EP 7 | From Sick Care to True Health Care with Megan Kroeker

In this episode, Amanda & Katie sit down with Megan Kroeker, a licensed nurse practitioner and certified functional medicine provider, to explore the transformative power of functional medicine. With nearly 20 years of healthcare experience, Megan shares her insights on women's hormones, gut health, and the importance of addressing root causes rather than just symptoms. 

Megan delves into her transition from traditional to functional medicine, motivated by her own health challenges, and discusses how a compassionate, personalized approach can lead to profound healing.

Megan also emphasizes the importance of trusting one's intuition and being an advocate for one's health, providing a hopeful and empowering message for anyone facing health challenges.

You can learn more about Megan's services here: 

https://functionalnp.ca/

Or connect with her on Instagram @megankroeker_functionalnp

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Amanda: Today on the Healing Chronicles podcast, we're sitting down with the incredible Megan Kroeker, a licensed nurse practitioner and certified functional medicine provider. With almost 20 years of experience in health care, Megan specializes in women's hormones and gut health, and she brings a deeply compassionate and personalized approach that goes far beyond symptom management. 

[00:00:23] Katie: In this conversation, we dive into how functional medicine offers a refreshing alternative when traditional options fall short, why addressing gut health is foundational for hormone balance and the power of listening to the body signals instead of silencing them. Megan shares her mission to help people fill their best by getting to the root cause of their symptoms, and her insights are both grounding and empowering.

[00:00:50] Amanda: Whether you're navigating burnout, hormone shifts, or frustrating gut symptoms, this episode will leave you feeling seen, supported, and hopeful for what healing can look like.

 So welcome Megan. So lovely to have you join us on the podcast today. 

[00:01:07] Megan: I'm excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

[00:01:11] Amanda: So why don't we start at the beginning and I'm always curious to hear about. Medical professionals, practitioners, and what kind of got you interested in pursuing medicine in the first place?

[00:01:27] Megan: I think it's one of those things that I don't know that I necessarily was on that path right from the beginning. Like I've always been a person that cares about health and helping other people. but somehow I. The nursing profession just seemed oh yeah, I can do that and I can graduate and have a job. Right? And then I think the passion really started to develop after and when I got more into being a nurse practitioner and functional medicine and going down that avenue, that is really where my passion to light up. And things began to evolve.

[00:02:03] Amanda: So you became a nurse first and then a nurse practitioner. How long did you practice in the conventional system before you started looking at functional medicine? 

[00:02:12] Megan: Almost 10 years. So I started out actually doing more emergency medicine and women's health, labor and delivery, and I loved the adrenaline actually, and. Having people come in with a problem, fix 'em and send them on their way, like that was pretty fun for me. Like it's very satisfying to feel like you fixed something. But I think the more experience I got within that, the more I realized like I wasn't actually solving any problems. Yeah. Maybe if you're suturing somebody up and sending them on their way, like that's a. A success, but what about all the people that are coming in with like recurrent UTIs to the emergency department or the people that come in and it's far too late like having cardiac issues, so think that's when things started to shift for me where realizing, yes, I'm solving a problem in the moment, but I'm not actually really solving anything.

[00:03:14] Katie: Yeah.

[00:03:15] Amanda: Yeah, that kind of like superficial satisfaction of putting a bandaid on something, but then if you're seeing those same faces coming back over and over again, 

[00:03:25] Megan: you're not seeing them often enough to actually make a real impact. If they're coming to you with actually quite a. A large health concern. Just seeing them once is never gonna create a big enough impact to actually change their trajectory when it comes to healing, whatever they might be suffering from.

[00:03:43] Katie: So there's kind of like that as aspect to it as well, which is probably a default when it comes to western medicine.

[00:03:49] Megan: Yeah, completely. And it's also the system just isn't designed to have that amount of time with people, right? When our appointment time slots are brief, you don't get to dive into all of the background information and really. Start to understand where is this issue coming from?

[00:04:08] Katie: mean, even here in the uk you get 10 minutes with the gp and if you even try and talk about a secondary problem, they're like, yeah, you're gonna have to book another appointment almost just kick you

[00:04:18] Megan: Exactly.

[00:04:19] Katie: it's that secondary issue might actually be contributing to the first issue, but you're just not allowed to even talk about it.

[00:04:26] Megan: Yeah

[00:04:26] Megan: and it's so interesting 'cause now that I've shifted into functional medicine, I have to often retrain my clients to understand tell me all of those things that you've been conditioned not to share because they are important. And if you have that like inkling of something being connected, it probably is connected. But we've been so conditioned to believe, oh, we can only bring up one issue per visit. I'm like, no, tell me everything. Tell me about your childhood. Tell me about where things started to change. And that's how it's all about, like putting the pieces of the puzzle together and pattern recognition and having a timeline where you can actually make sense of things.

Because our health didn't just present itself overnight. It's an evolution over our entire life.

[00:05:16] Amanda: Yeah, and if you're waiting sometimes months to get in with your doctor, it can be easy to just like, okay, what's the most important thing that I need to address in this appointment that I've been waiting so long for? So we, we minimize all those other little symptoms that could be presenting.

And like you said, we're just trained to focus in on that one. What's What's the biggest thing that I need to try and resolve right now?

[00:05:41] Katie: And that in itself can cause like of anxiety and overwhelm because they've gotta almost cherry pick what ones talk about when actually it's like a magnitude of things. And it needs to be approached in like a multifaceted perspective, not just, singling one thing out. And that goes for the whole healing journey too, right?

[00:06:01] Amanda: Yeah. So Megan, I've heard your story and I know that part of the shift for you and your work and moving to a more functional approach came from shifts in your own health journey. I would love for you to talk about some of those events and how that went down.

[00:06:20] Megan: Yeah. Uh, Yeah, I've had quite a few different health events myself. sometimes people will say I'm like a cat with nine lives where get myself into these troublesome situations, but I seem to bounce back and I'm pretty resilient, thank goodness. But I would say one of the first things was I was actually working as a nurse walking into work. and a guy ran a red light while I was crossing the street and I got hit by this guy driving a truck. And obviously that was a very traumatic event and really reshaped my perspective. So I couldn't work. I was off work. Taking care of myself for a number of months. I had little kids it just changed my perspective because a lot of the things, I was really invested in my wellness and getting better. But so many of the offered to me were medications. So I was having, I had a. Significant concussion and facial fractures. And it was like having migraines, post-concussion migraines. And it was like here's another medication. Oh, that one's not working here, try this one here, try this one. And other parts of my healing journey as well, where it was like there's gotta be a different way, and I kept on thinking and trying to. Figure out my own solutions. Solutions. So I started diving more into using different supplements, looking at different things like essential oils to support my nervous system. eating in a different way, right? So looking at those avenues, I started to question almost everything, right? The way that we're conditioned and taught within, like our traditional way of providing healthcare. So that was one thing. And then it was just all the evolution. I ended up having another injury where I ended up hospitalized because I went septic. It was ridiculous.

Just like a little scratch on my knee while I was out kayaking. And then, yeah, it got. Completely infected. And I was actually to the point where I was worried that I might not have a leg. After coming outta the hospital, it was terrifying. And I ended up on multiple IV antibiotics, very intense and lifesaving.

Thank goodness for those antibiotics. I don't wanna say that's not the way you have to go. 'cause in a situation like that, that truly saved my life. But again, after that, it was like, okay, now how can I support my body in healing? also, thank goodness I was a healthy person going into that because if I wasn't. Things could have turned out a lot differently. so that's where it's okay, trying to make sure that you're healthy in the first place, so when you do accidentally land yourself in a situation like that, that you have the ability to recover and heal. But after that, it was like that. I was already on the functional medicine journey at that point, it just continued to evolve where it was like, okay, so I had this big, huge hit to my microbiome and my gut, so like, how do I heal now? And that's even just looking back to my younger years as a teenager in university where it's you don't even question, oh yeah, I have a urinary tract infection here.

Take some antibiotics, or whatever the case may be. But thinking, it was like, okay, this is my health and I actually have a whole lot of power here. can actually make changes for the better, but if I just leave my health in someone else's hands and just trust in the way the system will take care of me, that just might not work out that well. So it really got me thinking about it and as my health started to evolve and I could see all these different improvements from lifestyle, actions, supplements, diet, right? All of these things. Then I was like learning functional medicine. And as I was learning these things, I was like, how did I not learn this in school?

Like how this basic, like some of it is so basic you're just like mind blown, but then also like, why don't we, why don't we use this? Why don't we treat people with this and educate people. So just was this evolution within myself. And then as I started to help other people in this way, so many people, their response was like, I've never felt so heard or validated. I feel like you really understand me and you really care. And I think that's part of it too, is it's not just the. Like system of, okay, here's your medication. It's also how we take care of our patients. And that's something

[00:11:06] Amanda: Yeah.

[00:11:07] Megan: prided myself on. I think a lot of people as nurses, that is part of like your inherent personality perhaps is that caring aspect. But I just feel like the functional medicine brings it to a full other level.

[00:11:22] Amanda: Yeah, and you can be like, I'm sure so many nurses, doctors, healthcare providers that are operating within the conventional system are very empathetic, caring people. But if they're trying to, I. Provide that level of care within a system that is not set up for it and you have such limitations on time that you can spend with each patient.

 you're set up for failure. You can't provide that level of compassionate listening and empathy and care for your patients when you have five minutes with them.

[00:11:57] Megan: That's right. Yeah. And there's just all the other requirements that go on behind the scenes too, right? Like I, I've worked in the. Healthcare setting traditional healthcare where I, there's all the, you have to take your time to do your notes, your referrals, your lab reviews. Like it's not just that face time with a patient.

It's all the stuff that goes on in the background, which I think that's where like we do have to be obviously patient within as patients. We have to be patient within the healthcare system too, because it just isn't designed to always be. Focusing on our health, it's more focusing on our sickness.

[00:12:36] Katie: So how would you say moving from conventional medicine to functional medicine, how would you say the functional medicine differs when it comes to approaching a chronic illness compared to the standard model?

[00:12:51] Megan: I find a lot of the time the. Standard model uses a lot of algorithms. So it's okay, here, do your assessment do your blood work, whatever tests, and, okay, you meet this requirement for a diagnosis, this is your treatment plan. Whereas I've approached things with functional medicine, because you're looking at a whole broad picture, it's, it is a lot more all encompassing and looking at.

Not just the one main symptom and not using a cookie cutter approach. So I don't just go in and say okay, these are what your labs say, so this is what you get. It's, so much of it is like, what is your life experience? What are the previous triggers? And understanding and shaping for that each, like each unique person needs a different approach. And I would say that with, like the traditional system, if you have trouble coming to a diagnosis as a healthcare provider, I think that's like a real big challenge because you do wanna still help, but you don't have the answer and you're like, I don't have the next step. I don't have the tools. So then it becomes this game of like, okay, well let's try. This medication or they might, you might even get the suggestion of try exercise and diet. But again, because you don't have all the time to spend with a client, it's like the client or patient is like. so exercise and diet, what does that even mean? There's not the level of guidance. So, Yeah, a lot of it is the amount of time that I can spend with my patients. Also different labs that are not necessarily part of what you get. When you go to a doctor's office, so for instance, like more comprehensive hormone testing, I'm a huge fan of doing comprehensive stool analysis, so really understanding what's happening in our gut. Or sometimes it's just like even broader understanding of like inflammation, what your cholesterol is doing, like expanding beyond what your typical labs are. 

[00:14:53] Amanda: Yeah, and I think that limitation of lab work can be such a huge. Frustration for people in the conventional model because I've heard so many people talk about things like you, you mentioned the comprehensive hormone testing and how if we're using these very basic, labs, and we're looking at very basic markers of hormones in the conventional model.

And how many times do people hear, oh, everything looks good. It's in, within normal ranges. And then people are dismissed after that. It's no, you're fine. And so somehow that's supposed to just make all of the symptoms disappear because you said that my levels look good, 

[00:15:36] Megan: yeah, exactly. And the other thing with that is when we look at a lab reference range, often it's really large and that's the average of the population. That is not saying this is optimal, it is saying. Average. Do you wanna be average? 

[00:15:55] Amanda: Yeah.

[00:15:55] Megan: average society when you look around, do you wanna be the average or do you wanna be optimal? And so that's where, like for instance a really good example of this is B12. The reference range is big. It's 220 to some labs don't have an upper, some say 600 and something. But if you're below 220, you are. in major suffering mode, like the number of people where I've had major neurological symptoms, fatigue, headaches even dizziness tingling and numbness in your hands. And previously I think it used the reference range used to be even bigger. They just changed it to include 220 and above. But I really, you should be at like four to 500. If we're looking at it in that sense same as hormones, like a lot of people will, maybe they do get their hormones checked.

They're lucky enough to get that ordered for them. But where are you at in your cycle when you get that checked? So you might look at it and be like. Okay that looks normal. But again, the reference range is really huge. There's not any conversation on for instance, estrogen and how it's eliminated from the body. When you get blood work done, you're only looking at estradiol. You're not looking at estrone or estriol. There are three estrogens, right? So there's a whole huger picture that is often being missed or also the conversation of. The way I was educated in school, like you barely learn anything about a lot of these conditions, right?

Like you learn about the red flag, like major issues. But the amount of education you maybe get on understanding some of the finer details. That's where it's tricky because you're expected to be a jack of all trades as a primary care provider. sometimes as a patient you also have to recognize okay, how do I get more information? And advocate for myself and understanding maybe your healthcare provider doesn't wanna order those things 'cause actually don't. Have a lot of understanding of what they would do with those tests. Unfortunately.

[00:17:59] Katie: on the lower

The spectrum, but not necessarily be classified as low, but still have crazy symptoms. So it's and, but you're just dismissed because you're not, qualified to be on the lower end. So it, yeah, and that's where it revolves background to being patient specific and personal to that particular person because it is subjective depending on symptoms and the quality of life too. 

[00:18:23] Megan: Exactly.

[00:18:25] Amanda: Yeah, and quality of life, I feel is something that isn't really considered all that much. Correct me if I'm wrong, Megan, but like what you just described about what you learn and how you're taught. Primarily to notice the red flags, to diagnose a condition and prescribe a treatment, but there isn't a lot of consideration into quality of life.

It's more yep, that's what that is. Here's the medication that we prescribe for it.

[00:18:55] Megan: Yeah, exactly. Like diabetes is a good example of that. A lot of the time people will have the inkling or idea in their. body or their brain that they're like, something's not right. Something's going in a this direction. They can feel some of their biochemistry changing and they ask to get blood work done, but because they're still in that normal reference range and they are not pre-diabetes they're like, oh yeah, everything's fine. Instead of saying okay, so maybe your blood sugars are going up and down a little bit and there is higher insulin demand. These are some things that you can do with your diet and lifestyle. It's okay, you're not in that range yet, so we'll retest it in a year and then if you're in that range, then we can start on medication.

 and that's not really the way the approach should be. Like, if we wanna think about even how if we could save our healthcare system money, it would actually be through prevention. But unfortunately, like how we're saying, some of this is just not designed in that way. And that's where, some of it too, it's like, yep, we gotta take the reins into our own hands and take control.

Right. I.

[00:20:02] Katie: that leads quite nicely into finding out how you feel about what kind of accountability the patient plays in their own healing journey when it comes to the functional medicine model.

[00:20:16] Megan: Yeah, I think the thing is like you have to build out your healthcare team sometimes. So yes. Your primary care provider, whether that's like your family doctor, your nurse practitioner, they're could be considered like a quarterback, like they're coordinating things with your care, but they are a bit of a jack of all trades.

They have to know a little bit about the general health of you, and they're there if you need, the basics. But you're lucky, maybe you have someone that is a little bit more committed to helping you figure things out, but a lot of the time you. Do have to advocate for yourself and look for different avenues.

So for instance, going down the pathway of finding functional medicine provider, or maybe it's a naturopath or maybe it's, a physiotherapist. Like you have to build out that team depending on what your experience is. Like nutrition, support all the different things, right? So sometimes I think we end up, we put so much trust into. One person or one system. So even say for instance, you're like. Seeing your family doctor and then they aren't sure how to manage something and they refer you on. A lot of people really put so much weight and belief into I'm gonna get the answers when I see this specialist. And it can be really disappointing when you get to that specialist.

And they also only have about five or 10 minutes to spend with you. And maybe, again, it could be a certain medication that's offered, or no, like you don't meet the requirements for this diagnosis. We'll. up with you again if need be. So I think that's where we're truly each individual, we're the expert in our own body, right?

So whatever your experience is, no one else knows it like you do. And that's where. For instance, I know like some healthcare providers get their back up against the wall if a patient comes in and is like, oh, well I did this research and I wanna do this, or look at it in this way. But to me, what yes, it can be like a difficult position when you as a healthcare provider might have a different idea.

But I think it's important to like, hear it out. And consider it. may be some false information that people come across, but like you, your body, what you experience in your body, nobody else knows that like you do. And you're the only person that's gonna be nearly as invested in trying to figure out what those symptoms mean. 

[00:22:41] Amanda: Yeah,

[00:22:41] Megan: yeah.

[00:22:43] Amanda: Megan something that I have noticed and time and time again with people that I speak to who are maybe dealing with chronic symptoms and trying to get answers for them, and maybe they're. Kind of hitting those walls and feeling dismissed by providers. But the people that are just seeking a diagnosis, I think so often I see where people they tend to believe that I just need to get more tests and see more specialists, and I just need to find out what this is called before they take action.

What would you say to someone that's experiencing that?

[00:23:27] Megan: I think that like I often will see this and a lot of people that are hesitant to take on any sort of action plan until they have a diagnosis and I. To me, sometimes I'll say to these people like, it doesn't really matter what the name of this is, it's the symptoms and the experience and knowing what kind of lever we need to pull on.

So I always think of like we've got all these different options of what avenues we can take, which lever do you wanna pull, and which one is gonna make the most to your health? So sometimes it could be. That there's something, Some specific condition. Yeah. Maybe we could eventually give it a name, but can we just look at the constellation of your symptoms, what your labs are showing, what maybe even we know about, like your genetics for instance.

If we put all that together and come up with a plan, you can start making changes right away. reversing what you're experiencing. It doesn't have to be like, let's wait and have a final answer and then start moving. Like to me that you're just stuck and your wheels are spinning, you're not going anywhere, then so sometimes it does have to be a bit of trial and error, or yeah, sometimes there's just truly not a name for it or you're not there yet.

For instance, some people can have. Thyroid issues. Maybe they're not in the point of having a diagnosis of Hashimoto's, but you still have, suboptimal thyroid function. Do we wanna wait for a couple years and see you develop Hashimoto's or do you wanna start working to avoid it right now?

[00:25:12] Amanda: Yeah.

[00:25:13] Megan: yeah,

[00:25:13] Amanda: The wait and see approach is one of one of my biggest frustrations.

[00:25:19] Megan: Yeah. 

[00:25:20] Katie: And

[00:25:20] Megan: yeah.

[00:25:20] Katie: all falls into the disease prevention route as well, doesn't it?

[00:25:24] Megan: Yeah.

[00:25:25] Amanda: Yeah, if we can learn about what's actually happening in our body, and like you said, Megan, use these clues and through testing and just through looking at the symptoms that are presenting and say these are pointing to toward this and we have these options. We have these levers that we can pull. And hopefully, like I think best case scenario, start making changes and seeing results before you even get to the point of having an official diagnosis or a disease presentation.

[00:25:56] Megan: Yeah, that's right. And it is, even the actions that you take often, there's gonna be. One action that you can take that's gonna help multiple different things, right? If you think, okay, let's first start with diet. If you start there, of course you can make change and that's gonna impact it.

Could it? Whether it's your thyroid, your hormones, your gut, your neurological system, like all of those things. If you clean up your diet, all of those things are gonna improve, right? So it's like sometimes starting with those simple things and I understand like it's not always that simple, but just to give an example, right?

Or sometimes I'll suggest something to a person where it's we can start with some of these gentle approaches, and whether it's this or this, both of those are gonna start to improve, right?

[00:26:50] Amanda: Right.

[00:26:50] Katie: that said, what's one thing that you wish every woman understood about her body and health? I.

[00:26:59] Megan: I think the thing that I wish everybody understood was that we do have the ability within ourselves to heal. So it doesn't have to be all these different external factors. So much of the time it's intuitively what our body is asking for and taking action on that. Like really tuning into what your body is telling you.

So you know, sometimes it's like. I really would like a nap. And you're like no. I need to keep on going. I need to make sure I go for my run today. I need to go and get like all the things done. But it's if you could intuitively listen to what your body is telling you and start taking action in that direction, often that is the thing that you need. So I would say that, and um, you, you are the expert of yourself, like how I've said before you know your body like no one else. And if you're feeling like something is off, like you, you should be addressing that. And not everybody's gonna wanna listen to what you feel the concerns are. So then you've gotta keep on trying to find the right person to help you on that pathway.

[00:28:05] Amanda: Yeah, that's a huge one, being able to act as your own advocate in your health because you are ultimately the person steering the ship. And we've spoken about this before, how I was guilty of that as well before receiving my illness diagnosis. I very much. I had this idea of outsourcing my health responsibility to my doctor.

And it wasn't until I started on my journey that I recognized that it's ultimately up to me. We can't outsource our health to any other practitioner. It's up to you to seek another opinion if you're feeling dismissed or feeling like you're not being heard. 

[00:28:52] Katie: Yeah, I'm being curious as well. I feel like a lot of people are too afraid to be curious because of. Social constructs, but being curious about how you're feeling or how you're reacting or environment that you're in that's not conducive to long-term optimal health. Just yeah, having the confidence to start being curious about what could be causing, you to feel not great, is something that. We, me and Amanda talk about a lot of the time, don't we? Because installing that confidence into people will um, yeah, ultimately only ever give a positive outcome.

[00:29:32] Megan: Yeah, there's so many things that we don't reflect on, and I think that's something where even how I was mentioning like questions. Of looking across the lifespan. So even before I meet with someone, always in my initial appointment, I always do a timeline with my clients. And some people will do it before we meet. And if you sit down and really start doing a timeline, trying to pick through like the emotional things, the physical things, all the stuff that's happened in your life, you are gonna start making connections and. It's cool. Like to me I, used to hate journaling and in the last almost two years I've journaled pretty much every single morning and I feel like I just have gotten to know myself so much better.

It's like, you know, I'm having this daily self-reflection looking into who am I? And. how can I shape my day? How can I shape my life? Like it's that, that feeling of understanding yourself, knowing yourself better, and being able to adjust and make shifts to create the health and the life that you desire.

So I think that kind of again, speaks to how I was saying like, I wish everybody understood this. If we just take the time to really be. I cri, I wanna say critical, but I don't mean like in a negative way. Like analytical, like what did I do today? How did that impact me? How did I feel? How did my energy feel?

Did I sleep well? Then also thinking like, where am I at in my menstrual cycle? Okay, so that could make sense. Maybe I have lower energy because my period is coming next week. You know where you can make all those connections and it also helps you to. Create a little bit more self-compassion and patience with yourself. So I just love the idea of Yeah, how you're saying, get curious, ask yourself those questions and go down those avenues where you're feeling that resistance and you don't want to go down those avenues. Like sometimes those are the places where we need to put the most attention.

[00:31:38] Katie: so interesting you say that because when I built my app, I actually, Made sure that on the Daily Habit Checker, that journaling was on there. And every single week that I have check-ins with all my clients we go through their journaling for the week. And we pick out these things that you've literally just mentioned, all these little bits that are almost like building up a bible of their body as to what their triggers are or what went well, what didn't go well, get rid of what's not serving them and lean into what is serving them. And it's like these guys are just having like aha moments all the time because it's like, oh, so. they're making links with that. And then, yeah, it's just, they're just constantly progressing from this like tiny little thing that they start to create as a habit in their daily life. And it's, yeah, they're having like profound progress and results just from yeah, doing this tiny little tiny little journaling thing every day.

It's great. I love it. 

[00:32:27] Megan: I love that too.

[00:32:30] Amanda: It's just more data. I love data and when we have data we can make better decisions with it because we have clarity on what's happening, right? And like we speak, we've spoken a lot about identity and identifying as a sick person or identifying as the overweight person or identifying as the anxious person.

And when you start, I think when you start to track these data points. And start tracking your sleep and noticing and tracking the foods you're eating and how you're feeling. You start to understand that this, these things that make you up, they come from somewhere, right? They have origins, and you can pull these different levers and see change happen.

So all of a sudden it's oh, maybe I'm not just an anxious person. Maybe I've been experiencing anxiety because of these things in my life, and that clarity is so beautiful. It gives people back control over the direction that they're moving in.

[00:33:33] Megan: Yeah, it's so powerful.

[00:33:35] Amanda: If you have some like tangible, kind of real world examples of change that can be made in your patients when they have stopped just chasing their symptoms and started using the functional medicine model to make root cause change.

[00:33:55] Megan: for me, a lot of the time I notice when I have someone that really connects with me, as the provider and they feel heard and listened to, I think that's the first step. So it's like their nervous system starts to feel safer where they're like, okay, I can just be me.

I can let my guard down and I don't have to be on defense. I think we're so used to having a fight. defense. So that doesn't put you in a good position from right from the hop, right? Because if you're feeling defensive and you're in that fight or flight mode, like you're in no place to start healing or accept potential advice from someone. So to me, it's so much about having that collaborative co-creation type. Relationship. I always tell my patients I co-create and collaborate. I don't like to be the person that says, this is the way, this is the only way. There's always more than one way of doing things. So I think establishing that trust first off is super important.

And then I find once we start doing that then I can. I can understand the client better because they can share with me more easily. And then they trust me in saying like, if I have an idea that maybe someone else could have presented that same idea to them they would've not been as accepting because they're. In that defense mode, and they don't even want to listen to they're so tunnel vision on what they believe is happening. And that's the thing is that, if you are going to a healthcare provider or functional medicine provider, like if you're going and seeking that advice, you have to recognize like they you're going and seeking that advice with the hope that they have some expertise, right? So I find once you establish that trust and work with a provider that you really can see eye to eye with, then you can start making more momentum. Your body feels safer, you feel like a lot of the time when I finish an initial appointment, so many of my clients will say. feel better already. And I'm like, we didn't even do anything yet. We did, we established the relationship and created a plan, which so many people, they're so used to walking away from an appointment, feeling deflated, not having a plan, feeling like they're in fight mode, right? So I think that to me is. One of the hugest parts. So if you can get that good relationship established, then I think you're already setting yourself in forward motion because then yeah, your nervous system is more prepared to say, yes, let's start on this. Let's heal. I can do this. Like you have that hope and excitement and so then every step moving forward, it works better.

And then you also feel comfortable to say. If something doesn't feel aligned, like when you feel that like gut reaction in your body and you're like, I don't wanna do this, I don't like this, you feel comfortable enough to actually share that with your provider. Instead of them saying, here, do this. And you're like yeah, okay, I will.

And then you just leave and you're like, oh God no, I'm not doing that. So it just, I think that would be probably one of the biggest things is just having that safe and secure relationship with the provider you're working with. 

[00:37:12] Amanda: That's so true, and I've experienced that with so many people during discovery calls, where all I'm doing on a discovery call is asking questions and listening. That's it. There's no advice being given. There's no anything. It's just. Listening, actively listening to the person and validating them in their experience.

And I've had that same kind of thing happen where a person will have an emotional release just because they have someone listening to them. Yeah. It's wild. If only we could just incorporate more listening into our healthcare, what kind of shift would that make?

[00:37:52] Katie: Yeah, being heard is so important and I think in Western medicine, again, it's not, it's quite unheard of that you do feel like you have been heard. And I. A lot of the time when you're not heard, then that's, yeah. When you are walking out of appointments feeling utterly deflated because you don't feel like you've had that connection the practitioner and then they're actively actually trying to help you too based on that.

So rapport is paramount, but building that through one-off appointments with different practitioners is really difficult. So yeah, it's it's tough, but I'd love to know a little bit more Megan, about what you see the future of medicine being and what kind of like needs to shift for us to actually get there.

[00:38:40] Megan: Oh yeah, I, that's a tough one because if I could design the healthcare system.

would look so much different. So it is tricky because so much of our healthcare system. Is based on helping people when they're in that sick situation like heart attacks or cancer things that are like life threatening. And um, here in Canada, we're lucky that we do have healthcare covered to help us in that situation.

But to me, my big wish would be yes, let's help those people when they're in that situation. But how can we also. more proactive preventative healthcare. To me, what we have in our system for healthcare prevention or promotion, it's still lacking because by the time you're taking those actions, like even for instance, cancer screening, it's not prevention, it's screening.

It's to try and catch the cancer that's there. It's still good that we're doing that, but how can we. educate and empower our population to action, to live a healthy life, to prevent high blood pressure, obesity, cardio, cardiac disease, cancer. There's so many things that we could be doing, and that's, I think why I'm so passionate about the work that I do, is a lot of the people that I see are people that understand that they do have the capability and power to, impact their health future. if we could put more emphasis there, that would be my dream. Because yeah, we need to like educate our young people andeverybody for the future. But um, set in this way of being reactive instead of proactive. And it's really hard to create that shift in another direction.

So that would be my ideal. And I don't know where, I don't know where the healthcare system is going, but I'm trying to make my impact by offering the services that I do by making sure that people can, seek healthcare in a different way and be proactive. Or also sometimes it's yeah, some of the people I work with truly are like really quite unwell and they're not getting what they need from the healthcare system in ways of different supports.

So, To be that extra support for people for me is it feels really good.

[00:41:15] Amanda: Yeah, I think you're a hundred percent right with everything you just said, and that really prevention is the key, and I think that the work that you're doing is amazing because you're. You're not just working with that one patient. Katie and I have talked about this before. When we work with parents especially, we're impacting the health of their whole family.

So you are impacting just in teaching your patients about their own body and how they have this ability to heal and they have more control than they've been. Taught to believe. They are passing that information quite often, very organically to their children and in the meals that they cook and in their daily habits.

And I think that it can be so easy to feel small in the work that we do and feel like our impact is limited because we're just one person. But really, I like to think about the ripple effect that's happening.

[00:42:16] Megan: I agree the ripple effect is so huge and I think of that. I often will say that to people, when you get in a negative health situation, how it snowballs in a negative way. But when we start working like yesterday I was speaking with someone about her gut test results and she's been having that negative spiral and I said, okay, we're gonna work on these things and then it's gonna start having this ripple effect in a positive way.

You're gonna keep on seeing more and more good things happening now that we have a plan and a strategy in place. And I think that's, yeah, that's what I love so much about functional medicine is that positive ripple effect and how you have shared saying, yeah we're sharing that with our family, with our friends.

You know, like If you think about that saying you take on the qualities of the five people you spend the most time with, like if you can be that person that's starting to improve your health, like you're setting that example. Some people might get a little bit. or resentful. You never know.

Everybody's personality is different, but usually if you're setting that example, it's people wanna follow your lead.

[00:43:27] Amanda: Yeah, especially if you've turned your health situation around, if you were experiencing a ton of symptoms and feeling hopeless, and then you've been able to shift that I don't know about you both, but I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. I wanted to tell everybody that would listen to me about what was going on in my health.

[00:43:46] Katie: If someone has transformed their health and they're in a situation where they are experiencing the close people around them being slightly resentful and this underlying I. resentment but they're not being their cheerleader. They're not really feeling that supported. What kind of advice would you say to them to enable them to stay strong and to keep going and to not let that affect their journey?

I. 

[00:44:13] Megan: I think that, yeah, so much of it, you have to be your own guiding star. You're, you have to follow that pathway and sometimes there is gonna be that resent or that challenge, but if you stick to it. Those people, either they're gonna drop back and maybe they're not the people that are meant to be in your life or they're gonna follow, like most often that's the way it's gonna go. And so it can be a really tricky thing in that healing journey where you're evolving and you're becoming a new you. Sometimes that is the way it's going and yeah, sometimes it can be a little bit tricky 'cause not all the people that. You thought where your biggest cheerleaders are. there can be challenges that definitely come along with that, but you have to understand that you are doing something good for yourself and other people, they may not understand that, but you have to just keep you, do you gotta keep going, right?

And by being the best person that you can be. You are helping other people. Wouldn't it be an amazing world if we all just tried to be our best selves,

[00:45:28] Amanda: Yeah. And there's such a difference. I notice in working with women and moms, how we can be conditioned to be in this place of putting everybody before ourselves. And when you start to take control of your journey and your health and really pouring into yourself and caring for yourself in a really good way.

There's this amazing thing that happens where you go from being depleted and feeling like you're just giving all of your energy to everyone else. To now, you're feeling so good that you have the energy to give to everyone else. You have that overflow that um, you can pour into your friends and your family and the people you love and your community, which is such a distinct difference I find.

[00:46:21] Megan: totally. Yeah. It sounds like a cliche, but it really is so true.

[00:46:26] Amanda: I know. And there's so many, there's so many cliches involved, but it's so true. Like when they say you have to put your oxygen mask on before you help someone else. It's so cliche,

[00:46:37] Megan: Yeah.

[00:46:38] Amanda: it's 100% true.

[00:46:40] Megan: But it really is because if you're not doing anything that brings you joy or taking care of yourself and you are doing everything for everyone else and trying to bring, Do everything for them. You become resentful without even realizing it. You become resentful toward them, and then you're not an enjoyable person to spend time with either when you're like that.

[00:47:02] Amanda: Yeah.

[00:47:03] Megan: So that's where it doesn't, and it's it doesn't have to be like, oh yes, I need my weekly day at the spot and all of that. Like it doesn't have to be like that. It's just like doing the things, like getting enough sleep or going out in nature, going for a walk, right? Like doing those simple things or how I said like how I start my day with journaling every morning.

Like having that kind of basic routine. And it doesn't have to be, things where it's spending hours and hours on end. It's just the small things, all that.

[00:47:31] Katie: it doesn't have to be super time consuming.

[00:47:33] Megan: Yeah.

[00:47:34] Katie: for someone listening who might feel a bit stuck at the moment, whether that be they don't know what the first step is or they feel a little bit dismissed by maybe their friends and family or even their healthcare provider, would you say they should look at starting?

[00:47:54] Megan: Yeah, I mean a hard place 'cause I think each person. Is so unique in how they need to figure that out. But I think that's where sometimes even doing like a brain dump, like writing it down on a piece of paper or a notes on your phone, just like writing out, almost like a wouldn't it be nice list?

Wouldn't it be nice if, and just dump out all your feelings. And sometimes when you do that, you'll start seeing themes of oh, I guess I really do have a lot of focus here on what's wrong with my health. Or maybe it's like, your relationships or maybe it's your energy, right?

So sometimes that can give you a bit of clarity. And I think. It can be tricky, right? 'cause you go down all these different rabbit holes starting to search things online. But sometimes if you figure out okay, these are my key priorities. Okay, I wanna figure out what's going on with my health. Maybe I need to like talk through some of this because there's a lot of emotions attached to it. I would say definitely reaching out to probably healthcare provider, like whether that be functional medicine, nurse practitioner, your doctor, if you're not meeting eye to eye with those people, maybe it's like a naturopath or, some people, it's like the massage therapist or chiropractor.

Like it could be anywhere, so I think it's just like exploring the different avenues and what resonates with you. For some people, maybe it's first they go and get some acupuncture done and they're just like, oh my God. Like I, I feel some momentum forward. So I don't think there's one specific way. But understanding sometimes you do have to invest in your health being that time, energy, money, right? It's also something that I think in Canada we're used to our healthcare being paid for and sometimes you have to pay for it yourself if you want to get more.

[00:49:40] Katie: you feel like a lot of people

[00:49:41] Amanda: Yeah.

[00:49:42] Katie: They they don't that first. Do you feel like a lot of people are not necessarily scared of investing in their own health, but they don't make it a priority? I.

[00:49:52] Megan: Yeah, sometimes I think it's just the prior, like everybody's priorities are different, so sometimes I'll meet with people and they're like, yep, doesn't matter, it's my health. And then other people are like, I could go on a vacation instead. And it's just, we all have our different money stories too, right?

And it can feel uncomfortable to pay money to do something, to take care of ourselves. Like again, that same sort of taking care of yourself, putting on your oxygen mask first. It's that same sort of thing where it feels almost like you're like, oh, am I being frivolous by putting money into myself for my health? I can just do this myself. Maybe. Maybe you can, but maybe if you have some guidance, it's gonna happen that much faster you're not gonna spend like hundreds and hundreds of dollars on trying this supplement, trying this different product, trying this different workout equipment, 

[00:50:45] Katie: and I think that's where intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation really does come in because will quite happily jump at a coach that would perhaps help them lose weight for a holiday so that they look great for a week or two before they rebound. Whereas if it's coming from more of an intrinsic place and it's about, their values and their morals and really.

How they want to live their life. Then tuning into that and understanding that, in terms of longevity and looping it back to disease prevention, how that would benefit them in the long run, and knowing the benefits versus, just doing something in terms of like appearance or an event or something like that. It all boils down to yeah, like what you said, like disease prevention and living optimally and living a long, healthy life as well.

[00:51:32] Amanda: Yeah. I think that hopefully that starts to shift as people start understanding that we do have the ability to heal and to change our health outcomes. I think so much of people's condition mindset has to do with reactionary or looking for quick fixes because we just aren't taught that these.

Interventions really matter that the food you eat matters and the sleep you get matters. And just everything is part of the larger picture.

[00:52:05] Katie: Yeah, I couldn't agree more.

[00:52:07] Amanda: Megan, is there anything else that you'd like to add? Do you have any kind of final thoughts or messages that you'd like to share with our audience before we go?

[00:52:19] Megan: I think we've tied it up pretty well and um, yeah, the big things would just be, trust your gut, your intuition, you know yourself the best. Sometimes it's, I. You trial and error. You have to find your right path. And sometimes that can take a few tries, right? And healing isn't linear.

You're gonna have your ups and downs. So give yourself credit for all the good things you're doing, all the baby steps and action that you're taking because all of that adds up and eventually will lead to bigger and better things. 

[00:52:52] Amanda: Yeah. And if people want to connect with you, learn from you or work with you, where can they find you?

[00:52:59] Megan: So my website is functional NP, as in nurse practitioner.ca, and you can also find me on Instagram, Megan Kroeker functional np. And Amanda and I have a wonderful Gut healing foundation program together, if you're interested in that as well. If you wanna join the wait list for the next round, Yeah. But I'd love to connect with anybody if they're interested in learning more about my different services.

[00:53:26] Amanda: Awesome. Thank you. And we'll link to. Your website, your socials in the show notes as well. Thanks so much for being here today, Megan.

[00:53:38] Megan: Such a great chat.