Dr. Linda Alvarez joins Coach Britt for the second of four sessions covering a holistic perspective on health care. In this episode Dr. Linda shares her experience advocating for patients in end of life care and the importance of having empowering doctors who don't set limits on an individuals potential.
Check out her story and her valuable insight into a medical doctor's education and how she sought to work outside of the box.
You can find Dr. Linda at levellenutrition.com
Thinking aout getting certified as a Holistic Gut Practitioner, looking for a personal Gut Restoration Program or maybe you want to try our FREE course "How to design a gut health coaching practice," find everything you are looking for at enrollhwca.com
Dr. Linda Alvarez joins Coach Britt for the second of four sessions covering a holistic perspective on health care. In this episode Dr. Linda shares her experience advocating for patients in end of life care and the importance of having empowering doctors who don't set limits on an individuals potential.
Check out her story and her valuable insight into a medical doctor's education and how she sought to work outside of the box.
You can find Dr. Linda at levellenutrition.com
Thinking aout getting certified as a Holistic Gut Practitioner, looking for a personal Gut Restoration Program or maybe you want to try our FREE course "How to design a gut health coaching practice," find everything you are looking for at enrollhwca.com
What if every experience, every hardship, every obstacle was given to you not to break you, but to mold you and strengthen you. What if the center of your suffering was actually the key to ultimate health? And what if your own pain was meant to be the catalyst for your rate is purpose. Welcome to bud belly life, empowering purpose, mind to microbiome.
Speaker 2:It is really multifaceted. Um, and so I, so I'm curious, so working, so you worked in the palliative care before or simultaneously with some of that advocacy stuff during the pandemic. Was that before it or simultaneously?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it was before the, the pandemic. Um, and so I left clinical medicine. Uh full-time in 2019, and that's when I was doing much more of the labor organizing and legislative work. Um, and so the pandemic started while I was labor organizing. Um, and we had, we had doctors that were really experiencing the worst of it in New York state. Um, and then we also had physicians, for example, in California, that in the beginning of the pandemic didn't realize kind of what we were dealing with on the east coast. Um, and so it was this simultaneous trying to keep everything under control while making sure our physicians at different stages of the pandemic were being protected, had P P made sure their rights at the hospital were taken into consideration. So yeah, it was, it was an experience
Speaker 2:I'm like, gosh, you need another sabbatical after.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So, so to backed just a little bit and your work in palliative care. So that to me is such an incredible experience and insight. Um, as someone who's in health and wellness as a human, as a someone who's in advocacy, um, seeing a lot of that stuff, uh, how did it impact your perspective like on life? And I know that you talk about a lot about like, um, advocating for the patient, you know, like, um, where there was time like advocating for their, their rest essentially, or their, their state of comfort, um, in the process, which is really cool. I mean, if my, if that's my family, um, if it's me, if it's someone doing that, I would want somebody to fight for what treatments are necessary at that point in my, a life or to fight for, for me and my family. Um,
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was, it, it still is the most rewarding experience I have had in my clinical career and, you know, career wise in general, um, it, I looked at hospice and palliative as a privilege and it truly was that, um, I'm trying to not get choked up because of how, how, how much it meant to be. Totally. Um, and I would, you know, what was crazy too is I have, as, as you may notice, I have a, a bubbly personality it's who I am. And so when I would tell people too, that, you know, I was going into hospice or palliative, or I was doing that, people would be like, but you like, you're so happy like that. And I was like, that's exactly what it's supposed to be like, it's supposed to be, you know, bringing light, you know, during that time it's about being an advocate. And it, it was truly to the time where I felt as a physician, I got to, I got to know my patients, you know, it wasn't about being in the room for 10 minutes. I could take a half an hour with a patient or have an hour meeting with a patient and their family. And you know, what, my goals always were were to one, if I could find out from the patient themselves, like, you know, what was, what's your life plan? Like, what did things look like? What makes you happy? How, how do you imagine this time period it, um, and then also have those communications with their family. Um, there were a lot of situations too, that you know, that the patient would have different views from their family or from their physician. Um, and I would, it was my job. I felt like this was my job to be their advocate. You know, if somebody is terminal stage cancer and does not respond well to chemo or radiation therapy, and, you know, has this, you know, very short amount of life left, why like, I would be their advocate to be like, why do they have to go through chemo if they didn't want to go through it? If somebody did wanna go through it, I would be their proponent. I'd be calling their oncologist and trying to figure it out. But there were so many patients that felt like they were letting down their doctor, because they said that they wanted to stop treatment. Um, and I would tell them, well, you tell me that, and then I'll go handle it. Like I'll, you know, not gonna beat anybody up, but, but I'll have a stern conversation.
Speaker 2:I never underestimate the bubbly girl.
Speaker 3:And, and so it was, I mean, it was just, it was, I think it really impacted on me how important communication is, you know, it's that communication with myself. Am I being honest with myself and what I want, and then do I relay that to the people I love to people who are making decisions around me, you know, how do I maintain that? I am that I'm the navigator of this path and, you know, for them as the patient, how do they maintain that? How do they feel like they are in control? How autonomy within their care. And I mean, really stuck with me because there are so many times where we feel like we say something to somebody, or we feel like we make a point very clear. And as, as I'm sure you've encountered too, it doesn't get received in that way. Um, and, and so it put it, put that really into perspective for, um, and also just making sure that, like I used to say, I, I am an MD. I am not G O D I can't, you know, I can follow the science and hypothesize, you know, how much time there is left or what the progression will be like. But I, to not have a say in what it is, and there were, there were a lot of, you know, very sad pieces I had of people who were, you know, young and had, were full of vitality who had traumatic accidents. There were, you know, other people who had lived a full life and still had regrets that they had about not doing things throughout their life. And it just put into perspective for me that every day is a gift. And I want to be living every day in a way that makes me happy. That fulfills my spirit and makes sure that I can continue to give what I can to others around me. So that's, I know that was a lot.
Speaker 2:No, it's supposed to be a lot. I'm people hear me talk enough. They wanna hear you talk. I love when the guests talk about, cause I can still in any space,
Speaker 1:Do you have a desire for fulfillment? That's helping people tap into their own health mentally, emotionally, and physically fire you up. Do you believe in the impact of the gut microbiome on overall wellness, you may be an H WCA coach for more info on our cutting edge health coach trainings, visit a H w C a coach.com.
Speaker 2:It's cool that you brought that up too. Cause, so I read a book a while ago when I was newer into my health coaching journey and it was called when the body says no, and I referenced it. Um, are you familiar with that book? No, but
Speaker 3:I love, I love that title,
Speaker 2:So you'll have to look it up now. I think I referenced it when I wrote Budda belly. Um, but I believe it was written by a doctor who was in, on end of life care. He had, he was involved in end of life care and I believe he was a doctor doing that. And the point of the book was discussing, um, he would talk to a lot of the patients, especially the ones that had cases and circumstances that just didn't make rational sense. The 22 year old mom who has terminal cancer and the, you know, some of those things that just, you know, things that should have came later with life and not, you'd be so early. And, and so he would talk to these people about what their life was like and stuff. And he started kind of making connections and correlations to basically, um, like ALS right. He said that the, they would joke in the hospital. He was at that if someone was a jerk, they, they like when they were waiting the results to see if they actually had ALS um, they would joke that if they were like a grumpy person or kind of a jerk, that there's no way they had it because everybody with ALS was the nicest person and he'd make these like different connections that he references in the book. And it was, I've always kept it in the back of my mind because he put an emphasis on how we advocate for ourselves, how we deal with trauma, how we deal with emotion and how, and that's why it's called when the body says no, is, is he's saying the body, he had a lot of reason to believe it. The body manifests a lot of these diseases and things, um, from stuff that is going on in our lives, you know, especially when it just, like he said, just didn't makes sense. So it was, it was, it was a cool book to read and a hard book to read because it like, like you've experienced you, it becomes a reality to you that we're, none of us are untouchable. Yeah. Um, it's really cool. And the other thing I was gonna point out that you talked about, and I bet you, you were a blessing of a physician to the people that you worked with. I mean, I would love to have you there in any situation I'd be in, um, there's a, a Ted talk that we make all the kids, all the, not the kids. Oh my gosh. All our students watch don't be offend. Totally. I have a lot of kids. I say kids a lot. I'm sorry. Um, but it's a Ted Ted talk and it's a doctor. And she's talking about the importance of doctors to take responsibility from not seal people's coffins for not seal their fate, because your words are so powerful over the subconscious mind. And she gives all these references of crazy stories that are documented in literature, um, invalidated. And, and her point is that, you know, as doctors we need that we needed to be responsible and aware of how strong our words are. So not to say, you know, yeah, this is the average time, like you said, you are not, you are an MD, you're not G O D. That's so great to say, Hey, in this, in this, um, I can look at this timeframe and I can tell you that based on the science and the, and other people and whatever here, but I can also tell you a story of so-and-so that surpassed that five times. And there's someone else who miraculously recovered overnight. That is not up to me. Don't let me get in your head. I can just, I'm just gonna give you the information. It's so cool that you did that for people.
Speaker 3:Oh, thank you. Yeah, it, I, I mean a big part of it. I think something too, that, that does get me upset as a physician is, you know, I went into medicine because I wanted to help people. My core values are altruism and advocacy. So medicine makes sense for a math and science nerd. But when I, when I was a kid, I, um, I remember like being six or seven years old. And my, um, my cubic and grandparents who lived in Washington Heights in New York city, you know, you would go to anywhere in Washington Heights. And there was always somebody that spoke Spanish until you got to the medical office. And I remember as a six, seven year old being a medical translator for my grandparents, which, I mean, as a physician, I infuriates me, um, by, you know, there is still a miscommunication sometimes that goes on between physicians and patients. And sometimes it's because physicians are taking this, we have our own language. We're horrible. I know, but we have our own language. And so when we talk to each other, it's understandable, but also that isn't relatable to patients. And some, you know, some doctors, I think don't realize that that is an everyday language or that, you know, maybe yes, you have an understanding of another language, but it doesn't, it doesn't translate enough for you to be bringing the nuances that need to be discussed when you're discussing a very serious procedure with multiple risks involved and, and decisions to be made. And that is, you know, something that I really, when I was, um, practicing and still to this day, just try to champion as much of health equity and access because patients should have the autonomy to be making decisions and should feel informed and should know and understand their care. And it shouldn't be their responsibility to go on Dr. Google, to search all of these things that you listed off for them. Um, and so I just, I always too, as when I was a physician and when I was training medical students and residents, I would always make that point of, you know, make sure that you're speaking in a way that they understand and that you ask them to repeat it back to you. So that way, you know, that there is all of this clarity, especially if it's anything that is, you know, decision making involved, um, sorry, I got on a rant about that, but it really infuriates me. And it's, it's something that, you know, as you had brought up, like it needs to, patients should feel empowered to, to ask and to, to say, I don't understand that, like, do not feel into ed by your physician. Like, yes, they have a fancy degree on the wall, like kudos to them. They, they put a lot of work into it. Yes. But you know, your body, you know, what you understand and what you don't, and it is part of the medical team's job to make it in a way that is understandable to you. So keep asking questions, come in with questions. Like it's so, so important for, for the patient.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally. And that that's not a tangent, that's just a, that's just a great point. Uh, and I think, I think that, you know, if we could get that there would be such a, a beauty, um, in communication. It, I think that is the answer to most issues. I mean, you talk relationships, you talk how we parent, um, or issues with our kids. You talk, uh, business, um, everything comes down to communication differences. That is why the world can be so vital right now, not to put a negative spin on it. I mean, there's so much beauty out there, but people are just out there making statements. They're not trying to communicate. No, they're trying to just, but right. I have a feeling. Yes. Like, and, and like our kids do that. Right. Like my kids scream or throw a tantrum when they don't like something. They're not, they're not thinking like anything about, they're just kind of like, blah, and they want attention. Right. They want you to react to it. And, and it's communication. If I always say to people, I say, ask before I do something, we all have passions and opinions and feelings. But before I do anything, I, I like to ask myself what is my desired outcome.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And
Speaker 2:Is what I'm about to say or do, going to achieve that, or is it a waste of time? Is it the wrong way to do it? You know, and communication is just everything.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I, it, it, it really, it really is. And honestly, that was one of the skills I wasn't planning on come out of the fellowship with was being a better communicator, being able to express, you know, what I'm feeling and also feeling comfortable saying no, or saying when I don't agree with something or when something doesn't sit right with me. Um, and so it's, it's something that I think people kind of in any field that you go into, it makes such a, an impact in your life. If you can, you know, try to figure out how to communicate better, how, how you learn more. Um, it, it, it just, it really, I think to your point would, would allow for more communication instead of this yelling war that's going on between people right now. It's like, I don't know. I feel like it's like the animal kingdom, like absolutely. Oh, who can like, Ruth's the loudest, like
Speaker 2:Yes. Yes. And it's like, it reminds me of those like rap wars, like, like, like, or like, like, uh, did you ever, I grew up in, in the day, like the generation of break dancing. I don't know if people still do that, but I, I did. I had friends. I had like, you know, people that would break dance a lot and you know, like they take their turns and someone gets in the middle and they spin around, they do their thing. And then they battle. I'm gonna, uh, yes, a dance battle, a dance off, a sing off a wrap off whatever. And it's, it could go on forever, as long as there's enough people jumping in the, the rink. Exactly. And, and it's fine for entertainment purposes, but really, I mean, after that, like we're not exhausting anywhere,
Speaker 3:Like who, who wants to be that like exhausted from like speaking and like trying to get a point across like, oh my goodness. Like, get me like a thinking about it
Speaker 2:And imagine this is, I think this is a great place to, to pause this session before we go into session three, imagine what could come if of, you know, out of if people took that same energy and put it toward, if they ask themselves, what's the outcome I'm after, even if they're on the diverse opinions, what's the outcome I'm after if they really want thing we wanna see better in something or do better in something, is this the most effective way that I can impact that outcome? The answer 9.9 times outta 10 right now is no, I'd say, I'd say if you don't know error on the side of, no, it is not instead ghost where in a room somewhere. Right. And then get a piece of paper out and say like, what can I do to give to this thing, to empower this direction? I wanna see to do something more,
Speaker 3:Right. I mean, yeah. It it's about, it's about getting it out. And I think people too get frustrated because they think that they are communicating and they really aren't. Um, they, you know, they, aren't delivering a message in a way that's able to get received. And so you have all of this built up tension, anger that then just ends up coming out as ranting and raving. So get it out,
Speaker 2:Just get it out in a controlled way and then utilize it better. Is, is yes. Is this the best way?
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us for another empowering episode of Budha belly life. For more information on gut health and mindset, resources, visit Budha belly, life.com and remember heal yourself and then empower others to do the same.