Becoming My Own Health Advocate

It has been 7 weeks since I saw my naturopath for the first time and started my postpartum integrative care journey.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this process so far - even the x-rays, blood draws and ultrasounds. This is only the beginning and I have already learned so much about myself and my body.

So what has this process looked like so far? It has been a lot of appointments but I have never enjoyed seeing doctors this much before. Each appointment leaves me with a new perspective and a step forward into understanding my body. I’m not sure anyone actually cares about this but I’m sharing in case you are interested in starting on a similar path. It takes commitment but it is worth it.

I’ll take you through the timeline!

August 18th - My first naturopath appointment

I walked into my first appointment with Dr. Sigrid at COMO Shambala feeling a mix of nerves and excitement. She immediately put me at ease by asking simple questions about what brought me in, my medical history and my goals.

What I did not expect was a full on therapy session. I cried. A lot.

By the end of our 75 minutes, she had decided to address anxiety, adrenal fatigue and burn out. She recommended I start seeing my therapist again and do some blood work to recheck my iron levels. I enquired about the IgG food sensitivity test as I have always suspected some sensitivities and she agreed that was a good idea. The final recommendation was to start a few supplements - Kava Kava for anxiety, an adrenal complex for adrenal support and magnesium to support deeper sleep*. 

My first appointment with Dr. Sigrid was the most productive doctor's visit I have ever had. We accomplished more in that hour plus than I have in my entire medical life. I walked away with my supplements in hand and an appointment for the blood draw for the food test. Within a day, I had a session with my therapist in the books and an appointment with my GP to discuss blood work. Progress!

August 24th - Corrective Chiropractic Care X-Rays

I’ve had a constant tingling and tightness in my upper back for years. What a chiropractor can do is help get your spine back into alignment which then takes pressures of your nerves which then alleviates other ailments. Before moving into this though, you need to know what your spine actually looks like through x-rays.

The findings were different than what I expected but explained the discomfort I’ve felt for a long time. My neck is essentially straight and leaning forward instead of the natural backwards “C” it’s supposed to be. This misalignment puts a lot of pressure on my upper back, which explains the tingling. 

What I was not expecting to find was calcifications on my thyroid. Thankfully I was scheduled to see my GP a few days later - another thing on the list to talk to her about.

August 25th - Blood Draw 

In order to run the IgG food sensitivity test, I had to have a blood draw. Dr. Sigrid set me up with a phlebotomist from the lab to come to our home to draw blood. This wasn’t the most enjoyable but figuring out my food sensitivities has been at the top of my list of “self to-do’s” for a really long time.  

August 27th - Trip to the GP at IMC Katong

This was another doctor’s visit that left me feeling heard, empowered and supported. I don’t go to the GP often but did make a visit to Dr. Rebecca Daly last fall when I was experiencing extremely low energy. That visit led to a blood draw which led to finding out I was low in iron. 

We had a lot to talk about at this visit. We started off by discussing the blood work that Dr. Sigrid wanted to run to check my iron levels. We talked about my persistent low energy levels and what else could be going on. We also talked about my history with depression, postpartum depression and my desire to make myself better as naturally as possible. Dr. Daly listened intently and was open to and supported what I was doing with Dr. Sigrid.

Ultimately, we decided to run a full iron panel, re-do my full blood panel from last fall to see if there were any other changes and look at my zinc levels, which can affect mood. I was also able to talk to her about the calcifications found on my x-ray. She said she did notice a little swelling, now that I mentioned it, and wrote me a referral to get an ultrasound done to see what was going on. 

This was hands down the most productive visit I have ever had with an allopathic doctor. I have also been hesitant to share my experiences with medications (most of which haven’t been great) and my desire to approach things naturally first.

It’s hard to admit this on “paper” but I have never felt like I had a voice and that I could advocate for myself. Seeing Dr. Sigrid gave me the confidence to have these open discussions and I am so thankful. I feel like I am an active participant in making myself feel better instead of a passive recipient of treatments without further investigation. No more bandaids on top of issues. We’re working together to get to the root cause of things and my GP is on board.

August 28th - Physio Down Under

Another amazingly productive hour with a health care professional! If you are in Singapore and you have had a baby, you need to see Monica Donaldson at Physio Down Under. She is professional, easy to talk to and taught me so much in our short time together. 

Thankfully, this was a visit that brought us to a conclusion quickly - my pelvic floor is in great shape! Woohoo! If and when we have another baby, I will be seeing her right after the birth.

September 3rd - First Therapy Session

Dr. Anoushka Beh and I connected in late 2018 when I was about 30 weeks pregnant, grieving the death of my father and wrapping my head around the transition of another international move and bringing a baby into the mix. We did 6 sessions back then and she helped me set up the foundation I needed to welcome Charlie into our family in Singapore. 

This was our first session in more than a year and a half but it felt like no time had passed. To have her understand so much of my background meant that we could just jump in to the meaty stuff. 

The big take away from this session was that I put a lot of pressure on myself and don’t let myself let go. My dad was my safe place my whole life where I could let go and I knew he would always catch me. I am blessed to have two amazing parents who became friends I highly respected as I got older. Losing my dad (my mom’s husband) rocked our whole family unit. While I could always turn to my mom in hard times while growing up, it was different with my dad’s passing. She was grieving too and in a completely different way. My support system was gone.

When you add in the transition to motherhood and a move to a new country, finding a support system where I can let go has been hard. Thankfully, I do have some rock-solid friendships in Singapore and this discussion with Anoushka helped me realize that I could be vulnerable in spaces where I felt safe. Seeking that safety has been something I’ve been working on since this session. 

September 10th - Thyroid Ultrasound and Second Naturopath Appointment

My thyroid ultrasound was uneventful because the tech did the ultrasound and said she would send the results to my GP. She had the best poker face. I got nothing!

I left the hospital and headed to Dr. Sigrid’s office. Unlike the first visit where I was a bit nervous, it was pure excitement to see what progress we would make. The big take aways from this visit were that I seemed much better emotionally. The supplements for my sleep, my adrenals and my anxiety were helping. 

My blood work had come back and shown that I was still low in iron and was also low in zinc. We added on two supplements (Thorne Pic-Mins for zinc and Thorne Iron Bisglycinate for iron*) and decided to re-run my blood work in mid-November to check the levels. 

We were still waiting on the results of the IgG test so that would be the topic of conversation at our next appointment in mid-October. Those results have since come in and I will be diving deeper into all this once I speak to Dr. Sigrid in two weeks.

September 14th - Thyroid Update

Dr. Daly called me to tell me that the thyroid ultrasound showed five nodules, four small and one that was a bit bigger and worth exploring further. She gave me a referral to see an ENT for further inquiry. Despite the nodules, my thyroid numbers were normal on my blood work.

October 1st - ENT Visit 

Last week, I went and saw Dr. Jeeve at the ENT Clinic in Novena. Dr. Jeeve came recommended by Dr. Daly and Dr. Sigrid and I can understand why. He is warm, easy to talk to and answered all my crazy questions. 

He explained that up to 60% of women have nodules on their thyroid and that they are usually nothing to worry about. He also explained that the calcifications we found on my thyroid were macro-calcifications, which are not as worrisome as micro-calcifications. The macro nature also means the nodules have been there for a while. He said likely 5-10 years. Whoa!

He decided to re-do the ultrasound because the size calculations can vary technician to technician. He found that the one large nodule was a bit smaller than we thought. I guess 1.5cm is the magic number on nodule size - the first tech found mine to be 1.6cm and he found it to be 1.43cm. Not a massive difference but also below the threshold that jumps us into more action. 

We decided to add a full thyroid panel to the blood work I will do with Dr. Daly in mid-November when we also re-check my iron and zinc levels. I will come back to see him at the end of November to do another ultrasound and go over the information we get from the blood panel. Hopefully nothing abnormal shows up and the nodule hasn’t grown. 

As you can see, this has been a path of discovery so far and I am so grateful I trusted my gut when I knew I just wasn’t feeling right. I am learning that we need to advocate for ourselves and have open and honest conversations with our health practitioners. I am eager to see where this leads me and I will continue to share this journey in hopes that it inspires just one person to start advocating for themselves.

This post may contain affiliate links. Any purchases made through these links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you), but all opinions are my own. 

*I am not a medical professional and it is important to always check with your doctor before adding supplements into your routine.