Our Visit to the Naturopathic Doctor

On Monday we finally had our appointment with Dr. Parpia at Gordon Medical Center. We went to the San Rafael office since it's a bit closer than their Santa Rosa office. Because it was the day before Independence Day, the traffic was graciously light. 

Both Eric and I really liked her, and felt her questions, insights and approach were validating. It was so nice to have someone speak "our language," rather than be patronized for seeking means outside the conventional box.

In preparation for the appointment, we wanted to make sure we had access to Eric's medical records from when he was hospitalized, so before we met with her, we created an account with "My Chart." Until that point, we had been told that all of Eric's tests were "normal." Seeing them for ourselves was eye-opening!

When I clicked on the Heavy Metals results, we were shocked to see that Eric's Copper levels were higher than the "safe" range (3-50) - 71 ug/d (whatever that means) - and that there was an "H" under the "Flag" column which no one bothered to mention to us.

When Dr. Parpia asked whether or not the test was "provoked" we didn't know what she meant. She then asked if they had given anything to Eric before collecting the urine samples and he said, "No." Thus, her response was that not only was this high, but as an unprovoked test, she thought that his levels could be significantly higher!

During his two hour appointment, we agreed that there might be issues of Lyme as well, so she agreed that testing with the more accurate Igenex test would be a good idea.

Money was also a really big topic in our conversation, of course. After testing, she felt that to really detox and treat Eric, this would require intense IV therapy. Ideally, she wants him to receive it three times per week, for 2-3 months. Each infusion is costly, each trip down there will take a full day, and we are now at the complete dependence on our fundraising to maintain our household, not to mention intense therapy to treat Eric!

Yet, I knew this was coming. Scary. A bit frustrating. And also hopeful. 

So our next step will be to have another "planning meeting" to determine the next steps in our journey. We plan to meet tomorrow and see what unfolds next.