as a medication. A majority of complaints I hear ever every day (especially gastrointestinal and fatigue) are related to nutrition. I hope you come to believe, as I do,  that what you are eating or what you are not eating can affect how you feel. I tell all my patients that good nutrition (and weight loss) starts at the grocery store.  You have to shop differently to eat differently. The good news about this approach is that teaching women proper nutrition will affect the whole family.

The next step to feeling well is collecting data about you through blood and saliva testing. My thorough blood panel involves thyroid testing (5 different tests), blood sugar testing (3 different tests), anemia testing (2 different tests), cholesterol testing, and vitamin testing. My favorite way to test hormones is through saliva testing. I feel it is a more accurate way to determine cellular level hormone values. Blood testing has never been a reliable way of testing female hormones, which is why historically we have never required blood testing for hormone treatment. It can be done, but I find that saliva testing tends to more accurately match your symptoms, which is more helpful in developing a treatment plan. I can't tell you the number of patients I have seen who have already had hormone testing done by blood elsewhere to be told they are "normal". These women sure don't feel normal, and they didn't receive a plan to feel any better from those "normal" labs.

It takes a lot of time to review the blood tests and saliva results and discuss a treatment plan that involves nutrition, stress management, female hormones and thyroid hormones. I do these consults in person, where you and I both have copies of all the testing that has been performed, and I provide a written treatment plan that summarizes all of my recommendations. 

If you are looking for someone to listen to you, and to try testing and treatment options that I have described, and you are looking for a partner in your health and wellness goals, please come and visit me and plan to take an active role in your healthcare. Please call 817-424-3112 to schedule an appointment for a consultation and begin your journey to improving your health.

 Make sure you take the hormone quizzes here, and educate yourself with my recommending reading list under Health Tips.  

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