Brain Injury
Personalized Nutrition
Having a brain injury changes every aspect of your life. Conventional medicine does a great job in the acute stages, but functional medicine helps relieve the chronic, long-term issues required for healing.
Our goal is to work with each individual’s unique injury and situation to create a personalized nutrition plan for optimal brain healing. Additionally, if there is an issue with digestion, weight, sleep, and decreased immune function, we want to know WHY and investigate the root of the problem instead of merely addressing the symptoms.
Microbiome Support
One important aspect of our protocol is examining the state of the gastrointestinal microbiome. The gut microbiome is associated with many other areas of our bodies, including our brains, and is severely impacted by:
- brain injury
- hospitalizations
- surgeries
- poor diet
- medications
- and more
When the microbiome is out of balance, it leads to many health challenges, but especially chronic inflammation. That chronic inflammation leads to brain inflammation and can often be a significant roadblock in the pathway to healing.
These negative impacts are often inevitable with brain injury, so we work to nurture and nourish your microbiome back to a healthy state. Additionally, we offer support for tube feeding, tube weaning, guidance for therapeutic diets, microbiome monitoring, supplementation recommendations, support for decreased gut function such as constipation, and many other aspects of nutritional care.
Support for Caregivers & Families
Put your own oxygen mask on first. We hear that all the time on flights, but why is it so hard to apply that to life?
Caregivers are so busy taking care of others, they often feel there is not enough time for themselves. Or maybe they do take time for themselves, but things are just off ever since the accident. What you are feeling is real. Traumatic events are often triggers to dysfunction and disease in our lives.
Maybe you were fine before the accident, but then started suffering anxiety attacks, thyroid problems, or digestive issues after. Maybe your cholesterol is out of range, or maybe you have a new onset of symptoms that resemble autoimmunity.
It is all real and it can happen. In Functional Medicine, we look at everything involved in your life.
My goal is to support you fully so that you can continue to be the amazing caregiver for your family member without difficulties.
With this option, we look at your life through a functional medicine lens. Even if you are not experiencing symptoms, I want to support you nutritionally so that you continue to stay healthy. And if you are experiencing symptoms, or health changes that you just cannot figure out, I want to get to the root cause and help you heal.
While we cannot take away the stress of being a caretaker, we can give you the support and resources you need to handle those stresses.
My Inspiration
In March of 2020, my 19 month old nephew, Isaac, had a near-drowning accident resulting in an anoxic brain injury. Conventional medicine did an amazing job bringing him back to us, but alternative medicine has helped him heal in ways the doctors never thought possible. After living with the family to help care for Isaac for 2 months while he received hyperbaric oxygen treatment, I realized there were very few nutritional resources for this patient population.
Any time Isaac had an issue with digestion or weight, the answer was always more medication or a severe reduction in calories. We didn’t feel comfortable with that – we wanted to know WHY and get to the root of the problem instead of just addressing the symptoms.
So I was inspired by this little man and his family, along with many other families we’ve met along the way, to focus my energy on learning everything I could to help this incredibly special population.
My Experience
During my time with the family, I was immersed in all things g-tube, medication, HBOT, and general care for a child with an anoxic brain injury. I worked closely with his family and medical team so they knew exactly what changes were made. I was exposed to many various resources that are available to families impacted by brain injury.
As a former figure skater, I have experienced my fair share of head injuries from falls and my passion has always been in nutrition for head injuries. Based on my own personal experience and examination of the research, I know that the microbiome is negatively impacted by head injuries. I knew that addressing Isaac’s microbiome health would help his brain and body heal, and I know that it can be a beneficial part of your loved one’s health plan as well.
