09/02/2026
I completely agree with this. By the time pets show up at ER, many times it’s too late. Even if they make it back home, they keep getting sick again because of the lack of preventative care. When we don’t know how to take care of our own selves, we cannot take care of our pets very well. It’s a simple concept- eat healthy, exercise, rest, manage stress instead of relying on pills.
STAYING OUT OF THE ER
For 27 years as an Emergency Medicine specialist, I treated thousands of patients suffering from the late consequences of chronic and metabolic disease.
Heart attacks. Strokes. Diabetes. Kidney failure. Cirrhosis. Neuropathy. Dementia. Complications of obesity and weight-loss surgery. And cancers associated with metabolic dysfunction and lifestyle factors.
By the time many of these patients reached me, prevention was no longer the immediate issue. We were dealing with a crisis.
I stabilized them and sent them where they needed to go—cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, neurology, nephrology, vascular surgery, the cath lab, the operating room, or the ICU.
And then I often watched the revolving door continue.
Medications were added. Procedures were performed. Symptoms and abnormal numbers were managed. Yet too often, the underlying factors that helped drive the disease were never adequately addressed.
For years, I wondered:
Why are we waiting until people are this sick?
Why can't we do better BEFORE they end up in the ER?
Today, my role is very different.
Instead of waiting for the heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, or other crisis, I work with people to identify risk earlier and address the factors we can potentially change—metabolic health, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress, body composition, insulin resistance, inflammation, and other individual contributors to chronic disease.
The goal isn't simply to live longer.
It's to stay healthier longer.
To stay out of the ER.
To stay off the cath lab table when possible.
To stay out of the operating room and ICU.
To preserve independence and quality of life.
After spending nearly three decades treating disease at its worst, seeing people improve their health before reaching that point has been incredibly rewarding.
The contrast is not subtle. The improvements can be life-changing.
Don't wait for a crisis to become interested in your health.
Your future isn't completely written yet. What you do today matters.
Optimal HealthCare
Integrative & Functional Medicine
