Grounding Exercise

Dear Patients,

In this time of turmoil and stress, many of us are losing sight of what is most important and that is, at least to our minds, our emotional and psychological well-being.

Let me just take a minute here to introduce myself to those of you who may not have met me yet. My name is Jessica, and I am one of the in-house counselors for Associates of Integrative Medicine. My specialties are crisis, anxiety, trauma, grief/loss and stress associated with a cancer diagnosis. I am here to help you navigate this time of crisis. I plan on using this time to reach out to you all with techniques for managing stress over the next 12 weeks or so. If you need to speak with me, even if it is just for a minute, I am here for you, to discuss strategies for coping or whatever is on your mind.We can talk over the phone or Zoom and no matter how much time we use, we will bill your insurance. We will waive any co pays as a gesture from Dr. Roy at this time, so there is NO cost to you.

With that being said, let’s talk about a Grounding exercise:

First of all, what is grounding? Essentially, grounding is to bring your focus to what is happening to you physically, either internally or in your surroundings, instead of focusing on thoughts that can keep you feeling stuck in an anxious cycle.

This simple, effective exercise can be done anywhere and anytime.
It’s called “5-4-3-2-1” and goes something like this; wherever you are, bring your attention to your physical senses.

Identify:
5 things you can see
4 things you can hear
3 things you can touch or feel
2 things you can smell
and 1 thing you can taste.

Really sit with those sensations and see what comes up for you. You may feel new emotions or be flooded with different thoughts; just do your best to shift your focus back to the physical when this occurs. Remember, there is no right or wrong way to do this! It simply works to break your thought cycle and bring you into the present moment.

Stay in touch with us, you can email or call me directly to set up a time to talk through your concerns. I’ve provided my contact information below and will respond to you as promptly as I am able.

Remember, you are not alone. We are in this together. I am here to support you in any way I can.

Be well.

Jessica Blodgett

Email: jessica@aimnatural.com
Cell: (269) 808-6422
Office tel: 248-798-2942

Staying Connected

For those of you that need support with:

  • Television, speaker, apple products at home

  • Making it possible for you to speak to your family members or coworkers from your computer and continue to function as usual

  • Transitioning a small business to online consults

  • Setting up iPads for elderly folks who need games and the ability to communicate

  • Setting up electronic delivery systems for people who are homebound.

  • Apple or internet connection issues

  • Syncing your devices

  • Using your iPhone

  • Setting up online systems for your kids to study, stay entertained and stay safe while gaming at home

  • Setting up your devices or working with a device that is not working well

  • Using your devices for increased entertainment and virtual sharing with neighbors

  • Creating virtual, live support groups, worship or chat forums

  • Anything IT or MAC related

Please TEXT (586) 604-2808

Kyle is our IT person and he has been moved entirely off-site. He is available any day of the week for these kinds of issues. He can remote in or come out to your home or office. He has protective gear and has been isolated from the clinic for 3 weeks. He has no multi-exposure.

Most importantly, he has been with us since the first day we opened our doors to practice, he is trained in confidentiality and is someone you can trust to connect you and your family to others at this time.

TEXT Kyle at 586 604 2808 to Get connected and Stay connected.

Drs. Roy and March

Grocery Shopping During the Stay Home Order

Dear Community

After almost 10 days, I (Dr. March) went to the grocery store and I learned so much about HOW to get food and help you stay healthy during this time (and maybe get some toilet paper).  

We have all heard by now that we are trying to stay home as much as possible.

  • You can still go to the grocery store

  •  You can ABSOLUTELY still leave to walk, hike and exercise

  • You can still go take care of another person like an elderly mom or pet

I can leave the house for groceries, but should I?

If you are immunocompromised, please try not to. Ask neighbors, family to help, they are happy to have something to do, I promise.

OR

As of last week, I was teaching my patients how to use online grocery/supplies ordering. This seems daunting at first, but it is a marvelous way to reduce the number of people you come into contact with and help keep you healthy.

The ones I have been recommending are:

-       Target pick up (free for supplies or that too-early summer top you found)
-       Kroger pick up(Clicklist $5 per order)
-       Whole foods delivery
There are many others like Walmart, and Shipt for Kroger, Instacart for almost every store including CVS & Costco.

These are starting to hit their capacity and are sometimes-experiencing delays though, so if you have to go to the store, consider this:

1)   If you are over 60 or immune compromised:

Stores are offering certain hours where it is JUST for you aka Elder hour.

This makes it so that you aren’t surrounded by as many people and its wonderful.  Here is a quick list (double check website before going):

-       Costco: Tuesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.
-       Meijer: Tuesday and Thursday 7-8 a.m.
-       Target: Wednesdays at 8AM
-       Walmart: Tuesday 1 hour before store opens
-       Whole foods: 1 hour before the store opens, everyday
-       Walgreens: Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.

2)   If you are in neither of those categories and you DON’T need toilet paper, go 30 minutes after opening. Things are the best stocked then AND clean then and you missed the people who rush in for toilet paper.

3)   If you need toilet paper, ASK on neighborhood apps like nextdoor.com that connect your neighbors to you.

  1. Going to the store right at opening or shortly thereafter is your best bet. This is how I scored my 9 roll pack this morning after several unsuccessful attempt

  2. If you are immune compromised, skip the 900+ person line first thing in the morning to get into places like Costco. Instead places like Target and smaller and less frequented.

So, how can you protect yourself at the store?

1)   Carts are now mostly being sanitized, but if disinfectant wipe is available, wipe your whole cart down. The edges where you may pull or push your cart.

Yes, you can wear gloves, but if you touch you face on accident, that won’t help.

2)   Try to maintain as much distance (up to 6ft) even when shopping. Be patient and let people shop before going near them

3)   Don’t pick things up that you aren’t buying.

4)   Wash your hands before and after the store. 

5)   I recommend sanitizing as soon as you get into the car, because you may have an itch on your nose or suddenly get an eyelash in your eye while driving

6)   Clean your items after you buy them

a.     Metal or plastic things can be wiped with a disinfectant wipe

b.     Well wash fruits and vegetables. You aren’t going to get a virus from eating it.

So what should you get at the store?
Here’s 11 things
Still continue to buy fresh produce but here are the things I’m suggesting you buy because they generally keep well AND are nutritious

vegetables-1100198_640.jpg

1.     Sweet Potatoes, organic if possible. Keeps well, good carb.  Can be made into “toast”

2.     Onions and garlic- add great flavor to food, have cancer fighting nutrients in them.

3.     Oranges – little mandarins even. They are in season, sweet and light snacks with Vitamin C

4.     Frozen fruit- berries, a nutrient powerhouse, freezes great, can add on almost anything

5.     Oatmeal and grains you like: Quinoa, Wild Rice, Cereal Gains

6.     Almond butter, hemp hearts

7.     Dehydrated beans or Soup mix or Canned beans. Beans are a protein packed, great for protein, fiber and stay well in pantry

8.     Canned fish- brands: Safer Catch, Wild Planet, Season ( Or Frozen fish)

9.     Lentil Pasta & Sauces like Banza and Rao’s

10. Crackers- Mary’s Gone Crackers, Simple Mills (almond flour crackers)

11. Bars like Kind, Lara or Simple

Bonus: A chocolate bar you absolutely love.

How can you be healthier right now with what you eat and what you do?

Lets think of your body like a garden. Your garden has many species of plants just like we have organs in the body. The food we eat is what nourishes the soil so we can live, sustain and grow. It’s not just the soil that the plant need. The atmosphere matters. The sunshine matters. It all matters.

Right now, there is a LOT we can do to help the soil- with what you are eating and how you are eating. There’s a lot we can do to manage your atmosphere, too.

With what’s going on, you may be feeling a bit anxious and somewhat bored. It feels nice to comfort eat yet we know its not what’s best for us.

1)   Continue to eat fresh food when possible. Get some berries into your diet.

2)   Reduce stress by LIMITING how much news you consume

3)   I’m here to help you get through this period. Make changes to being in doors with your whole family.

I will be seeing patients in the evening hours to accommodate your busy, full houses and children home from school. This way, work may be done, the children may be in bed and we can talk about how to get through this.

Lastly, I know things feel really abnormal and uncertain. Remember when we talked about how viruses have been around forever?

Our ancestors fought natural disasters and disease.

When you think about that, this is the BEST time in the history of the world to get hit with a pandemic.

We have more technology, more doctors, more medical treatments than EVER before. We will get through it. Together.

Heck, I am seeing patients and even people over 60 by teleconferencing. I’m teaching them how to order groceries from their phone. From their PHONES.

It is still an amazing time to be alive.

Call me, Dr. March at (248) 798-2942 for support in getting good and nutritious food at this time.

I am available to you to set up your delivery options, shop together online, choose the right items based on the nutrition recommendations I have made.

I am here to support you.

Drs. March and Dr. Roy

grocery-4715107_1280.jpg

Immune System Support

Dear Patients,

The situation seems to be getting worse before it gets better. And in no small part because of the nationwide shortages in everything from supplements to antibiotics.

Please do not hesitate to schedule 15 min to check-in and make sure we are adjusting your plan to reflect that data. You can do that at dr.roy@aimnatural.com

*******

When things get challenging we MUST go back to the basics and trust the wisdom of our ancestors. 

While it may be the only tool we have, it’s also, even in crisis, the most powerful.

As a matter of lifestyle, consider the following:

  • Be out in nature OR stay home as much as you can. Try to avoid going anywhere else unless you have to.

  • Wash your hands frequently, especially before eating and touching your face. Wash for 30 seconds with soap and water.

  • But wait….Do not touch your face. Really. 

Stop here. If you JUST do the first three, you will not get a virus. 

  • Start to really check-in and listen to your body. Stay home if you simply feel “off”.  Even if you do not have a cough, fever or shortness of breath. 

  • Cover your cough with your elbow and teach your children to do the same

  • Don’t hoard, and ration what you have…think about letting all those groceries and supplies get you through a whole year. Teach your children to ration as well. We over-consume as a culture, let’s try to minimize the pressure we are putting on our pocketbooks and our suppliers to meet our demand. 

Stop here. If you did these next two, NICE job. You are protecting others AND the economy.

  • In the morning and at night, after brushing your teeth, unless you have had a head or neck cancer or a history of alcoholism, use Listerine, Dental Herb Company’s Under the Gums Irrigant, or in a pinch, coconut oil with 10 drops of eucalyptus and lavender essential oil, and swish for 120 seconds minimum. The essential oils have potent antiviral activity, including against the flu and other viruses that have an ‘envelope’ around them. 

  • Use a Nasal irrigant in the shower. It can be a neti pot like Neil Med or just a clean mug with a little bit of salt and hot water. Make sure you sterilize it after use. Viruses love the mucus membranes in the nose and attempt to colonize there for days before they make their way through the respiratory tract.

  • In the shower, when you are done bathing, turn the water as hot as you can and run it until you really can’t take any more heat, quickly turn it all the way cold for 30 seconds and then back to hot. Repeat this three times.

  • Play a guided visualization at bedtime. I like Healthy Immune System from HealthJourneys.com

Again, Stop. If you have gotten this far, you have done a ton of work on prevention and have used ancient Indian techniques to do so….go you.

  • Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, more than you eat anything else. If you are worried about keeping fresh veg in the fridge, freeze and blend into soups and smoothies. Talk to Dr. March about recipes.

  • Drink half your body weight in ounces water with a little bit of electrolyte in it daily. The best way to get it in is to drink 5 big glasses first thing in the morning of room temperature water. It won’t feel easy, but you will start to notice a definite change in the quality of your day.

  • Healthy blood sugar is critical to fighting infection. AVOID processed sugars, junk food, and pop. Your immune system takes a hit within 30 minutes of eating refined sugars.

  • Take a brisk walk outside, be careful of falls, 30-50 minutes every day. Bundle up and listen, if you can, to music that inspires you.

  • Be mindful that emotional stress results in direct physiological stress. It causes our sugar to rise, it raises our inflammation levels and it handicaps our immune systems.

  • The most important piece of all is sleep. Sleep for 8-9 hours a night, is the foundation of our emotional and physical health. Without it, our immune system is unable to fight off infection.

Don’t stop now! Nothing can stop you now. Here’s where we start to lose weight, reverse disease and improve long term outcomes!

Laugh freely and often with those you love. On the phone or 6 feet away from them….of course.

A “quarantine” doesn’t mean we have to sit around getting chubby, worrying about money, relying on old Survivor re-runs….wondering if you dare eat that last bag of chips.

It can be, instead, a time for quiet, self-reflection, a reset, a hiatus, and a way to finally invest in you.

When has the world ever asked of you to stay home, sleep and play outside?

Supplement Orders Update

Dear Patients:

I am and continue to be concerned by the trend to buy up as many of everything as people can as it impacts our patient population. Many doctors and clinics have been purchasing supplements and partially capitalizing on this panic. 

There is NO cure for ANY virus, your immune system will do its job and take care of it. Supplements can support your immune system but they will NOT prevent the spread of the virus as we think now that it may survive on surfaces for perhaps days. The result is that the major distributors of therapeutic pharmaceutical supplements are not able to keep up with the demand. 

Supplements aren’t like bleach, they cannot always be manufactured, and sometimes they are harvested or grown. 

There will be delays in receiving supplements necessary to your care.

Our biggest concern is our patients who are not able to get treatment, in chemoradiation and or in their first 2 years of survivorship.

Our response has been to take a loan against our staff salary budget and buy 20-30 bottles of available stock so that we have some sort of safety net for you and also don’t deplete the stock available to other cancer practices. 

They should be here by Saturday, March 21st. 

We will have in the office:

  • Melatonin 20 mg

  • Reishi 

  • Vital 10 probiotics

  • Glutamine

  • Magnesium Glycinate

  • Ginger Root

  • Ashwaganda

  • Vitamin D

  • B12

We will make that stock available to all our patients but we are prioritizing cancer patients.

You can and should still order through bewellwithaim.com 

You may find though, that you place an order and are told the item you needed was out of stock. 

In that case, you will be told if we have it in the office or if we can replace it with an alternative. 

If we have it, you will need to show up during office hours and pick up what you need, as we cannot ship to you unless you are out of state. We are continuing to follow precautions and our office is a safe place for you to stop by.

If we do not have it, you and I will wait until it becomes available again.

It would behoove our patients who are IN treatment to try to get and store 3 months supply of supplements now in case there is a permanent shortage.

I am so sorry that we didn’t predict this and buy in bulk earlier, it wasn’t part of our business model and it is absolutely something I should have anticipated. I truly expected restraint from my colleagues. 

For those of you who do not have cancer, and are not in treatment, or are outside of your 2-year survivorship window, still place your orders on bewellwithaim.com but please be patient with us as we prioritize needs.

As usual, do not purchase supplements over the counter without running it by us. It may be safe or it may indeed make things worse.

Thank you. 

Be well,

Drs. Roy and March


(248)798-2942
dr.roy@aimnatural.com

Covid-19 Update

Dear Friends,

Please do not be alarmed by the news. Nothing new has been discovered about viruses in general. They are just trying to really nail down three things:

  1. How is it most effectively transferred from person to person?

  2. How can we quickly create infrastructure to manage higher traffic of people at health care centers who show up with cold or flu symptoms?

  3. How can we have effectively tell which people who show up with symptoms have this virus versus another?

What is a virus?

Viruses are not living creatures. They are a plasma capsule carrying a fragment of genetic material. They cannot survive for a long time on their own. Without a host, they dry up and die.

Think of them as a partial blueprint for how to make themselves suspended in clear jelly.

If a person touches a surface where that virus (tiny fragment of DNA suspended in a jelly) is sitting, and then touches their nose, eyes, ears or mouth, they can deliver that little fragment to their nasal passages and lungs.

That little fragment enters one of your cells and tacks its blueprint onto yours.

Every time you make things you need for your own cells and you print out copies of your blueprint, you also print out copies of the virus’s blueprint. 
The thing to remember here is that this is ALWAYS happening, every day that you live on this earth.

We live in a world that is crowded with critters not visible to the naked eye. There are more bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites in your own body than your own cells—some are critical to your survival.

How do we survive in this invisible microbiome? We have a really sophisticated and well developed immune system that is designed to notice critters of every kind and to knock them out.

If you are immunocompromised, this means that your immune system is not at its best, but it does NOT mean you will get the virus and get sick.

It means compared to someone who is not immunocompromised, if both of you run your hand on a doorknob and pick your noses, you are more likely to have cold symptoms.

If you do get “sick”, that does not mean you will get very sick. Even if you are immunocompromised, it's still true that over 80 percent of people do not get very sick and instead just have mild respiratory symptoms that resemble a cold.

Also, typically, even if you are weaker, your immune system will take care of it, it just takes longer. Antibiotics won’t help and can make things worse. 

Immuno supportive supplements can help but nothing can replace sleep, lots of green leafy veg and bright colored fruits, meditation, yoga, prayer...and a little bit of cardiovascular exercise to strengthen your immune system.

Here’s what we do know about this strain:

ϖ The only difference between this virus and its cousins is it can last longer on surfaces. So if someone coughs, sneezes etc, on a table, that little jelly thing can live there for maybe even one day.

ϖ There is still NO change from what I’ve told you before about transmission. You CANNOT get a virus by living in the world.

ϖ There are only two ways to get a virus:

  1. To be coughed or sneezed on by someone who is less than 6 feet from you so that respiratory droplets land directly in your nose, eyes, mouth.

    OR

  2. To touch a surface that has been coughed or sneezed on and then touch your face.

An example would be if the person who has a virus coughs in their hand and touches a door knob and you touch the same doorknob let’s say 20 min later and then touch your face. 

But just because you are exposed, (see above) does not mean you will get sick.

General precautions for generally healthy people:

♣Do NOT touch your face

♣Wash your hands in case you forget and do touch your face

♣Wipe down high touch surfaces with a bleach containing solution

♣Do not let your kids or elderly family members hang out in crowds where people are coughing

♣Teach your family to cough into their armpit

Precautions for our Vulnerable Patients:

If you are worried or unsure if you are vulnerable, I expect you to schedule a 15 min phone conversation with me or Dr. March at (248) 798-2942 or mailto:dr.roy@aimnatural.com to learn if you are at risk or need to take specific precautions. 

Please know, if you haven’t gotten bloodwork done in three months, we will need to draw blood before we speak to you. If you have blood work, I still may do a repeat CBC.

At AIM we are defining our vulnerable patients as:

ϖOver 75

ϖAnyone with COPD (asthma, chronic bronchitis or emphysema)

ϖAnyone getting chemotherapy, radiation or targeted therapy (not hormonal therapy)

ϖAnyone who had surgery (not reconstruction) within the last three weeks.

ϖAnyone currently fighting leukemia, lymphoma

ϖAnyone with an absolute lymphocyte count under 1.0

ϖAnyone with a total WBC count of under 2.5

If you are in this group, I’d like you to limit unnecessary interactions and stay home for the next 3 weeks, like a self quarantine. 

If you are in this group, I’m advising a travel restriction for 6 weeks unless it’s absolutely essential. 

15 min phone conversations are an opportunity for you to ask specific questions about your situation and also to MODIFY the self-quarantine. 

You are each unique individuals in unique situations, the quarantine can be modified for your circumstances; however, please do not modify without speaking with one of us. 

The Office Environment:

You do NOT need to come in if you are opposed to doing so, but for those of you that fall under “General Precautions,” it is safe to do so. 

If you are scheduled with us, barring medical emergency, you do need to keep your appointment.

We have to ask for your patience. As we move many patients onto tele conference, there may be delays in when we get to you. Similar to longer than usual wait times in the waiting room, we will still expect that even if we are running late to get to you, you will be available to talk. 

We have implemented protective measures for you and our staff. These include:

  1. Daily meetings with oncology at three large hospital complexes in the region to make sure that our safety protocols are consistent with theirs.

  2. Daily internal meetings with our clinical staff to discuss emerging data.

  3. Our offices are cleaned with hospital grade cleaning products, especially our “high-touch” surfaces, multiple times a day.

  4. We are running filters that do clean the air of airborne particulate, including viruses and will filter every square inch of our two clinical spaces while you are in office to prevent any airborne transmission (which at this time, is not necessary).

  5. We have a new “no touch” policy to avoid skin-to-skin contact where we will not shake hands, fist bump, or do physical exams that involve skin-to-skin contact.

  6. We will contact you before your appointment to move you to phone or Zoom instead of having you come into the office to avoid you coming in unnecessarily.

  7. The admin and front desk, who really carry the brunt of all of the grind associated with these changes are critical personnel for us. We cannot serve you if Kyle, Emily, Sydney and Diana are not well. For that reason, all front desk persons will be wearing a mask and/or gloves while in office to protect them from multiple patient contacts.

  8. We clean the offices at night and the morning before clinic DAILY with hospital grade antimicrobial products.

  9. All of our clinical equipment is sterilized after each patient use.

  10. ALL clinicians wash their hands before and after each patient contact, including mental health.

  11. We have fliers posted on the building and on our door advising patients on what to do if they have a cough or cold symptoms.

What do you need to do to protect us so we can continue to serve you?

Please only bring a family member with you into the clinic if they are necessary for you to walk, hear or process information. Otherwise, to keep traffic low flow, only patients who are well enough to be in office and need to be seen in office will be in the clinic for the next three weeks.

Please do NOT come to the office if you have been in contact with someone who has cold or flu symptoms, has tested positive for, or is suspected to have, TB, Hepatitis, (Herpes Zoster) Shingles, Chicken Pox; or if you yourself have cold symptoms or a dry cough.

Please call us from your car and we will escort you from the parking lot, and will help you get to the office safely.

Do show up for your appointments, even if they are on the phone or zoom and be seated and at home. We will not talk to patients if they are in a public place or in transit and you will be charged for the time.

I want to close by saying the following: First, we will continue to keep you posted. I realize that you may be afraid. Don’t be. We are committed to keeping you safe, and we really will be okay, as a community and as a society.

Second, you really only have one gold star weapon against a virus: Don’t touch your face. 

Third, as people are unable to gather in large groups at community centers, churches, support centers, addiction groups, concerts, and so on, people will start to feel isolated. Please use this as an opportunity to demonstrate that love is greater than fear. 

Fourth, this can be an opportunity to allow our character to shine. 

Do not forget your neighbors, reach out to the elderly people in your building. Continue with support groups over the phone. Small groups meeting at homes are safe. Model for your homebound children civic action. Public schools were providing meals for kids from poorer families, reach out to those who may need a hand. Just don’t shake hands!  

Do not buy every roll of toilet paper on the shelves, leave a roll for someone else. Frankly toilet paper has no real purpose in this crisis. Do NOT buy surgical masks or medical supplies. That action is one of the reasons why we are ending up with this quarantine, it puts medical staff at risk as there aren’t supplies left. Because our doctors and support staff have high volume exposure to sick people, they can be unable to work or worse, become a vector to spread disease. 

Try to reinvest in ways of communing with each other and your kids that we have gotten away from. Don’t go to play centers, malls and movie theaters with them, read, write, paint, play outside. Recognize that as caregivers of grade school kids have to make adjustments, people are trying to communicate remotely, and our healthcare workers are slammed and under resourced, we all need to be a little more patient and forgiving of each other. 

Accept that there is some financial loss associated with these changes and that will change, treat it as a time to slow down, recognize the long game and take good care of yourself. 

The government’s reaction to this crisis has nothing to do with any one of us getting a respiratory infection. It has to do with the lack of supplies and infrastructure necessary to manage high traffic flus and pneumonias. The quarantine is to lower the burden on the system as much as it is to protect you. So don’t worry, you still have a life to live. Email us at mailto:dr.roy@aimnatural.com or call (248) 798-2942 to modify precautions. 

This will pass. 

Be well and with love,

Drs. Roy and March

Coronavirus

Dear Patients:

Our patients are worried, as many others are, about the “Coronavirus”. I would like to reassure you by getting you properly educated.

  1. If you are worried about your immune health with regards to the virus, it is important to make a 15 min appointment with us (we can do these over the phone), to protect yourself. If you have kids and you are worried about them, it is important to talk to Dr. March.

  2. If you are getting chemotherapy or are immune suppressed, particularly if your lymphocytes under 1.0, please call the office at (248) 798-2942 and make an appointment so we can preserve your viral immunity. Each of you is wonderfully unique; your situations are unique, and what works for you will not necessarily work for someone else.

  3. The most important way to avoid contracting a virus is to avoid touching your face. This means: do not pick your nose, rub your eyes, or put your fingers near your mouth. To contract a virus it has to be delivered. The way to deliver a virus is to pick it up on your fingers and smoosh it into a mucus membrane. It is that simple.

  4. The trend of stocking up on paper towels, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and Clorox wipes is unnecessary. The only thing that can kill a virus on surfaces is a bleach solution, but you can use regular bleach with water—it doesn’t have to be a special wipe. We clean our offices every morning with bleach. We use it to sanitize all high touch surfaces: doorknobs, chairs, counters, keypads, etc. You may do the same at home.

  5. The reason handwashing is so important is that no matter how much people try not to, they do tend to touch their faces. Wash your hands frequently with soap and do not touch your face.

  6. If you are frequently in doctor’s offices or hospitals and you are getting chemotherapy, or if you are immune suppressed, you must wear a mask. If you are traveling and seated near someone who is coughing, you should wear a mask. As far as we know Coronavirus is spread through respiratory droplets from coughing. If someone is coughing in your general area it does not mean you will get sick. To catch the virus it has to get into a mucus membrane, which, unless someone is coughing right in your face and it lands in your eyes or nose, means you have to touch your face with the finger that someone coughed on. Gloves are more important for our immune-suppressed population than a mask (even your nice winter ones are fine), but you still should not touch your face without washing your hands.

  7. Please do not buy masks in bulk. If you need one, visit your hematology oncology office. Supply companies that supply hospitals are running out and medical technicians do need these when working with respiratory populations or doing procedures. If your medical staff is at risk then we will see a spread of airborne illnesses that can handicap us.

  8. Supplements cannot treat a virus alone, but they are important to support your immune system and are entirely individualized. You must talk to Dr. Roy or Dr. March about what to take and you will likely need an adjustment to your supplement plan.

Coronaviruses are not new. They are an umbrella term for a bunch of respiratory viruses that can cause pneumonia. This is simply a new strain of these viruses and our immune systems are usually well equipped to manage them. Symptoms are cough, shortness of breath, and fever. They do not include stomach distress. In 81 percent of cases, symptoms are mild and there is no resulting pneumonia.

I am not sure why there is a media frenzy around this topic, but from my time in journalism I know, “if it bleeds, it leads”, and there is a general sense among Americans of feeling unsafe. This sentiment is not only profitable for companies that generate information but also seems to feed on itself and create widespread anxiety.

Our patient population at Associates of Integrative Medicine is vulnerable, but this is true of pneumonia in general. Even if our viral immunity is not perfect, we usually will not have as serious consequences from viral pneumonia as we do bacterial pneumonia. 

I do not want you to be afraid. I do want you to reach out and I do want you to be protected in the right way. Remember, the foundations of health are the foundations of a strong immune system: 8-9 hours of sleep a night in a dark room; eating lots of well-washed fruits and vegetables; getting at least 30 min of exercise daily; focusing on our mental health, and remember what you learned in grade school….don’t pick your nose.

I will update you with new information as we get it. We do get minute-by-minute updates. Until then, if you are getting treatment or are in the first couple of years of survivorship, or if you are just worried, I expect you to make a 15 min appointment by phone so we can help you to be well and stay well. 

With love,

Dr. Roy

Go to Bed

Go to bed.

Do you remember your mother saying this when you were a child?

It’s actually a profound piece of wisdom.

As humans, we spend about one-third of our lives asleep. It is, in fact, a necessary third of our lives. When kept awake for more than three days, humans can experience detrimental changes in mental health that may be irreversible. This simply underscores that something truly magical and profound happens when we sleep.

It has been proven that sleep is essential to immune function—it helps prevent strokes and yes, even cancer.

Night shift workers, or people exposed to light at night, have a significantly higher risk of breast, colorectal and prostate cancer.

Sleep is a time when our bodies are hard at work performing three vital life functions: DNA repair, memory consolidation, and lipid and sugar metabolism.

What does DNA repair mean? Well, when we are awake our cells are making duplicates of themselves (called “daughter cells”). Some of these cells make mistakes and their daughter cells are dysfunctional; for example, a cell that wants to live forever or a cell that is fragile or disorganized. When we sleep, our bodies work to repair the mechanisms that make new cells and destroy dysfunctional cells.

Memory consolidation is a complicated phenomenon that relies heavily on sleep. It involves storing information, cataloging it and retrieving it quickly. All this is done within our mind’s conceptual hard drive. While we are awake, our brains are processing entire images in as little as 13 milliseconds and applying meaning to these images. While we sleep, we sort through all of our daytime exposure, or memories, and back up our mind’s hard drive. This expands our memory library and makes us better thinkers: more creative, less foggy, and sharper.

Lipid and sugar metabolism is something we talk about a lot here at Associates of Integrative Medicine. It refers to the way our bodies use, convert and store fats and sugars. Poor sleep habits can negatively affect fat storage and make it difficult to manage the amount of sugar available to cells.

What are the takeaways? Sleep is critical to our wellness; it helps us fight disease, keep our memories sharp, and stay fit.

So, what can we do to help you sleep better? One way is by helping to further educate you. As adults, we must get to sleep by 10 pm for at least 7 hours, preferably 9, in a pitch dark, cold room. We can bundle up, but the room should stay cold. Keeping the room cold not only keeps you asleep for longer, but also boosts powerful antioxidants, called melatonin. The air should be clean—you can use plants or an air filter, which has the added benefit of ambient noise. We should eat a light meal, heavy on protein, at least two hours before bed.

If you struggle with sleep, we have several strategies to help you get the rest you need. For example, we suggest using essential oils such as vetiver and lavender, hydro and physical therapy, and behavioral strategies. When using supplements to help with sleep, we suggest B vitamins, hops, lemon balm, Chinese and Indian herbs (these help your body adapt to stress), valerian root, GABA, theanine, guided visualizations and yes, at times, drug management. What is right for you may not be right for someone else. Like all good medicine, sleep treatment is individualized.

Routine is of utmost importance in getting quality sleep. It takes six weeks to create a habit, and winding down before bed is half of the battle in getting a restful night’s sleep. My personal routine is to shut down all electronics 60 minutes before bed, put my phone in airplane mode, dim the lights in my house, turn on meditation music, take a bath with Epsom salt and essential oils, and journal. I read from scripture just before I sleep and I wear a night mask.

For any questions regarding your sleeping habits, give us a call and schedule an appointment so we can get you to bed sooner.

Now...go to bed!

A love letter to those we have lost

When I was 7 weeks pregnant, my best friend tragically lost her seven-month-old baby. His name was Maddox.

Today, October 10th, 2019, he would have been five.

We spent every day together for years. As the shock wore off and my sadness for her set in, I didn’t expect or notice that there was a part of me that would be forever different.

It makes sense now. As a doctor working in cancer, I see what I couldn’t see when I look back.

I had held him against my own chest and visualized my coming child in his smiling face.

Maddox dying taught me that there is unpredictability in the world.

It primed my brain to note that there’s danger all around. When our survival or safety is threatened, our brains go on hyper alert. It can manifest like anxiety, beating heartbeat, inability to sleep.

That’s what a diagnosis does.

That’s what loss does.

I ended up having some complications in pregnancy, which at the time I could not see could have been minor. Elevated liver enzymes set off a cascade of panic and I was frantic and profoundly anxious.

People who loved me told me I needed help. I didn’t think I did.

After all, it wasn’t my baby who died.

I did. I still do.

Maddox’s death has changed me. Changed me in good ways and not so good ways.

Changed how I choose to live my life.

Changed how much I prioritize my own children.

In many ways the gift that Maddox gave me was my desire to work in cancer. The desire to help people rebuild their bodies, their relationships, live happier and healthier lives in survivorship

Author Brene Brown said it best , “When you honor what you have, you’re honoring what I’ve lost.”

I offer you this thought. “Pain is supposed to change you”

Some of you are in IT, right now. Take care of yourself. Like with what happened to me, your body keeps the score. I invite you to accept who you are on the other side.

Happy birthday, sweet Maddox. You are missed.

If you need some extra help getting through this season, we have some excellent therapists on board.

Call us. We can help

maddox and sruti.jpg

Wishing for a PAUSE button on life

I don’t know if you are having a good week or a bad week? A restful or a stressful week?

 

I was travelling all weekend and launched into a week full of late nights. (I had the pleasure of meeting some of you though, at Gilda’s club on Monday night and it was such a treat! I had a lovely time.)

 

If I’m being honest, it’s been a long week.

 

It didn’t go as perfectly executed as I hoped. I didn’t make all the dinners I had planned, or catch my workouts.

 

We all have these weeks and it can be entire months sometimes.

 

I wish I could just PUSH PAUSE on all areas of my life: catch up on sleep, catch up on cooking, chores, self care, time with my family, etc.

 

Don’t get me wrong- I LOVE my work- and I love my (day) job.

 

Like most of you, its ONE of MANY JOBS I have and one of many ROLES I play.

 

Like you, I am also a partner, mother, sister and friend.

 

Somewhere between all those roles, I can easily lose sight of “ME”.

 
Screen Shot 2019-02-01 at 5.29.01 PM.png
 

I see this so much in patients, especially ones that are sicker right now than they want to be.  Ones that are caring for loved ones.

 

Life isn’t really going to give us a pause button- we have to create it.

 

It may not look like a weekly massage- although if you can do that, that’s AMAZING.

 

But it can look like moments of quiet, moments to sip tea, moments to walk alone with our thoughts.

 

It is in these times we CREATE a feeling of pause. And that stillness amidst the hustle of our lives, it feeds us.

 

It sustains us.

 

So take an intentional pause with me today. Take one everyday if you can. It is a secret to health. Mental and Physical Health. 

 

If life has felt more overwhelming than normal, reach out to any health professional for help. 

 

Be Well.

 

My FAVORITE Supplement for Fighting Stress

Chronic stress can show up like abdominal obesity, pre-diabetes, headaches, muscle tension, insomnia, FEELING EXHAUSTED, or even stomach & reproductive issues.

When I see that stress is an OVERACTIVE part of your life, I start looking into why. HOW has your stress hormone, Cortisol, been affected?

Are you wired and unable to sleep, or sleepy all the time?

When are you the MOST tired in your day? How do you feel after eating?

These are just a few questions to start peeling back HOW the stress is affecting you.

Stress isn’t all-bad though. It protects us when we are in real danger, and helps us get things done, too.

The GOAL is to be able to WEATHER the stress in our lives a little EASIER.

There is a class of plant medicines that helps with this exactly.

They are called ADAPTOGENS. They help us build RESILIENCE to stress


My FAVORITE adaptogen is called Ashwagandha (Withania Somnifera).


 
IMG_3688_edited.jpg
 



It has been widely used in the Indian subcontinent for centuries.

I've been putting in in my smoothie.

It’s exciting to me to see that the research is catching up- to what this herb can do. It has been more recently studied for its effects on lowering anxiety, improving insomnia, low sex drive, weight loss etc. One study showed that 60 days of use helped lower stress levels by 44%. [1]


I’m going to be talking about a couple more of my favorite supplements for stress on Wednesday 5/30, 6:30 at True Rest Float Spa in Farmington Hills.

If you are done having stress run your life, I'll see you there.



[1] Chandrasekhar, K., Jyoti Kapoor, and Sridhar Anishetty. "A prospective, randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study of safety and efficacy of a high-concentration full-spectrum extract of ashwagandha root in reducing stress and anxiety in adults." Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine34.3 (2012): 255.


Sharma, Ashok Kumar, Indraneel Basu, and Siddarth Singh. "Efficacy and Safety of Ashwagandha Root Extract in Subclinical Hypothyroid Patients: A Double-Blind, Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial." The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 24.3 (2018):


Dongre, Swati, Deepak Langade, and Sauvik Bhattacharyya. "Efficacy and safety of ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root extract in improving sexual function in women: a pilot study." BioMed research international 2015 (2015).



Enjoy the Sun AND Keep your Skin Looking Younger

I don't know about you but I have been waiting for spring since Christmas. Now that the sun is roaring, let's talk about how to enjoy the sun and still give our skin a break! 

What's the big deal?

The sun’s UV rays damage our skin cells and cause mutations, which increases our ability to develop skin cancer. In addition, the sun ACCELERATES THE SIGNS OF AGING.

Use these 5 QUICK tips to enjoy the sun more safely. Your skin will thank you. 

  1. Try avoiding direct sunlight from 11-3PM. 
    This is when the sun’s UV rays are a lot higher
     

  2. Use tight woven cotton clothing if you need to be outside to act as a BARRIER, and its still breathable and light. 
     

  3. Use a hat, that is WIDE brimmed. Our faces are exposed to the sun so frequently they need extra protection.
     

  4. Use a high quality SPF and REAPPLY
     

  5. This one technically isn’t SKIN related, but find sunglasses that use 100% UV protection OR UV 400 protection

Happy SPRING. 

 Be WELL 

What Does it Mean to be a Woman in Survivorship?

Nayana, a black girl with a swan-like neck and startling cheekbones is far too young for three years with metastatic lung. She looks at the ground and blinks twice.“I miss my eyelashes. Without them, I don’t feel quite….human,” she states.

Sarai,an older lady with a terrific will and metastatic breast, breaks down for the first time in the three years I have been treating her. Her voice soggy and bleak, she cries, “They took my breast and I gained all this weight in my stomach. I don’t feel like a woman anymore.”

Danae, a glossy manicured blond and mother of five young children, presents following bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction, “I can’t even look at them in a mirror, I feel betrayed by my body. I don’t even look at my husband’s face when we have sex.”

Irai, a Jewish nomad, writer and farmer, presents with suicidal thoughts following port placement. “My skin just sits all wrong, this thing makes me nauseous, it skeeves me out…like I am an alien or a robot. I can’t do this anymore.”


Laila, 42, newly married, with a recent diagnosis of BRCA positive ovarian cancer, following surgical debulking and bilateral mastectomy, looks straight ahead and cools the room with her quiet words, “I feel like I have failed him…what kind of wife can I be? It hurts to have sex, I have lost my hair, my breasts, I just don’t know what I can give him anymore.”

All of these women are survivors.

We run a survivorship clinic. Our work is to partner with our patients and their team to:

1. Protect our patients from acute and late term effects from treatment

2. Lower risk of recurrence and progression with cancer

3. Empower our patients to use Food and Natural Therapies to fight cancer

4. Support our patients in feeling optimally well.

But, when we talk about survivorship, from the first day of diagnosis through the balance of a person’s life, there are certain topics that just don’t get much play in oncology.

One of these is what we looklike when treatment is all said and done.

Part of why this conversation is so hard is it begs the question, What does it mean to be a woman?

From the time we are young, we are indoctrinated with a belief that:

What makes us beautiful, makes us female.

And

What makes us female, makes us worthy.

So when we are asked "What does it mean to be a woman?" for many of us, what we hear is, What Does it Mean to be Beautiful?

The answer has become, universally: youthfulness, long hair, long eyelashes, thick brows, radiant skin, symmetrical breasts, a small waist, white teeth, pretty nails. Someone to call me a wife, mother, daughter, sister.

And because these things, all at once, are difficult to sustain, they have become rings that we reach for, perpetually justout of reach.

A multibillion dollar industry gets fatter on our core belief by leveraging our need to feel worthy. That the standards are skittish and mercurial keeps the beauty business, IN business. I mean, big bottoms are in, then they are too too. Skin the color of baby powder is the height of fine and then the deepest bronze is deck. Windblown blond curls are on fleek, then Kardashian black, takes center stage. Thin and bony, is loish and in the same five-year period, a sinewy, masculine build makes the grade.

It can be a challenge for anywoman, as she moves through her life cycle.

But what of the Survivor?

When one is diagnosed with cancer, the shock catapults us into a fight for our lives. Quickly, almost gratefully, we accept “necessary losses”: our breasts, our nails, our hair, our uteruses…

We are expected to feel thankful to simply be alive, but when all is said and done and we look in the mirror, we are left feeling alone and bewildered as we seek to redefine our essential worth and choose to Live.


The American Cancer Societyhas been trying to start the conversation with its Look Good Feel Betterprogram.  This program partners thousands of beauty professionals with patients to teach them how to manage the appearance-related side effects of cancer treatment. The goal is to give women (and men), a way to feel normal, when “normal” no longer exists.

Margot European Day Spa, in Birmingham is looking to join this movement by bringing on aestheticians and massage therapists trained in treating survivors. The owner and founder of the salon, Margot Kohler, and salon director, Ursula Froehlich, have a personal commitment to making women feel beautiful from the inside out, regardless of their circumstance.

Kristina Juhas, with Eyedolize, also in Birmingham, is the first lash and brow specialist in SE Michigan to consult with survivors.

This is wonderful, and….there is still much more we need to do to truly meet the needs of any person who faces disability, loss, death.

Early last Spring, I was forced to consider a personaldiagnosis with a poor prognosis. 

I knew I would be offered surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. My body would become a testament to the deformity associated with diagnosis; no chance, short of Divine intercession, at cure.

I have failed to meet most of the standards society sets for being a “woman”.

I am not a wife. I am not a mother. I am complement in a male dominated field that requires a compromise in my emotional landscape. I am a business owner and a single earner. I am held to a level of professional conduct that rejects creativity and intuition. I am getting older and beginning to think about the changes I will face hormonally and metabolically.

I have lost one, and stand to lose, within the year, two more, of the only people that call me daughter

As a consequence, quite privately, I have cherished my “beauty.” I love my breasts and the color and texture of my skin. I have what we call in my communities of origin, “good hair.” (long and it does what I tell it to do) I have a nice figure, strong nails and bones, and I haven’t yet had to think about whether I am ready to give up my fertility.

As a patient, however, I had to consider my own “necessary losses”. Following a period of grief, I came to a quick acceptance for I am a person of faith and I believe that we are not our bodies, we are our souls. 

But truthfully, I wasn’t tested, because I thought I was going to die. One can face almost anything when death is imminent. The true test of my faith is Can I livefrom my Soul?

Living, I would have wanted my breasts, my lashes, my hair…All of It! And at the very least, I would want to know that beauty professionals who care about how to make me feel beautiful, exist.

I was cleared of the diagnosis of cancer, but I realized that to live with the anticipated losses would have forced me to redefine what made me a woman.

So began a conversation with myself about what makes me beautiful outside of my appearance and what others think of me. This has brought me into a fuller, more grounded version of myself.

I invite you to have the same conversation with yourself. It is entirely personal, individual and intimately yours…because what you decide makes you beautiful, simply has to be, just that…..yours.


I can tell you, what I see now:


For Nayana, it is her willingnessto be stand in the breach between living and dying and choose hope, her ability to stay in grace, all teeth in her smile, that makes her beautiful to me.


ForSarai,it’s that inspiredby the challenges that her grown son faces with gambling, she has begun a spiritualjourney to understand addiction, her commitmentto personal responsibilitya beacon for her family.


For Danae, it’s her devotionto her children, despite the fact that being a mother doesn’t come naturally to her...the drive to give everything she has, unselfishly, and quite consciously.


For Irai,it’s that she has opted out of surveillance and is living on a farm in Israel, where she runs through fields every morning until her lungs give out, her choice to be the revolution, to live outsideof the parameters that we as oncology professionals have set for her.


For Laila, it’s that she tells her story of what it means to be a wife in front of a room full of male medical students, one of whom may be quietly moved to be a better doctor, a better husband, a better son.  She is a livingtestament, her story, a prophecy.


A new definition, new words: willingnessgraceoutsider, drive, personal responsibility...What I have come to understand is We are born female, but we become women.

 
 
IMG_5447.jpg
 
 

Fertility Smoothie

Fertility Smoothie

Last week I shared with you the reason why I did my 3-day juice cleanse.  (SPOILER ALERT: I wanna be a mama!)

Today, I’m sharing my recipe for the FERTILITY SMOOTHIE that I’ve been drinking for the past few weeks.  Not only is it NUTRITIOUS and highly supportive for fertility, it’s DELICIOUS too!

WHAT do I put into my fertility smoothie and WHY?

Read More

The Best Way to Make Grocery Trips MUCH easier

The Best Way to Make Grocery Trips MUCH easier

It's Friday afternoon. Your stomach is giving you that all-too familiar grumble.
You open the fridge, and there is…. nothing.
Your produce and snacks for the week are either gone or too old.
SIGH.  If you are like me, the end of the week is a little bit of a danger zone.

Is it just me- or am I the only one that is SO much less motivated to go to the grocery store as the week winds down?

So my latest solution?

Read More