“I feel safe here,” said Betty, as she began to cry softly. The pain of arthritis in multiple sites along with her other medical issues of hypercholesterolemia (too much cholesterol in the blood), hypothroid (too little thyroid), hypertension, and depression had overwhelmed her. She felt that her health was going in the wrong direction. In our clinic, we often see people who become tired and frustrated after taking many medications. Oftentimes, their symptoms may have improved, yet they feel an overall loss of vitality. Over a period of time, they may become discouraged if not outright depressed. I knew that, following heart disease, stroke, and cancer, prescription medications were actually the fourth leading cause of death. I have spent many years as a physician working with people and their ailments and offering them natural solutions. Oftentimes, with g-d’s help, we are successful. yet something was different here, as she was talking about safety.

“I’ve had trouble in other offices. They are all good people and mean well, but they focus on the part of me that is their specialty, and I…I mean the me that is inside this body feels lost in the process”. She again began crying softly. As I sat back in my chair listening, I remembered my experiences in medical school and afterwards, where we were taught to treat a person as parts of a whole without the maturity or instruction to see that person, their symptoms, emotions, and lifestyle integrated into the beauty of a unique human being.

I had to go outside the mainstream and apprentice to various teachers and traditions to learn nutrition, supplementation, energy medicine (homeopathy), yoga and stress reduction techniques, psychotherapy (including a spiritual perspective) and meditation. It took years for all this information to gel together into a working, practical and extremely cost effective way of practicing medicine so that I felt whole, complete, privileged, and blessed.

Betty gently dabbed a tissue to her eyes and her lips stopped quivering. As she was getting ready to continue, I realized that sitting here with her, practicing medicine this way, having like-minded practitioners around me, working with our bodies, minds, and spirits on a daily basis, I felt safe as well.

Sincerely,

Jerry Gore, MD Director and Staff Physician

Center For Holistic Medicine