Copyright © 2019 Dr. Patrick Flynn
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments/Dedication
A Note From The Author
Brenda’s Story
CHAPTER 1: Everybody Has a Story
A Note From Christy
CHAPTER 2: Firemen and Carpenters
CHAPTER 3: What is Health?
Erin’s Story
CHAPTER 4: Stressors
CHAPTER 5: Don’t Kill the Messenger
CHAPTER 6: Why is He so Confident?
CHAPTER 7: Men Are Simple
CHAPTER 8: GRRR
Amanda’s Story
CHAPTER 9: Women Are Complicated, but Worth It
Joy’s Story
CHAPTER 10: No Control with Birth Control
CHAPTER 11: Puberty Comes Too Soon
CHAPTER 12: The “M” Word
CHAPTER 13: Cholesterol is Not a Bad Guy
CHAPTER 14: The Liver is a Machine
CHAPTER 15: Detoxing in a Toxic World
CHAPTER 16: Say It…I Disagree
Nicole’s Story
You disagree too! Now what?
Acknowledgements
I want to offer a very special appreciation to the core writing team that put his book together—Dawn, Renée, and my wife, Christy. Your commitment, long hours, and dedication brought this dream into reality! For that I thank you.
The influence for this project came from far and wide. At The Wellness Way, we truly have an Us, We, Our Culture. Pieces of everyone’s stories woven together—doctors and patients alike, all contributing to the movement, the momentum, and the impact that is changing lives. Thank you to each and every individual who has joined us in thinking differently. Together we are making a difference, improving the health of people around the world!
DEDICATION
To my beautiful bride, Christy:
I choose you.
A Note From The Author
We’ve all had those moments. Maybe it hits you in the shower, or maybe it runs through your mind while you’re driving. It definitely hits you when your opinionated cousin won’t stop talking at the family reunion! It’s the thought that something is wrong. Maybe you can’t even put your finger on it, but you know something isn’t right. You know you disagree with what’s happening.
We all know a couple who is so desperate for a baby, they’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars on treatments, but there is still no child. Maybe the couple is even you. The money invested is overwhelming, but the heartache even more so. Let me ask you a question though… why is this so common?
We all have the stories. Remember a time when you looked into a loved one’s eyes, only to hear that the doctors said surgery is the only answer. Or another prescription was going to be written to see if it might help. Or even how they were told that despite the obvious symptoms, there was nothing wrong with them. Remember how you felt? In spite of everything, did a voice in your head whisper “no”?
Every day the news stations are flooded with reports of how people are sicker than ever. How can we have the best medical technologies and research, and people are STILL on an average of at least 4 prescriptions a day, NOT including the over the counter medications they take? How many prescriptions does a person need to be healthy?
Here’s one more question for you: when is enough, enough? Would you agree that this is the best we have to offer ourselves, or would you disagree?
Let me answer first: I disagree. You disagree too, or you wouldn’t be reading this book. Maybe you’re not even sure what the answer is, but want to learn more. Awesome – let me be the first to welcome you to the family.
What you are going to find in this book is a different way of thinking. A way of thinking that is changing the lives of people across the country, giving them hope, and getting them results they never dreamed they could have. I hope you laugh, but you might cry, and you might even get upset – guess what? That’s ok. Hang in there with me. This book is something you’ll hear nowhere else, and sometimes it takes some time to work through something new. It will be valuable though – I promise!
Saying I Disagree will be the most powerful thing you can learn to do. It’s not destructive, in fact, when done based on facts and not emotions, it can be the most constructive thing a person can do! This book will show you why, and how. I’m excited and grateful to bring you the information our clinics across the country share with their patients every day. Disagree with a thought process that doesn’t work! Disagree with a health care system that is clearly broken! Disagree with shattered hope, take a stand, and think differently!
Brenda’s Story
Dr. Patrick has been instrumental in helping me understand the proper approach to healthcare instead of our current system. I met him after dealing with a health problem that had me seeing several doctors and specialists, visiting many emergency rooms, and on an overall path that was leading me down a spiral toward further disease and illness. I was honestly starting to wonder how much longer I could function at my current lifestyle pace. I felt like I was starting to lose my grip on my reality.
He is passionate about his calling. It was evident from the first time I met him. He took time to understand my story and concerns, ordered labs, and offered key nutritional changes that identified the underlying cause of my condition and allowed my body to take the steps needed for proper healing. He is an absolute visionary when it comes to the immune system, hormones, and understanding the biological root cause behind the symptoms. He helped me pull the pieces of the puzzle together and empowered me to take control to create a path that I didn’t even know existed.
Dr. Patrick is also a genius at the biochemistry involved at the intersection between stress and illness. My life has been transformed by the knowledge of how stress impacts my hormones. This understanding has helped me slow the chatter of mind and pace of my life by giving me the ability to witness and understand the biological response to stressful situations. He helped me understand the chemicals involved in stress and the damage that can result to my hormones and body. I was able to see for the first time that my power lies in my response to any situation or perceived problem. I can control the stress reaction by simply becoming aware of it. I came to him with a health problem that he not only helped me restore but he also helped me find my power. Talk about transfo
rmation! I am beyond fortunate to have him in my life and am honored to be able to watch him change the lives of those around me.
CHAPTER 1
Everybody Has a Story
Everyone has a story. Every demographic, every walk of life. Regardless of who or what or when, what is common to all of us is we each have a story. Each story is unique, and each story is important. They shape who we are, who we become, and collectively our stories impact what happens in our generation and for generations to come.
As you go through the journey of your life, your story, you encounter circumstances and situations that change you. It’s part of the process, and an important part of determining how you think and look at the world. It can happen directly, or indirectly – sometimes you learn from things you go through yourself, and other times the experiences of others can have a tremendous effect.
Throughout this book, I’m going to share pieces of my story. Some parts may seem distant to you, while others may resonate so strongly you see yourself in the scene. I have learned from things I’ve gone through myself, as well as things I’ve watched others experience. It has all led to thinking differently. Thinking in a way that has empowered myself and others to make lasting changes in their story. Changes that seemed impossible. Changes for the good.
I will never forget the day I met her.
This first story is a doozy of a story and one that shaped me more than I could ever imagine. I met a girl that fell I love with and I fell hard! We knew mutual acquaintances who had tried to set us up on blind dates months before, but we both had bailed. I was busy with school is my excuse. But nineteen years ago, God orchestrated a chain of events that would change my life forever. I will never forget the day I met her. During the summer, I was a water-skier for a show ski team from my hometown of Crivitz. One day the pyramid fell on me and I gashed my cheek. I also had a mild concussion, so I went to get adjusted by a chiropractic buddy I used to intern with. While I was there, a beautiful young lady with blond hair, short shorts, long legs and platform heels came in without an appointment. We were introduced and hit it off immediately! I learned later this was the SAME girl that I was set up on blind dates with; the ones we had both bailed on. (Crazy, right?)
Two days later we started dating. No joke! She told me, “I’m going to marry you someday,” and I told her, “you’re right!” There was something amazing and unique about this girl. We spent the first couple weeks of our relationship sharing our hearts and what we each wanted for our lives. She shared her dreams; I shared my vision and direction for my life. We discussed the family we wanted to have, where we wanted to live, our passions and goals. We also shared how we would raise our children and the ways we wanted to make a difference in the world. Remember, we were young. My career was just getting started. We had the whole world ahead of us.
Two weeks into our relationship, I went to her house excited to see the beautiful woman I had fallen in love with. When I got there, she was sobbing and in pain. This wouldn’t be the last time I would find her like this. In the coming months, I would find her on the floor curled up in pain. It crushed me to see her like this. I wanted to know what I could do to help.
I would do anything for her. This wasn’t just any girl–this was THE girl! So…why was she sobbing? I thought things were going so well. She had gotten her period that day and it left her crying and in tremendous pain. I had no idea she had so much pain in her life. She was always so happy. There was more to this story than just female problems or hormone issues. In order to understand the big picture of what was really happening, let’s step back a bit in “the girl’s” life and health history.
She had never pictured her life past age twenty-five.
Christy had struggled most of her life with various illnesses and conditions, and they got progressively worse as she entered college. Years later she told me that before we met, she had never pictured her life past age twenty-five. That’s how sick she was.
CHRISTY’S THOUGHTS:
What was I thinking that day when Patrick found me sobbing and in pain?
Why would a guy like him–someone so confident, bold and driven to achieve his future goals and dreams–want to be with a girl like me? You see, I was sick and had had many health challenges throughout my life up to that point. We had already talked about what we dreamed our futures would look like. I honestly didn’t know what my future would look like, because doctors had given me a grim outlook. I had excruciating GI issues including ulcerative colitis that was on the road to becoming Crohn’s. The medical doctor’s best advice at the time was, “drink Maalox before and after every meal.” Seriously? I did that, and I was so much worse! All they could offer me were more drugs and later on surgery would be inevitable. To me that was crazy!
Around that same time period (while I was in college), my reproductive issues also began to take over my life. From migraines to incredible cramping, I felt like every organ of my body was slowly shutting down. The doctors and specialists monitored my symptoms and then suggested drugs. I refused the drugs, so they insisted on monitoring me monthly with ultrasounds. They confirmed that I had cysts on my ovaries and that I had endometriosis. They told me I would probably not be able to bear children, or if I were to conceive, I would not be able to carry the pregnancy to term. Then they graciously offered to scrape my uterus. I politely said, ‘no thank you,’ and never returned to that office again. My mom had shared other details of my health history, and, as a result, I was at peace with the fact that I might not be able to bear my own children. I could definitely adopt some day.
Do I stay with her or do I leave her?
So, getting back to this pivotal, emotional moment in our lives, Christy began to share with me for the first time the health struggles that she had endured. I didn’t know any of this until I found her in pain. I was shocked she was struggling like this. She even went so far as to say, “maybe we shouldn’t be together.” Now, I had a decision to make. While we had been sharing our hearts in that fantastic first two weeks of our relationship, I had shared with her I wanted a big family. So, I had a choice to make right then and there. Do I stay with her or do I leave her? I’m not kidding when I told you I had completely fallen head-over-heels for that beautiful woman. Do I chalk this up as a set back? Or, do I choose to use it as a set up for one of the greatest gifts God has ever given me?
Because I loved Christy and we had a future in front of us we both clearly wanted, the choice was obvious. The choice was her; it was us. It was easy to choose us because I had fallen madly in love. She asked, “But what about your dream of having children? The doctors say I might never be able to give you a child.”
When I looked at that beautiful woman that I loved I realized that there were two words that would define our future. I disagree. I disagree with every doctor she saw. I disagree with the general practitioners. I disagree with the gynecologists. I disagree with the specialists. I even disagree with the chiropractor who was giving her regular adjustments and great supplements. The beautiful woman I fell in love with was meant to have children just like every other woman. There was something they were all missing. I didn’t know what it was, but I was determined to find out.
I engulfed myself into the study of female hormones. I devoured everything I could find, every research article, every study, everything. I spoke with other doctors I respected, people who had been my instructors while I was in school and others who had a mindset to look at things differently. I wanted to see multiple perspectives and put the pieces together. I studied female hormones like a fanatic. The best answers I found were disheartening. All I could think was: Man, this can’t be all there is! I knew this didn’t line up with what I had been taught in school. I couldn’t settle for what I was finding. I knew there was more to it. I had to keep digging and look at it from a different approach. I had to think differently.
Just because we have what appears to be a fairytale life doesn’t mean it was easy. We had obstacles. Every decision y
ou make will have obstacles. The question is, will you overcome the obstacles to get to the end you want?
CHRISTY’S THOUGHTS:
Some people say they wish they knew exactly what obstacles they would face in life so they could prepare. In my case, if I had known how hard my journey was going to be, I don’t think I would’ve had enough courage to walk it. By the grace of God, I was introduced to a man I fell in love with and he turned my world upside down. For so long I felt alone in my health journey. Appointment after appointment I kept hearing the same two things: “We aren’t sure why” and “here are some drugs and surgery to help your pain.” I was discouraged to say the least-even a bit depressed at times. The medical method was getting me nowhere, and I kept feeling worse. I couldn’t eat typical healthy foods like salad, certain fruits and vegetables, and I had been allergic to dairy since the second grade. I had been seen and referred to so many doctors, but no one could give any answers on how to become healthy. I was exhausted and ready to try something different. So, imagine me on the floor crying, being vulnerable with Patrick for the first time. I was so afraid of what was going to come next. But then he said something that no one ever said to me before. “Don’t worry about any of this. You’re going to be okay.” I chose at that very moment to trust him–a guy I just met–with my health and future. How crazy is THAT?!? I knew that this road was not going to be easy to travel, but the medical model had nothing to offer me that made sense. I chose to trust the process of the journey we were going to be walking together.
We chose to stay with it no matter what, including all the criticisms that come when living under a microscope.
I may have been a new doctor, but I was convinced a woman’s body was meant to have babies. You see, I believe all bodies are created for homeostasis. Homeostasis is health and function. That was more than any other doctor had offered her. I chose to look at things differently and not settle for the answers she had been given. This unfamiliar approach was foreign to both of our families, and as a result, caused stress and struggles within our relationships. We chose to stay with it no matter what, including all the criticisms that come when living under a microscope. What’s the result? What was the impact of our decision to pursue Christy’s health? We have four amazing daughters. Yes, I have FOUR daughters. You can please all pray for me now! I joke, but they are amazing and bring so much joy to our lives. Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn’t chosen Christy. If we hadn’t disagreed with what the traditional medical thinking offered. I know it wouldn’t be as amazing as life with Christy and these four girls.
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