Encompass Integrated Health Center
Using integrated knowledge to personalize medicine for better health outcomes.
I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason, so I am trying really hard to be 100% at peace with the fact that my financing fell through, so there will be no Encompass Integrated Health Center...at least not for now. This gives me time to focus on my new job as the PIC at Sullivan County Memorial Hospital Pharmacy and to enjoy as much time as possible with my son Logan, who has moved in with me for the 2 months before he goes to college. I find my mind constantly wandering to ideas for the business and I am working on finding a partner to ease the financial and time burden of doing it myself. In the meantime, I am going to explore doing the pieces of it that could be done on-line, and/or those pieces that just involved the services that I could provide. Thanks for your support.
Each day brings me closer to providing my community another choice in health care as they navigate their path to wellness. I have a location!
If you live in the area or shop on-line and have a healthy/natural product that you would like to see me carry, please let me know. So far I am planning on carrying vitamins, supplements, probiotics, CBD products, healthy snacks, fresh juices and smoothies, holistic & homeopathic products, essential oils, natural body/skin care....If you have a favorite product that fits in these categories, please let me know and I'll look into it for you!
It has been awhile since I have posted on here and for good reason. I have been gathering information and getting things ready....Great things are coming and I can't wait to share them with you! Stay tuned as I continue to post updates.
08/11/2018
After discovering Norwex products through a friend, I decided to become a distributor because their product line aligns with the mission of my integrated health center. I have until November 16th to reach a goal that I initially found unattainable. But, I am closer than I thought...so if you think you would be interested in purchasing some Norwex products for yourself to clean the house without toxic chemicals for the holidays or as a gift for someone, please PM me or place an order on my Norwex page https://michellevanvleck.norwex.biz. TIA!!
My apologies for not keeping more on top of this page. I am hoping things will settle down soon so that I can focus more on getting my new business off the ground. In the meantime, I would appreciate some input from you.
For those of you not sure of what an integrated health center is...think of focusing on the mind, body, spirit as preventative medicine, lifestyle changes (proper nutrition, fitness/movement, getting off of unnecessary prescription medication), education on the appropriate vitamins, supplements and alternative methods for you, and being able to work with a pharmacist and a physician to personalize your path to better health.
With that said...what services or products would you like or expect to see in an integrated health center?
07/09/2018
My apologies for not completing this page, I've been out of town working and trying to take the time to reset/recharge. Resetting is not an easy thing for me as I've a tendency to shut down when I get overwhelmed...and believe me, nothing like working to pay the bills while trying to start a new business, clean/take care of 2 houses, and make time for family and self-care to overwhelm this girl. But I'm doing better about not trying to do it all, accepting that small steps are better than no steps, and realizing that if I don't take care of me, none of it will get done.
This week, I started with resetting my eating habits. Can our bodies handle all the processed, preserved, chemically-laden food we put in them? Yes. Our bodies are pretty amazing. But, just as our bodies shut-down certain processes during "fight-or-flight" situations, when we are constantly stressed, or stressing our body by eating things our body has to spend more energy breaking down, I believe our bodies shut-down certain metabolic processes to compensate.
For me, resetting my eating habits, doesn't involve counting calories or following a certain diet (more on this another time). This week, it means filling my plate with nutrient-laden, healthy food and making sure I'm drinking my water.
Here's my breakfast and lunch this week...not exactly the same each day, but you get the idea...
The Path to a Healthier You
Where do I start? I suppose I need to start at the beginning for those of you visiting my page that don’t know me. Throughout high school, all I ever wanted to do was teach. 5 years, a BS in Biology, and a MAE, and I started my career as a science teacher. After 9 years of teaching, I decided that it was not the career path for me. I took a job as a pharmacy tech to help pay the bills while I figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up. 3 months later, I was applying to pharmacy school. In 2012, I graduated with my PharmD. Since graduating, my career path has been a diverse one - complete with roadblocks, roundabouts, dead ends, pot holes, and highways. Throughout it all there have been a few things that have remained constant. All of those things centered around my passion for educating people on ways to achieve better health (so yes, in a sense I’m back to teaching again).
One of those ways is the proper use of nutrition, vitamins and supplements to optimize your health. I was one of a handful of students that took the Supplements class offered in Pharmacy School. My favorite rotation as a pharmacy student was at O’Brien Pharmacy in Mission, Kansas, which introduced me to Individualized Medicine and Holistic Medicine. But working as a retail pharmacist, I was rarely allowed the opportunity to educate people about what other choices they might have. As a pharmacist in the USA, we are pushed to use “evidence-based” medicine. Using nutrition, vitamins, and supplements as medicine is often frowned upon because there aren’t the right kind of clinical studies supporting them and there probably never will be; because you can’t have a true control group because you can’t control what vitamins and minerals those participating in the trial are getting from their food (which is often the best way to get your vitamins and minerals), nor can they control how someone’s body processes those vitamins/minerals.
My first experience with personalized medicine was when I got my wisdom teeth pulled 30 years ago. They were impacted so I had to be put under. 5 hours after they told my younger brother to pick me up, I came to in some recovery room and was sick as I’ve ever been for a week. Had the dentist known I was a slow metabolizer, perhaps they would have used a different anesthesia cocktail and I would have had a much better experience. Fast forward to the last year of pharmacy school and we had 1 lecture on pharmacogenomics and I had a major “Ah-ha” moment. Everybody’s DNA is different, so of course everybody’s body processes things differently...and yet, most doctors prescribe things as if we are all the same. I get why they have to, but what works for someone else, absolutely might be the wrong thing for you. The field of pharmacogenomics is advancing fast and I am thrilled that I have found a way to bring some of that to my patients and their doctors to help them make more educated choices on what they should be taking.
This page, my business, my path is a work in progress. I expect it will be one of those roads always under construction. But as a pharmacist with a background in education, I believe I have finally found my niche. I am so excited and I am hoping you will let me walk with you as you navigate your own journey to a healthier you!