My last SCHOOL blog :)

I just wanted to share my last school blog with all of you! For anyone confused, I also write a weekly blog for my grad school to give current and prospective students of my experience as a Naturopathic student. I thought it was a good way to give you some insight into my experience in California. 

"Well here we are guys. This is my last blog to you EVER. Can you believe it? We’ve been on this journey together for a LONG time now…ever since I started the Chiropractic program all the way through finishing the Naturopathic program! It has been a huge blessing to reflect every week on this blog not only to give you insight but for myself. Now I can look back and remember small details of my life that I may not have stored in my memory. That’s the great thing about blogging.

                I want to tell you about my week in sunny California. I am glad I will be able to share my experiences with you because it was absolutely amazing. I had the pleasure to shadow with a Naturopathic doctor out here in Monrovia, California.She has been such an amazing influence not only from her point of view on patient care/management but the fact that she is a mom, married, maintains a busy schedule (she has a waiting list), and has a great spirit about it all! I was also able to speak with her husband who does a lot of the business aspect of her practice. The business “stuff” is not my forte and it was nice to speak to him and get some pointers. Since Illinois is not a licensed state yet, there are restrictions on many things that we are capable of doing including IV therapy, injections, and prescriptive pharmaceuticals. In California, you are able to do all of that under your license.

Dr. Wicher preparing a joint injection

I was able to observe Dr. Wicher perform numerous IV therapies from hydrogen peroxide to vitamins/minerals to using Ozone, which was SUPER cool. I also saw numerous joint injections, intramuscular injections, and Ozone injections! She had awesome rapport with her patients and every patient had amazing improvements that they urged them to refer patients to her. She had a very busy practice, spent quality time with each patient, had time to spend with her 2 year old, and maintained a positive and grateful attitude about it all. I am so glad that I randomly found her. I had to drive about 3 hours roundtrip (with traffic) to her practice everyday but it was MORE than worth it. We plan on keeping in touch and I am excited to potentially move out west one day (maybe) and have some awesome resources! I encourage each and every one of you to utilize your allotted observation days during clinic to travel to a licensed state like California (with a larger scope than others) and see the amazing things our profession has to offer! It is well worth the plane ticket fare!

Ryan & I at a wedding in a vineyard in Temecula, CA
on top of a mountain!

My husband Ryan joined me in California for the weekend to attend one of his good friend’s wedding as well as celebrate our first baby shower lovingly thrown by my family here. We called this part of the trip our “Babymoon” which is basically a trip before the baby comes to enjoy each other’s company and relax. We had an amazing time reconnecting with his friends from back home that have moved out to California. We topped off the busy weekend with our first baby shower, which was so exciting. We are so blessed to have such amazing family and friends to share this new journey with and could not be more excited after seeing all the little baby clothes!

            Strangely enough, you have been apart of my life for some of my biggest life changes and events from starting school, getting married, graduating (twice), and then starting our baby adventure! I am truly saddened to say that the journey we have been on together has to end here but I want to thank all of you that have taken your time to read my rants. If anything, I hope I have been able to give you some honest insight into my life as a real person…not just another grad student. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!  May you have a blessed journey as well no matter what path you choose! My last piece of advice: Find the good in all you do/choose. It will help you appreciate the beauty in all the obstacles!"

My grandparents with us at our first baby shower in California :)