About

My mother and I, like most mother-daughters, have a very close and special bond and relationship. I am very happy that I get to share so much of my life and my children’s lives with her.  In 2010 she became very ill with complications from diverticulitis and almost didn’t make it.  She was suffering and seeing many medical professionals to see what was wrong.  I finally guided her to a hospital that I had previously done a pharmacy rotation at in school.  I thought this would be the best option and treatment to help her back to good health.  She was put on many antibiotics and then was scheduled for a laparoscopic surgery. She was in surgery which felt like forever.  She stayed in the hospital and was eventually discharged.  At home things just got worse.  Everything that could have went wrong started to.  Her incision opened and we were scared to death.  I drove her back to the hospital and she was admitted. They did what they could after spending some more time in the hospital and she was released home with intravenous feeding only and antibiotics. She could not eat any food.  I then decided that she should live with me.  

I had just graduated pharmacy school and thought I would be able to help her with all her needs.  It actually terrified me.  I was not a nurse.  I did the best I could administering her IV bags.  I remember I panicked once because blood was backing up into her line and I thought I was killing my mother, but thankfully I fixed the problem with help from a telemedicine hotline.  One day she fell very ill and weak.  We rushed her to the hospital again.  She had sepsis from her IV port.  The infectious disease specialist at the hospital didn’t think she was going to make it. They pumped her full of more antibiotics and she stayed longer at the hospital.  She recovered, thank God, it was a miracle.  She was discharged again, but she was not healing.  If she didn’t heal she would never get better.  She asked her doctor if she could do hyperbaric chamber therapy.  With time and therapy she did heal and she is still here with us today.  

Some may ask why I am sharing this story and this is why.  At the time I thought through my education and experience with conventional medicine I was helping my mother make the best healthcare choices. I know now through my experience with alternative and functional medicine there may have been a better option, a healthier option.  There are diets she could have tried before surgery, nutrition and supplements that would help build and restore her gut and immunity.  She could have tried this first.  She more than likely would have ended up having the surgery but she would at least have had some defense and a better healing experience.  

Little did I know that all those antibiotics were killing the bad bacteria, but also the good, wiping out her already suppressed immune system.  This is why she wasn’t healing.  I know this for a fact.  She, like any person whose microbiome is completely wiped out from antibiotics, can’t heal.  The body needs bacteria to be healthy and 80% of your immunity is in your digestive tract. The damage that was done still haunts her now.  The gut is key to so many functions in the body and is where most disease begins.  I am happy now that I can help her.  I can look at her as a whole person and suggest lifestyle changes, nutrition choices and supplements to help her live her best life. I want her around as long as I can for my children and myself.  Don’t we all. I can’t change the past, none of us can, but I can change the future and ensure the best for not only for myself and my family, but others as well. 

More about Me

As you know by know I am a pharmacist, but I am also a wife and a mother of 2 wonderful children. In early 2019 I started to assess my role as a healthcare professional and also the matriarch of my family. I was not satisfied with my career and felt I needed to re-route my role to help and heal and be an example not only to myself, but the people in my life. I took a big step and decided to further my knowledge base away from the conventional path I have always known and follow a different way that I truly believe is a better way to optimize health and happiness.

I went into pharmacy school with the full expectation of being a caring and trusted healthcare professional. I graduated from Albany College of Pharmacy in 2008 and was so proud to be a Doctor of Pharmacy. A couple of years into my career I started to see healthcare changing and trends start to form. As a pharmacist it is one of my duties to answer questions and counsel patients on new or changing medications and drug regimens (interactions, side effects, dosing schedule, etc). I also provide information and recommendations on over-the-counter products and medications. I started to notice that some patients were not interested in what information I had to provide to them about their prescribed medication. A portion of patients did not even know why they were picking up medications. Some patients would leave with medication because they trusted their doctor, had no questions because they had been on the same medications “for years” or decided not to take them because they were worried about the side effects. I was also counseling a lot of patients about vitamins and supplements and looking for ways to self-treat disease or treatment prevention.

I then made a realization, I need to help and educate people personally and individually about their health. Conventional medicine alone is not the only option for patients and their health journey. Unfortunately, most patients feel confused and worse after they leave their doctor. Medical offices are burdened with reimbursement, burnout, metrics and protocols that an insurance company or corporation sets. The pharmaceutical company’s plaguing the healthcare system with their top-dollar drugs influencing many of the decisions about your health that are being made. This is unacceptable and far from proper healthcare. People need to be treated as an individual and recognized for their different history, biochemistry, physiology, lifestyle and genes for proper disease prevention and diagnosis.

Pharmacists, as well as many other healthcare professionals, take an oath to care for people. I feel that getting OFF medications should be the goal, not adding more. I feel that educating patients about disease prevention and lifestyle changes is the best sort of healthcare that can be provided. I then started to look at different avenues in healthcare, especially alternative, functional and holistic approaches. It is amazing the quality of individual care this approach takes and how it empowers and engages individuals on their own health journey. This is why I broke free from the chains of conventional medicine and started Happy Life Consulting and Wellness, LLC. I knew this was what my calling was, this is how I was going to care for people. I look at everyday through a different lens and I cannot wait to help people live healthy, fulfilling and happy lives!