From Chronic Illness and Antibiotic Cycles to Thriving College Students

Before we started Arbor Health, our family's life was very typical. We had very healthy kids that would go to the doctor for pediatrician visits, like annual visits. We'd also go in for sickness, which usually would always happen between December and February, always the sick time of year, for ear infections, often croup, both my boys often got strep throat and it seemed like they weren't getting rid of it. And it happened frequently and it was antibiotic use, after antibiotic use, after antibiotic use. So what made me take my boys to Arbor Health was the fact that I knew that there was more to it than just the actual illness. I knew there had to be a reason why my kids kept getting this, why they...I just couldn't understand why they were lasting so long when we were treating them. And I just felt like there was more that I wasn't understanding. And I had always been a person who likes to be more solutions focused and more holistic. And I felt like we were just looking at one piece of the really big puzzle. And I needed help. There were lots of things that could have caused me to hesitate, meaning the cost, the uncertainty, but for me, I felt like what was being done wasn't working. And so I felt, as a mom, I felt kind of helpless and hopeless. And I felt that unless I really tried something different, we were kind of in a holding pattern. I guess I felt very hopeless and very helpless for a while. And once I got to Arbor Health I didn't feel so hopeless and helpless. And I'll never forget Dr. Zendi held my hand and she's like, we're going to figure this out. Many years later, she is the one that, when my boys have gotten into college, she's the one that I share the information with. When my boys just did really well, she's the one I share those things with because she's been there on the low times and she's been there at the good times. She was the kind of person that said, we're going to put a plan in place. We're going to do tests, we're going to do blood tests, we're going to do all the things to find out what is wrong. And we're not going to stop until we get there. And she didn't. And it's been a long journey, but we have found out so much. And I would do it again a million times over. We changed the way we eat, we looked at different things. like in our household. We ask a lot of questions. We changed a lot of our practices. So they made me look at every aspect of our life and think, how could I do better? How could we change? They also got us into solutions. Each time we came up with a roadblock, I'd be like, okay, we got to go back to the team, and then we're going to figure out what's going on now. Each time we go back to the team, and we're like, okay, let's do blood work. Let's run some tests, and then each time, can put together a plan. So, they're my team! They've become like family. They really have. When your kids are sick, it's isolating, it's lonely, it's sad, it's hopeless, it's helpless. And knowing that you have people that are on your team when all of those things are happening makes you feel like you're not alone. So what's happening now is I have two college-aged boys. One's in school for business, one's in school for engineering. They're thriving. They're smart, good boys that are contributing to the world. They know how to make good, healthy choices that contribute to their health. They understand if something's going on, that they have solutions. Dr. Zendi has been my hero. I tell her all the time she's my hero. She's been our lighthouse in the storm. And I am forever grateful to her and her team. I guess I would just really like to say thank you. Jen, Rochester, New York