Bio Continued
Why I chose to become a Naturopathic Doctor
As I was finishing my senior year of college, my dad left the house early one morning to have surgery. Later that day between classes, I heard that everything had gone fine. That night my mom called in tears. She said that sometime between when the doctor had last checked on my dad, and when she insisted he had been sleeping too long and that they wake him up, he'd had a stroke. Because the stroke had gone hours without being detected, it was too late to use the clot-busting therapies that prevent much of the damage.
As a result, my dad suffered a massive stroke, which paralyzed him, took his speech, and changed his personality. It was touch and go for a few weeks in intensive care, and we weren’t sure he would survive. When he finally left the hospital, we were determined to help him become functional again. I quit my job and hurriedly finished my last college classes so that I could stay at home to help care for him. For the next year, I took him to therapy and helped him with the everyday things that he could no longer do.
After three months, our insurance company decided they had fulfilled their obligation and were done providing therapy for my dad. We were in shock; he still couldn't speak, he couldn't use his right hand or arm, and he could barely shuffle a short distance with a cane, spending most of his time in a wheelchair. How could this be all they were going to do for us?
Feeling angry and abandoned, we began looking at alternatives. We had no idea how or where to begin, so I began studying nutrition, vitamins, herbs, and anything else that looked like it could help. We tried acupuncture, and discovered that in China stroke victims begin receiving acupuncture and herbal formulas the day after their stroke, along with conventional Western medicine. Over the months, we tried many therapies; some helped, some didn't.
I became fascinated with alternative medicine and began to seriously think about going to medical school. After talking with a number of medical doctors (MD's), I quickly realized I didn't want to attend conventional medical school. For a while I considered Osteopathic (DO) and Chiropractic (DC) medicine, but neither felt like a good choice. Finally, from a friend of a friend, I discovered Naturopathic Medicine and found my match.
Naturopathic medicine has a solid background in scientific Western medicine (anatomy, pathology, physiology, etc.) and a broad range of subjects I was interested in: nutrition, vitamin & mineral supplementation, botanical medicine, homeopathy, etc. But more importantly, it has a strong philosophy of healing. This was what I was looking for! First I had to go back to school for two years to have the prerequisites to attend Naturopathic school. Then I applied to Bastyr University in Seattle, WA, and my wife and I moved to Seattle so I could begin my full-time study of Naturopathic medicine.
Medical school was difficult and stressful, but I loved it. I had found my life purpose. When I graduated, I decided to follow my heart, and set up my own practice. I was all too aware of the problems with the conventional system and decided to design something different. Something that took the best of what medicine had to offer and side-stepped many of the problems. Aspire Natural Health is, for me, a labor of love. It is my attempt to be of service to others, and to make the world a better place.
If I can be of service to you, please feel welcome to contact me.
