The Philosophy

Functional Medicine is a patient centered approach to health that focuses less on naming diseases and managing symptoms, and more on the functional imbalance of the body.  The Better Being Hospital provides an individualized treatment and rehabilitation program that combines both the knowledge and wisdom of western and eastern medicine – and it follows the principles of the 4Rs:

Replace – recreate balance in your body’s basic systems by adjusting nutrition and nutrient absorption.

Repair – restore the body’s missing elements by stimulating the body’s own healing and regenerative abilities.

Remove – eliminate any remaining factors that intervene with the body’s working processes (for example, unwanted bacteria, toxic or heavy metal, waste that can’t be eliminated by the body, etc.).

Rebuild – find a way to stimulate the system to renew lost cells.

Everything I am being asked to do has a specific purpose and each therapy is being implemented to provide a piece of this larger picture.  I have now had a chance to experience all of the supportive therapies.  I previously shared the Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Aquatic Therapy…here’s a glance at the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Acupuncture and Nutrition.

The Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is well…kind of a trip.  Imagine being Darth Vader…on a plane…trying not to have a panic attack.  That’s pretty much HBOT.

The treatment lasts an hour and during that time you’re breathing 100% oxygen in this pressurized chamber.  The idea is that typically oxygen is only delivered to your body via your red blood cells, but this treatment allows oxygen to enter your whole body directly (central nervous system, plasma, tissue, etc.).  So even areas that are damaged or have decreased circulation will get oxygenated – which stimulates your body’s natural ability to heal.

Acupuncture is a cake walk.  I have had acupuncture before so this was very familiar to me – and I really like it (perhaps I was a pin cushion in another life).  They rotate the areas of your body that will be targeted with each treatment.  We've done the lungs, liver, and immune system so far.

And then there’s nutrition.  As I mentioned, I am on a carb free diet (they call it a ketogenic diet).  The philosophy here is that a nutrient rich diet provides the body’s mitochondria with what it needs for optimal functioning.  Mitochondria are known as the powerhouses of the cell – they act like a digestive system which takes in nutrients, breaks them down, and creates energy rich molecules for the cell.  Since I’m being injected with millions of stem cells while here – this seems like a no brainer.  So far, I have been 100% compliant (no cheating here!).  But some things are better than others.

This was great.

This…not so much.