I'll tell you why I love our doctor, but we really don't go to the doctor much these days.
Thankfully we are rarely sick, and if we do come down with something, we know how to nip it quickly to avoid gut-busting antibiotics. I did get my first thermogram at a more natural-minded doctor's office a couple years ago (I should do that again soon, especially since my Mom died of breast cancer, but I know hers was from the high-dose menopause hormones she took before anyone knew better), but besides that it's been about 5 years since I'd seen my regular doctor. Although since then I had to go to an urgent care center for a UTI/kidney stone, which was when I wrote about those times when we are thankful for pharmaceuticals!
However, it seems like there is always some form to fill out that asks who your doctor is, and since you never know when it might be beneficial to have a relationship with your conventional doctor, I made myself an appointment. (Okay, I also had some other reasons, which I'll tell you about below…)
NOTE: As you know, I’m not a doctor or anywhere close. Use our own judgment and do your own research after reading this!
When the nurse went through her list I was thanking God that I could say “no” to so many things…
- Are you stressed a lot? Not really.
- Do you have any aches or pains? Nope.
- Do you have low energy? No.
- Do you struggle with sleep? No.
- Any digestion issues? Nope.
- Do you take any medications? No.
She said, “Wow, this is easy.” I told her that I just eat lots of healthy fats and real food. I know I'm getting older and may not always be able to answer ‘no' to all of those, but for now I'm appreciating it and hoping my mostly good diet helps hold all of that off for a loooong time. Lastly she asked:
- What supplements do you take?
I told her the following are what I take daily, and I'll share here with links and more details just in case you wonder about the specifics (again though, remember I'm not a doctor, I'm just sharing here what I take, not what YOU should take):
- Cod liver oil — to keep my omega 3/omega 6 balance in check, which helps with anxiety and any inflammation that may be going on.
- Liver caps since I don't eat it enough.
- Liver detox caps to help keep my blood sugar under control, since diabetes is very common in my family and I'm keeping an eye on it.
- Probiotics — this is the only kind I'll take now, here's why.
- Vitamin K2 — everyone needs to be on this, read more: Are you Taking Vitamin D or Calcium? What You MUST Do First.
- Vitamin D — like sunshine in a bottle, which sounds pretty good right about now.
- Magnesium — most people are low in this, and it's especially important if you take Vitamin D.
- Iodine — again, most everyone is low, but you can get too much so I take one every other day.
- Lithium — my tests showed I was low.
- Multi-vitamin — I just take one a day to cover anything I may be missing in my diet (from low-nutrient blah produce options during Michigan winters for example).
- Milk thistle for more liver support and for hormones/hot flashes.
Then she said, “I know you don't want a flu shot…”
I said, “Yeah those are too risky, especially since there are very few solid studies on them, but how did you know?” “Oh the doctor told me not to even bother bringing in the forms.” She said it in a light-hearted way. I said, “Wow, really? That's great.” She said, “Yeah, he's the only one in this whole practice that will still see patients even if they choose not to vaccinate.” I couldn't help myself, “That's really terrible, but I'm glad at least my doc has common sense. Can I ask, do you give your kids vaccines?” She said yes, so I ventured further, “But I hope you at least don't give them the HPV/Gardasil shot, right?” (I'd say that's one of the worst.) “Well, I looked into that one a lot and ended up doing it, but it was a tough decision. I've never heard of a case here in this office of an adverse reaction, or I probably wouldn't have.”
I thought this was shocking. There are adverse reactions with that shot ALL of the time, but just because there were none she knew of, that made her feel safe?
I let it go and was thankful that we could have a nice calm conversation about it, and just hoped it made her think more about the risks of any vaccines.
Then the doctor came in…
I've always really liked him, he's very down to earth and we have great chats. We talked about his practice and his kids, and then he asked about our kids. I joked, “Well, you already know I'm sort of crazy, and now we're homeschooling too!” I also brought up Kent's blood pressure, and asked him if he noticed that he hadn't been in for a long time to renew his prescriptions. I told about getting Kent off the meds using natural stuff, and we did it back when he was still at his very stressful job, too. I even showed him Kent's log where he notes his BP on a weekly basis to keep an eye on it, and he said, “Yeah, those are great numbers.” I was a little surprised and bummed that he didn't ask for specifics on HOW we got him off the blood pressure meds and WHAT he takes. I also wish he would've asked about my skin cancer from a few years ago, so I could've told him how I got rid of that naturally too. (Remember I had that biopsied so I knew it was the benign kind that would never cause any long term issues, or else I wouldn't have messed around.) He ordered some blood tests to check my vitamin D and my cholesterol, and I let him because I was curious (both were great!) and I asked if he also prescribes vitamin K2 when he puts someone on vitamin D. I was surprised that he knew nothing about how dangerous it is to take vitamin D without K2! (My natural doc who did my thermogram had no idea either, and I had to tell her about it, which is why I wrote this post: Are you Taking Vitamin D or Calcium? What You MUST Do First.) I just said, “Yeah, you might want to research that.”
So I decided to bring up the vaccine issue.
“The nurse said you're the only doc here who will still see patients who choose not to vaccinate.” He said, “Well I don't know if I'm the only one here…” I continued, “I love that about you! But I'm curious, why is that? What makes you so cool about it when other docs just don't get it? I know you think we should get all the vaccines, but you've said that ultimately it's our choice, so why are you so different from the others?” I thought his reply was very interesting. He said, “Well, I don't think that just because you won't do everything I suggest that I should hold the rest of your healthcare hostage over it. It's just like with an alcoholic, I tell them they should stop drinking, but if they don't, I'm not going to stop seeing them, because I know there are still other ways I could help them with their healthcare.” That he compared me to an alcoholic was sort of amusing, when I'm really just a Mom who digs in more deeply to see all the risks associated with the vaccines or the mammograms or whatever it is I'm refusing at the time, but I didn't take offense, instead I said, “I just really appreciate that you have common sense about this.”
Common sense in one way, but not so much in another…
When I said that, I meant that he has common sense regarding having respect for the patient's choice, not so much when it comes to vaccines though, because if he did, he would at the very least recommend that parents wait 'til their babies are older before vaccinating and then spread them out more. Obviously, though, he likely feels the same about me, that I'm the one not using common sense on this issue. I just don't trust them shooting up our kids willy-nilly with chemicals that supposedly protect them, like I explained in this post: Can We Trust Vaccine Companies? How I Learned that None of Them Even Know What They’re DOING.
So that's when I did it!
I decided to go for it and ask the BIG question. I had put the Vaxxed DVD in my purse before I left, just in case I got a chance. I said, “Since you're so cool about this stuff, I've got one more question for you… Would you watch something for me?” He said without any hesitation, “Sure, I'll watch anything.” (Clearly implying that he doubted it would change his mind on anything, but still, he said he'd watch it!) So I pulled the DVD out and said, “This is about a CDC whistleblower. I met the producer recently at a conference. It's pretty convincing stuff.” He replied in his same friendly tone, “Okay great.” I told him again, “You're awesome.”
And THAT is why I love our doctor. He laughed and off I went, praying he'd watch it with an open mind.
Tell us about YOUR doctor? Have you ever been dismissed from a practice for not vaccinating? Is your doc okay with letting YOU make the decisions about your family's healthcare?
More important info:
- p.s. Notice I'm not mentioning our doctor's name or who he's affiliated with, and if you ask me I won't say. I'd never want anything I write about to get him into trouble.
- Also, remember I'm not a doctor or anywhere close, do your own research and don't blindly follow me or anyone on the issues you read about in this post or any post on my blog!
- This is another post about our doc and how he responded when I wouldn't sign their vaccine exemption forms: Our vaccination saga and the form we would NOT sign.
- How I Ended up on Fox TV News Yesterday… (talking about forced vaccines)
Elizabeth Anderson Coonce says
My daughter’s first pediatrician dropped her child as a patient because she refused to follow their accelerated vaccine schedule. She found a better one.
Rebecca Roxanne Person says
Unfortunately many of them would rather work for the government.
Rebecca Hill Uselton says
Fortunately I found an awesome pediatrician who doesn’t question my decisions and from day one has respected my right as the parent to make those decisions!
Jennifer Ryan Drabik says
I can talk circles around both our pediatricians about vaccines and they both know it.
Karen Danielson Heins says
You go Jennifer!
Scott Griffith says
Glad you have a good doctor. A friend of mine was refused his prescription refills unless he took the flu shot. He didn’t want to, but did after the doctor pushed and pressed. Days later he’s sick and achy all over. Go figure.
Jill-David Boman says
Ugh! I can’t imagine that his prescription refill being held for ransom until he submitted to a flu shot was legal!
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
That’s terrible, Scott!
Evelyn says
Yes! Keep us abreast! (:
Sara Sharp says
You’re so awesome! I hope there will be an update to this story. 🙂
Amy Oatley says
That’s great, Kel! We love this doc also!
chefjemichel says
Thank you Kelly!
I get a lot out of your articles and quote from them as well!
Re: “cancer”. Have you been introduced to the “New Medicine” perspective on disease? Essentially the perspective reveals the entire mind-brain-organ-body organism as a united whole with organ-body biological survival programs directed by the brain whenever impacted by a unexpected shock to the psyche. The discovery of these biological laws came from Dr. Hamer’s observations as an Oncologist after he himself developed testicular cancer after hearing the news of his son’s death. Cancer is not the death sentenced that Western medicine apparently want us to believe. In fact the shock of medical diagnosis and prognosis typically launch new biological survival programs of additional cancers and other diseases that doctors claim are evidence of metastasization. This has demonized cancer with a truly insane fear-based frequency that tends to paralyze objective thinking; something that i am reasonably sure you want to retain within your power, right?
More info?:
https://www.newmedicine.ca
With Love,
Amber Egelston Cooper says
Kelly the Kitchen Kop thank you. I have MTHFR, so my body can’t use folic acid. It needs Folate and methyl B-12. I’ve been using the smarty pants brand and wishing I could find something with less sugar.
Dee Wilcox says
Folate is recommended. Folic acid isn’t great. But I love that your doctor is so willing to work with your comforts and go against the grain of his practice. We need more of him. ?
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Sheri Youngquist — must be out of stock, sorry. 🙁 Amber Egelston Cooper — I just checked, 400mcg of folic acid.
Amber Egelston Cooper says
Kelly the Kitchen Kop does the multi vitamin have folic acid or folate? I can’t see any ingredients in the amazon link.
Jennie Paige says
I would like a recommendation too, my youngest is d defencient
Nikki Phillips Craig says
If you have a link for the vitamin D and k2 reference I would like to read it.. I’m vitamin D deficient and take a prescription D but no K.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Nikki Phillips Craig — I’m wrapping up this post hopefully within a few days!
Jessica Thimmesch says
Kelly, I know you said you’ll be touching more on Vit. K2, but in the meantime, is it okay for children to take? Or do you happen to have a list of supplements that are good for kids? I feel like it’s easier to find things for mom or dad to use, and the kids kind of get pushed to the back burner with just a multi and omega 3.
Jessica Thimmesch says
Not saying in general. Just my experience. I don’t know what my kids should really be taking.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Jessica Thimmesch – I’m fairly certain they can take K2 but will find out for you for sure!
Kelly Sloan VanderGiessen says
I would love an answer on this too. I’ve really be looking for a good multi for kids and there are big differences compared to adults (K2 being one of those)….
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Now that our kids are older I can’t get them to take much unless they’re coming down with something (then I make sure they take CLO and the probiotics I mentioned in the post, among other things mentioned here: https://kellythekitchenkop.com/home-remedies-for-cold-earache-flu/), but when they were younger I gave CLO daily (it made them more pleasant!) and this multi-vitamin: https://amzn.to/2iXH0kC
Ellen O'Sullivan- Mazzone says
Just one important reminder with children and adults…if choosing to give your child a multi, make sure you know if you or your children have MTHFR…if so, you never want to take a Vitamin with B’s that are not methylated….(most multi are not methylated) ….it will do more harm than good …you must take methyl folate and methyl B12 if you have MTHFR..
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Okay Jessica Thimmesch and Kelly Sloan VanderGiessen and Angela Marie I got an answer on the K2 I mentioned in my post: YES kids can take this and it’s even more important for them since their bones are growing. Hope that helps!
J Boone says
Common side effects of the flu injection include headache, fever, nausea, and muscle aches that occur in varying degrees, but may be severe enough to make you feel as though you have the flu. Side effects are totally downplayed, but are a common risk when you inject foreign substances under your skin. Thanks for all the good information, Kelly, keep up the good work!
KitchenKop says
Yeah, and these side effects are just some of the more MILD risks of getting vaccinated…
Lorena Sandoval says
I also can’t wait to hear what he thought of the movie, if he did watch it. 🙂
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
I think he will, but I don’t know if I’ll hear from him about it because I doubt I’ll see him again for a while.
Lorena Sandoval says
My child’s pediatrician was also very surprised when I told her taking Vit D alone is not safe, that it needs to be taken together with Vit K2. She said “I did not know that!” Doctors should be better educated.
Michelle Mays says
And vit a
Lorena Sandoval says
Get that from Cod Liver oil.
Carol Terney Federoff says
They can’t know everything. Sometimes WE expect more from physicians than we should. They are human and can only know so much. Our health should be OUR responsibility.
Samantha Salyer Jacokes says
I’m very curious to hear about what he thought of the movie.
Elaine says
Hi Kelly, your post really resonated with me so I had to write. I hope this isn’t too long.
I just recently went to a normal/conventional doctor (she’s a D.O.) too just because as we get older, we probably need one in our life in case something happens beyond our control. Otherwise if you end up in the emergency room with an extended stay, you get who you get.
At my first appointment with the new doctor I, too, said “no” to a lot of the nurse’s questions and then when they ask what drugs I’m taking they are always surprised when I say “none.” I have to say I LOVE THAT!
Right now I’m not taking any supplements but that’s only because I forget to take them and then….well you know how it goes.
I was asked about getting a shingles shot and a flu shot. I said “no” to both and the nurse asked me why on the flu shot. I said, “well the one and only time years ago that I ever got the shot was when I got the flu.” She said that was basically impossible because it’s not a live vaccine. HA….I just kind of shrugged my shoulders. On a side note, I have a friend that gets the flu shot every year and then gets the flu but is convinced that the flu would be “worse” if she hadn’t gotten the shot. And I don’t get the shot but don’t get the flu but she never thinks about that.
Kelly, when you had a conversation with your nurse about giving her child the HPV shot, I have to say, I’ve found that people seem to follow things that are in their own backyard. If a neighbor does such and such and such and such happens – that’s what they seem to go by and believe.
So then this new doctor asked me about doing a Mammogram and I said I prefer doing a Thermogram. Neither the nurse or the doctor knew what that was. So I gave them the information on where to get one in our area.
I left the appointment feeling like I had found “an open-minded” conventional doctor. Well….fast forward…
On my second visit, I was asked about the flu shot again: “I know you have refused the flu shot already but “they” require me to ask you again.” I refused again but later kicked myself for not asking who “they” was. But then the doctor came in to do my pap (that’s important) and asked about doing a mammogram again (my mom and aunt both had breast cancer). She said she checked into doing a thermogram and IT IS NOT RELIABLE FOR DETECTING CANCER. She was adamant! I refused again but was kind of at a loss for words so just said no. I could tell she didn’t like that and asked me if she could make my appointment for the mammogram. Again I said no. I wish I would have had a better comeback but I think I was stunned at her getting a little angry.
So scratch my thinking that she was open-minded. Oh well, I don’t go to doctors regularly anyway and am just happy to have one in my pipeline.
Kelly, what have you found is the best resource for showing Thermograms benefits over Mammograms? I may just give it to her next time.
KitchenKop says
Your comment was not too long at all Elaine, I enjoyed reading it! At my thermogram post there are some good links that I think will be helpful for you: https://kellythekitchenkop.com/thermogram-mammogram-alternative-with-pictures/.
Also, something I forgot to share in the post about getting a pap… They used to say to get them yearly, my doc was telling me that the new recommendations say you only have to come back every 5 years now as long as you’re negative for HPV, which I was, obviously, since thankfully my Hubs and I have only ever been with each other.
Kelly