I am a physician assistant with my master's degree in public health. I graduated from the UC Davis PA Program in 2011 with a training focus in primary care. I went on, however, to work in trauma surgery, general and bariatric surgery, weight loss medicine and for a short time in pediatrics. I love Jesus and this wild beautiful story He has written for me has taken me from Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo, Sacramento, Tennessee, Southern Ethiopia and Fresno. I have three amazing kids that I had the joy of homeschooling for several years while we were in Ethiopia, and I am married to my wonderful husband who has walked this journey with me. My road to functional medicine started several years ago. We were living in Ethiopia working at a mission hospital, homeschooling children and processing the grief of having lost our 4th baby to still birth about two years prior. I was navigating grief, depression, anxiety and burnout, but was mostly still “healthy”, in that I was generally “holding it together”. I had experienced several GI illnesses in our first year abroad and thought I had recovered. It was at this time that my body started to kind of shut down. I began experiencing pain syndromes, infections that didn’t respond well to medication, chronic GI problems (I won’t go into detail, but you know what I mean), joint pain, severe skin rashes, depression and overwhelming fatigue.  It became difficult to exercise (something I love doing!), and over time I became intolerant to more and more foods. I had began reading material from functional medicine doctors while living abroad and I was intrigued by this new way of viewing medicine. After moving back to CA in 2023, I began working with a functional medicine doctor. Through specialized functional medicine testing, I was able to find answers as to why I felt so terrible. I began to make headway in my healing using primarily nutraceuticals and lifestyle changes. This was revolutionary for me. I then decided I needed to get training myself to continue on my own healing journey and to hopefully help others do the same. I completed my certification with the Functional Medicine Academy and am pursing further education through the Institute for Functional Medicine as I launch Still Waters. I look forward to working with you!