Here we are. It has been a year since the trajectory towards the fulfillment of my dream just went into a more acceptable pace.
The dream of helping people to improve their health - all aspects- has been something that has been burnning inside of me since I was in 7th grade. Yes 7th grade. A friend and I were walking home from school one day and it just hit me. All of the sudden I knew exactly (big picture) what I wanted to do.
We had recently joined a gym to train for cheerleading. I loved the feeling of pushing my body to the limit knowing that it would propell me to where I wanted to be if I just had the determination to work through the pain and at times tedium. I knew I wanted to help others find ways to incorporate a healthy lifestyle into their lives.
This dream only continued through college. I studied Human Nutrition and Foods. My Junior paper was on "Wholistic Health". I can't say that I had really ever heard much about it (this was in the mid 90's). The paper was about creating an integrated system where all of a patient medical records and their families medical records were housed in one location. I though that if all the information was in one place then it would be easier for a physician or any other healthcare professional to access it easly, to see a patients history, their family history, and to make better decisions about their health. It just made sense.
As dietitian (some people like to call us nutritionists), we are trained to look at the entire person, all that makes them who they are. Their eating habits are just one part (and sometimes a small part) of all the things that impact their health. We look at their environment, where they live,who they live with, what types of resources do they have access too. We look at all the medications that they are taking to determine what impact these meds have on the person health status. We look at their financial situation to gain insight into what resources they can afford. And we definitely look at their family history to provide clues into what may be impacting them now.
So, the idea of an integrated system to obtain patient health information is not really that innovative for someone who had my training. I just wonder why it has taken so very long for the systems to begin to emerge to accomplish this.
Another important aspect of my personal history is that I grew up in the heart of Appalachia, WV. Competition was pretty weak as it relates to healthcare. Many of our healthcare providers including physicians did short stints at rural hospitals to fulfill their visa requirements and then moved to the places they really wanted to live. (Need to say that this is not a "knock" against immigrants, my husband is one.) I can't blame them, I didn't choose to stay in WV either. The result of this high turn-over in physicians is very poor continuity of care. There were also very signficant language barriers from both parties. It was just as difficult for someone from India to understand "Hilly Billy" (I am one so I can say that :)) as it was for someone from WV to understand the Indian accent. Finally and maybe most importantly, there were many West Virginians that lived in such remote areas that getting to see a physician or to a hospital was very difficult, even when you put expense aside. WV has many, many rivers. The distance when the river was low might be managable, but when the creek would rise the distance just increased 2 or 3 times.
One finale aspect of my life that makes me a health 2.0 advocate is my father the entreprenuer and my mother the tireless supporter of "whatever makes me happy". I have been blessed to have 2 amazing parents who have always been my biggest fans. They encouraged all of us to live our dreams. To be all that we can be. My Dad is a serial entreprenuer and he has built and grown several small businesses with multiple patented products over the last 30 years. Several are all still in operation today and he still runs them (I think there are at least 4). My Mom was always there to keep his feet on the ground and to pick him-up with her love and encouragement when things fell apart - as they often do when you are a trail blazer.
My conversations with my Dad were always "idea fests" or learning opportunities. He taught us the skills to think critcally and to really understand how things work, yet to be incredibly optimistic. A realistic optimist or an optimistic realist. He also taught us to operate with honesty and integrity and to look at the big picture.
Conversations with my Mom were much lighter and too very important. She used to say to me "are you happy". "You should do what makes you happy". I have to admit, it used to make me mad because I was focused on making a difference whether or not it made me happy. I thought their were more important things in life. The funny thing is now that I am able to do more of what I love and I am happier I feel like I am doing so many more things of value. I just had to figure that out for myself. So, glad that she didn't give up on me.
This post wouldn't be complete without mentioning my wonderful husband. He has provided me with the love, encouragement, and suport that I needed to overcome the fears of doing something that means so much to me.
My life has provided me with the people, the learnings, and the opportunities that have brought me to this point. The point of fulfilling my dreams. I want to share these experiences with you so that you will really get to know me and hopefully soon. Viably Synergy is a company about brining value to you our customers. We are fully committed to helping you to migrate this confusing and very scary environment of healthcare. We will provide you with tools, resources, recommendations, cost savings, experts, and people just like you to help you to achieve the life style that you want. I can't wait to meet you and learn more about what your needs are. Respond here on the post or email me at Sunnie99@gmail.com.
Here we go! It is going to be an awesome ride.
Sunnie
