Mind Body Medical Center - (part 3 of Doctors, Detox, the Liver & Surgery)

Mind Body Medical Center is an integrative medical practice in Edgehill Village. From their website: "Mind-Body Medical Center was founded in 1991 by Stephen L. Reisman, M.D. with the goal of offering integrative medicine to his patients in the Nashville, Tennessee area. We provide comprehensive approaches to medical problems and emphasize the primary importance of learning and living in ways that promote health and prevent illness." You can read more about their office and philosophy here.
As soon as I walked in I loved the environment. Two wonderful women were working the front desk and knew who I was when I entered. How often does that happen when you go to the dr? My last dr appointment left me waiting an hour and a half before I was seen.
They schedule people so that there is no waiting and the paperwork was relatively short for being a new patient. I filled everything out and only waited a few minutes until Dr. Reisman came to get me. I'll be honest. He's an interesting guy. Interesting in the way a really smart, intuitive doctor is interesting. He studied my face as I talked, looked me in the eye and I could feel him thinking throughout the entire visit. He went through the general questions and when he looked at the paperwork I had filled out he smiled when he read my reason for being there. It was simple - something's missing and no one is talking to me about it. I'm over having surgery & you're one of my last hopes.
Through all of the gentle questions and great discussion, he awoke something in me with one question: "Has anyone ever talked to you about WHY you have endometriosis?" I sat in silence for a minute. "No" I answered, I guess not. It almost felt embarrassing. My only explanation was to say that I've only been told it just "happens" to a lot of women and I was one of them. He also asked me if any of my doctors had run any kind of blood test on me to check for vitamin issues or different chemical/hormone imbalances. The answer to that was the same resounding "no".
With his answer that followed, everything started to make sense. I've read a lot on my own about endometriosis and different natural treatments. It's what lead to discovering my food intolerances to gluten, dairy, refined sugar, caffeine, chicken & corn. And it lead to the acupuncture & qigong practices that I love. From Dr. Reisman, I learned that was only part of the solution. I've been treating my symptoms, not the root. I thought the food changes were the root... but I wasn't looking at the organ that plays the part.
He proceeded to explain how the liver is the organ which processes our
estrogen. (sorry if there are men reading this but I assume you checked out a while ago :) When women begin to produce estrogen, if your liver isn't functioning to full speed for any reason, bad food, toxins in the environment, etc... it won't correctly process your estrogen, leaving it to accumulate and cause inflammation. That inflammation is the root to endometriosis. Obviously it's more scientific than that but it's the best I can do in layman's terms. For more information, click here. I had stumbled upon this website a while ago but in the process of being overwhelmed had disregarded it as something I couldn't handle at the time.
Dr. Reisman gave me faith again. Not faith that I could avoid this surgery. My cysts are too large at this point to disappear on their own. But faith that someone will listen, look for the deeper cause and test what he can to find the best solution. I've gone to the side of western conventional medicine and I've been to the opposite, "mind-body is everything" side. Dr. Reisman was the first person I've met who isnt afraid of being in the middle. Science can play well with the spirit.
So here I am on day one of his first treatment. He prescribed a 7 day "medical food" liver cleanse. It's not the juice only diet... it's a carefully formulated, prescribed plan to detox the liver. Did you know the liver is the largest gland in the body? It processes everything that goes in, on or around your body. The lotion you put on, the air you breath, the food you eat. It works overtime and over the years, can hold on to all of those toxins when not treated properly.
I'll keep updating as the week goes. So far, I've made my husband drink part of my cleanse juice everytime I've made it so he can understand the sacrifice I'm making :) He's outside grilling chicken and I'm sitting here drinking my green juice for the third time today. He's a good sport. He went to the other room to eat dinner so I wouldn't be jealous, and has vowed to make his own meals all week so I don't have to be tempted to cheat and eat solid food. We're even spending our second wedding anniversary at home with my "juice" because he's that kinda guy. I got lucky with him :) He's the best! Maybe we'll prove them all wrong and I'll get to have a mini-Maglothin with him!
I'm hoping day 2 is a little easier. Here's to hoping!