The Journey by: Dr. Eric DeYoung

2010-06-21T07:09:00.001-07:00

Weekly I am asked two questions consistently by my clients. In this blog I hope to answer them both to shed light on why I do what I do.

Why did you decide to become a Naturopath rather than a medical doctor?

When I was in high school, I volunteered at Baptist East in the rehab department and found that rehab practitioners have a chance to make immediate and meaningful impacts on people’s lives each and every day. That really made me feel good about myself through helping others. So, I graduated from Trinity and went on to the University of Kentucky and took pre-medical and pre-physical therapy classes. Some where along the way I was introduced to the field of Occupational therapy. Having a strong interest in psychology I researched OT and found there is a direct relationship to the physical as well as the mental components of helping a person achieve functional independence. Graduating OT school from Shawnee University in OH I returned home to Louisville to work at Audubon, Suburban and Southwest Hospitals doing inpatient and outpatient rehab. Moving forward I worked at U of L trauma center and loved working trauma and burns. What I noticed was what we called “frequent flyers”. These are patients who kept coming back. We would get them “better” and they would come right back. Moving to HealthSouth outpatient next helped get me closer to my roots for immediate meaningful service to clients. It was at HealthSouth that I was introduced to Natural healing modalities by a “crazy magnetic lady”!

Exploring alternative health careers I learned about Naturopathy which in philosophy resonated quickly with me. In pursuing Naturopathy I found that there are really 2 schools that are quite different. There are Naturopathic Physicians who complete a medical school version of education and learn to prescribe medicine and perform minor surgeries and are able to function as primary care providers in some states with licensure and even deliver babies. Well, that sounded like the other color of the same medical horse so to speak. I didn’t want to be a medical physician and prescribe and do surgeries. I always knew that there were other methods available to help heal people. So, I looked further and began to appreciate the paradigm of Traditional Naturopathy for Allied Health providers which allowed me to further my education utilizing the science based foundation and clinical experiences I had already achieved. The philosophy was to help “teach” people to heal through natural methods and no use of prescription medications or surgery. In the United States we are the best at emergent care services and I tell my clients that if they see me on the side of the road dying, take me to the emergency room at U of L. When they get me “better’ then get me out of the hospital and bring me to the Center For Alternative Medicines so I can be “well”!

Why do other doctors not know this?

Interesting question and I have given great thought on this matter over the past 13 + years. It has been my experience that today’s medical provider has about 6-8 minutes to listen to your symptoms report, gather information and make a decision about what medication to provide to you. It takes longer to treat the whole person then it does to treat the symptoms. In my practice I choose to spend an hour (maybe more) with you listening to you, considering physical, chemical and emotional causatory factors that may be impacting your health. This takes longer to consider all options. I am interested in functionally fixing your health concerns and joining into a partnership of teaching, learning and implementing short term as well as long term action steps to help restore your health, supporting you in defining your personal goals for development, encouraging you to let go of past restrictions emotionally and appreciate the value of true functional medicine and nutrition. Not just treat your symptoms so that you may “feel better”.

Wellness is a journey toward a higher purpose independent of external resources and drugs to reduce your symptoms. It is about empowerment and independence toward a purpose driven life. I don’t believe that the majority of physicians don’t care; I believe they just don’t “know” what it takes to create a wellness relationship. The allopathic medical model is based on “feeling better” not being “well”. The traditional idea of prevention is mammograms rather than diet changes, fasting, meditation, mindfulness and exercise. They talk about these ideas but don’t learn enough about them in medical school to be able to actually teach their clients about them much less implement these concepts into their own lives. They are more interested in knowing the disease the person is suffering from rather than appreciating the person who is suffering from the dis-ease.

Accomplishing a Goal by: Mike Rowles

2010-06-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

Insight: Mike Rowles decided about a year ago to complete a half ironman triathlon and his first attempt came two weeks ago. Mike’s blog will be focused on training and ATTAINING A GOAL. Today’s entry starts out with his first half ironman race. He will recount what it took to get to this point in his life. We can all reach our GOALS we just have to set them and then go for it.

The Race May 15, 2010 - The Half Ironman

My plan over the winter included the Taylorsville Half Ironman. However, due to my struggle with the swim I had all but scratched this race off of my calendar and nearly given up swimming completely until I did so well two weeks ago in the sprint triathlon. At that time I decided to go ahead and tackle this race. I went in with a goal of 5:15 to 6 hours.

The swim was tough, not only because of the distance 1.2 miles, approximately 5 times the distance I have swam competitively (400 yards was the most previously). Plus, this was an open water swim where you are in essence swimming blind. I can’t tell you how many times I would be swimming only to look up and be way off course. I want to send out a big thanks to all of you who supported me and kept me in the pool.

The bike was a very tough course with lots of climbing and rolling hills. I held back somewhat on the bike knowing that I had to run 13.1 miles afterward. My support crew made this part of the race very enjoyable. Mike Mattingly and I had ridden the course a week before so he knew the course. He drove a crew around the course that cheered me, John Richmond, and Brad Wolff on. It was a blast! Thanks to Mike for the mobile cheer squad.

The run was much worse than I anticipated. I am used to only taking in 400 calories on my long rides because I go eat afterwards. This time I took in 800 in anticipation of running. It didn’t bother me on the bike (besides a few burps) but as soon as I started running nausea set in. Each time I tried to drink anything I would nearly vomit. Finally after 4 miles the nausea went away but then I suffered from a different problem – cramping. Because of the nausea I couldn’t drink like I needed to early in the run and my legs let me know it. My calves cramped so bad on the last downhill that they plantar flexed my foot and curled my toes. My run time ended up being 2:05 (compared to my mini time of 1:38).

My final time was 5:56, so I accomplished my goal of going under 6 hours and I placed third in my age group. The best part is I don’t feel like I did the perfect race and I know that I can improve a lot. First, I need more time in the water (both open and pool). Second, I need to train my stomach to be able to handle the extra calories while I am racing. Third, I need to do more bricks (run after biking) so that I am used to running with fatigued legs.

Thank you all for the support and encouragement!

The Staff @ Occupational Kinetics

The Journey by: Dr. Eric DeYoung

Accomplishing a Goal by: Mike Rowles