Parkinson’s Care Beyond Medication: Nutrition, Movement, and Support - Carolee Horner Returns

In this returning episode of Beyond My Diagnosis, Michele welcomes back Carolee Horner, functional nutritionist and health coach who specializes in working with people living with Parkinson’s disease and their care partners.

When Carolee first joined the show, the conversation focused on Parkinson’s as a whole body condition, the importance of gut and brain health, and why caregivers and care partners are essential to quality of life. This episode builds on that foundation and goes deeper into what it truly means to live well with Parkinson’s over the long term.

Having been peers and graduates in the Health, Wellness and Wellbeing Coaching Program from the School of Integrative Health|Notre Dame University of Maryland  (NDMU/SOIH formerly MUIH) Michele and Carolee have a conversation to explore how Parkinson’s is not a single disease with a single solution, but a highly individual condition that requires curiosity, experimentation, and ongoing self advocacy. They discuss why medication alone is not enough, how environmental toxins play a role, and why lifestyle choices can dramatically influence progression and symptom burden.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why Parkinson’s presents differently in every person
• The role of environmental toxins and gut health
• Why exercise is the most effective treatment for Parkinson’s
• How movement supports brain and body connection
• Why caregivers are better described as care partners
• How nutrition impacts fatigue, anxiety, constipation, and brain fog
• The importance of stress reduction and sleep in neurological health
• Why small changes lead to meaningful progress
• How coaching helps people implement changes that stick
• Why a diagnosis is not a death sentence, but a wake up call

This conversation is practical, hopeful, and deeply empowering for anyone living with Parkinson’s, supporting someone who is, or navigating any chronic neurological condition.

About Carolee:
Carolee Horner is a functional nutritionist and board-certified health and wellness coach who works with people living with Parkinson’s disease and their care partners. She focuses on gut and brain health strategies that support the whole family and help slow symptom progression using integrative, realistic approaches.

Carolee’s Links:
 🌐 http://www.nutritionforpd.com
📘 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095318119061

Transcript

0:00

(Gentle Music) Hello, welcome to Beyond My Diagnosis. I'm Michelle Weston, and every week I come to you on Wellness Wednesday with a person who's struggling with a chronic condition or the people who support living your best quality of life out there. And today I have someone I actually went to get my master's with, and that is Carol Lee Horner. And she is working with a specific, a neurological condition that really needs support today, and that is Parkinson's. But we've been talking about not just the patient, but the caregivers and the people around the patient, because when you're living with a chronic condition that is neurological, sometimes we have to teach people around and coach people around to give them support, to give them tools and strategies. So on that note, Carol Lee, one of my favorite people from Georgia, who is just terrific. And one of the things I also love about Carol Lee Horner, and you'll hear from her again because I come back to her, she decided to get a master's on a dual level in integrative nutrition and in health and wellness coaching. And she uses that and merges those two together, which I think is very powerful. So Carol Lee, how are you? Well, Michelle, thank you so much for having me. I love to chat with you about this stuff. I do too, I really do. So, you know, we talked about what we were gonna talk about today, and I really felt like we forget the caregivers, right? The people who support the patient with ways to live the best quality of life when you have a chronic illness. And when you're dealing with neurological, especially Parkinson's, which we're seeing more cases of, or should I say we know of more cases? No, it is actually exploding. It is, I think the latest I've seen, you know, it was supposed to be like 12, no, don't quote me on the number of millions of people by 2030. And we're at that number now. So what does that number look like? I can't remember if it's 12 or 20 million. I'm gonna have to get back to you on the numbers because-- Dozens, so it's in dozens. Dozens of millions, yes. And so it, because one of the main causes of Parkinson's is environmental toxicity, as our environment becomes more and more toxic and as our own bodies become more and more toxic, that toxic burden is being presented in many cases as Parkinson's disease. Wow. Do you think today we're finding that Parkinson's may have different hats in regards to, they may call somebody who has Parkinson's, they only have Parkinson's, but like you just said, it may be an environmental causation that they develop Parkinson's? Yeah, so we already know that we are calling many diseases, one disease. So there are actually two ways that we know that Parkinson's begins presenting in the body. So one of those is brain first. So that is where something goes wrong in the brain, maybe a traumatic brain injury, something like that. And then the Parkinson's spreads from their brain to the rest of their body. But there's also a gut first presentation where we believe that Parkinson's is starting in the gut or some other organ, it is traveling up the vagus nerve and it isn't until it presents in the brain that we give it the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. But there are many things, there are brain injuries, there is a genetic component. Right now, we know about 10 to 15% of people have a genetic predisposition. There are in some people it is activated by a virus and other people we think maybe a parasite is activating it. But the vast majority of people, it is a toxin, an environmental toxin that has caused this disease. Wow. Yeah. And I think it's important that people know, the more we learn, the more we learn, right? Right, right. And that means that things change and information is really powerful, right? So the more we understand where that's coming from, the more we can address it. I know that you work with a lot of groups and organizations and nonprofits in regards to educating the Parkinson's patient, but also in order for the Parkinson's patient to use those tools and strategies, you have to have the people around the patient. So we had talked about who is the caregiver, who is the person who is helping that Parkinson's patient learn more and more. And don't think that Parkinson's is just about people who are older. Unfortunately, Michael J. Fox, he was diagnosed earlier in his life, not in his teens, but in his, what is it, 30s? Yeah, and he would be considered very early onset. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Not even just early, very early. Interesting. And we are, we're seeing much, much more of that, where people are being diagnosed much younger. Part of that, luckily, is because we have better diagnostics now and we don't necessarily have to wait as long for a diagnosis, but unfortunately, it is affecting people in their brains by the time that they're in their 30s and 40s, which is incredibly unfortunate because it's a long time to live with this condition. Yeah, it's amazing that people are living more and more with this condition. So what does it look like today? Because I can remember what it looked, what I read about where we were for a long time. And it's changed. I mean, I think it's in a better place, right? I mean, yes and no. So we're stuck in the same trap in Parkinson's as we are in every other condition, where we're treating it as like a single thing that one drug needs to try to cure. And that's not gonna work with PD because it has been in somebody's body for years, if not decades before it presents as a neurological symptom, right? Some people have, their first symptoms are things like constipation or anxiety or restless leg syndrome, things that are not connected immediately to a neurological condition, right? So better diagnostics, but also it has been in your body. I lost my train of thought, I'm sorry. We were right there. It's okay, it's okay. You were saying, Happy's Michelle. Honey, that's why, that's what runs. Honey, that's why we're on Zoom. So he can take the two tracks and merge it so we don't have to worry about it. But even if it's in there, it happens. But you know what? I think that what we're saying is there's so many different ways that the diagnosis happens. The landscape. Yes, the landscape is where we were. So we have better diagnostics, which is great, but we are still trying to do like monotherapies. How do we get dopamine into your brain versus looking at treatments that are saying, how do we utilize the dopamine that's there better, right? Okay. We are getting more drugs and drugs that don't necessarily have the same side effects, but very few of them are still targeted at slowing progression. Most of them are symptom management, not like actually reversing any of the dysfunction. There are two therapies now, focused ultrasound and deep brain stimulation that can help with some of the more motor symptoms. Okay. You know, but those are very intensive, you know, invasive brain procedures that people have. So unfortunately the landscape with a lot of neurological conditions is still this. This is for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. You go to the doctor for many years and you tell them something is wrong and they continue to push you off until all of a sudden you check some magical boxes that now you are so far gone that they will diagnose you with a disease. And then at that point they say, here is a medication, it will treat some of your symptoms, it will have some pretty nasty side effects at some point and it will do nothing to slow your progression. Go home and live your life. And to me, like that is like criminal of what is happening because there is so much, right? Beyond your diagnosis, yes, now you have the diagnosis of Parkinson's but that's when the real work begins because you have, you know this, you're a patient advocate. Yeah. That you now have to become your own patient advocate. Yeah, yeah. And hopefully you'll have, you know, my world we call them care partners because they are a part-- I like that, I like that though. I do like care partners. Yes, because they're a partner for many, many, many years and maybe not a caregiver until very end stages. Okay. But it is important to have care partners by your side because it is like drinking from the fire hose for a very long time, figuring out what is your condition and then what's going to benefit you. Because remember how we talked about we're calling many diseases Parkinson's. Yeah. There's a saying that if you've met one person with Parkinson's disease, you have met one person with Parkinson's disease because everybody presents completely unique. No two people have the same symptom profile. Which is also, I'm gonna just say this so people who are listening will think about this, which is true a great deal with neurological conditions. Yes. So I may have a certain symptoms like drop foot that stayed for the 25 years since I was diagnosed in 2000. That's still there. So that's what happened in my early threes that I was diagnosed with drop foot and also I was diagnosed with incontinence. So those stayed. And so I had to remember, I have to then do physical therapy for drop foot and I have to do stress reduction and work on what do I do with incontinence to live my best life so I'm not in diapers and doing that kind of thing. Because I'm not, it's 25 years and I've worked to develop and grab onto tools and strategies that help me not use that. There are, people will be surprised. So in Parkinson's, it's the same thing. So you may present with those symptoms. So then you have to go, okay, how are we going to handle that? So on your end as a coach and as an integrated nutritionist, what have you sort of, well, I'm sure there's like the big picture things that you say to all people with Parkinson's and their caregivers to look at that we can share with the listeners right now for maybe they know someone with Parkinson's, maybe they have Parkinson's, maybe it's whatever like strengths that is, whether they're the caregiver themselves. What can we talk about that you found that is helpful across that arena? Does that make sense? It does, yeah. So what are some just, well, how I'm interpreting the question is, what are some across the board kind of common sense approaches to thinking beyond your diagnosis with Parkinson's? You got it, you got it. And so the first is to know that there is so much you can do. When your doctor says, there's nothing I can do for you, what they mean is there is nothing they can do for you. And that's okay. What they mean is I have these medications, I have these surgical procedures, that is my scope, that is my wheelhouse and this is all I have. That's wonderful, but there are tons of us out there who have all kinds of other things. Yeah. So I always think when you are given, I don't care what your diagnosis is, but when you were given a rather devastating diagnosis of a chronic condition of which there is no cure and there's very few treatments, is to really look at your foundational health. How do you get your body as strong and as healthy as possible? Because a lot of symptoms of Parkinson's, mimic symptom, diet and lifestyle symptoms, nutritional deficiencies, impacts of no exercise. And once we start figuring some of those out, then your neurologist or your movement disorder specialist is left with what is really Parkinson's and what is really challenging. Okay. So exercise is the number one treatment for Parkinson's disease. Wow. We don't talk about this a lot. Exercise is more effective than medication. Wow. And managing Parkinson's disease. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Wow, wow, wow. So that, right, get your body moving. There is something about the mind-body connection as well in PDs. So you have to be connecting your brain and your body. So walking the dog probably isn't enough. Walking with walking poles, which they call Nordic walking, is because now you're like managing hand and foot and thinking about multiple things. Okay. So get yourself moving. Okay. Stop eating the standard American diet, right? If your plate is beige, put some color on there. Like just put some color on your plate, right? I love it. That is the first, and it doesn't have to be all the time, just more often than not be eating healthy, right? I use the 80-20 rule. Okay. But if you're eating 20-80, aim for 30-70, aim for 50-50, right? Small, incremental changes. Reduce that stress. In neurological conditions, stress is literally poison, right? Like when you have a neurological condition and you experience an acutely stressful activity, symptoms can immediately set in, and sometimes they don't resolve when that stressor is gone. So you'll see oftentimes in many neurological conditions, like losing a job, losing a loved one, like your house burning down, something really stressful will advance the disease and it does not reverse that. So managing stress and sleep. Yeah. Your brain heals when you sleep. And if you have a neurological condition, your brain is trying to heal all the time, literally 24-7. And so I know I sound like a broken record, and I know people sometimes are like, you know, the advice is so lame, it's always the same no matter what. But that's because it's so true. Right, do you think that people understand? We're talking about basic things and you all rolled your eyes at us, but there's a reason why we keep harping upon it, right? Yes, I mean, I can't tell you how many people with PD I know who are healthier now than they were before they were diagnosed, because they saw that diagnosis as a challenge, not a given, right? As a, oh, really? That's what you're telling me? I have this neurological condition, well, I thumb my nose at you, and I am gonna do all the things. And they're progressing slower, their symptom burden is much less, and their quality of life is so much higher. It's amazing. And what you're saying is it's very simple, but it really makes a difference. And let's, you know, this is where the coaching comes in, right? Because it's simple, but it's not easy. No. It's not easy, right? I agree, I agree. And the question is, is why nutrition and coaching? Because during my master's program, I took a couple of classes about coaching, I was like, oh my God, I love this. But it became very, very clear that people can find the what. You can, there is nothing that I'm gonna tell somebody that somewhere they can't find on the internet. But what they can't find is the how. Okay. And that's where coaches come in. Coaches help with the how. So all you had to do is listen to me for 30 seconds and you knew to eat more vegetables. Great. But how do I do that? How do I do that when I'm a busy single mom who owns my own business, who is a caregiver myself, right, like how do you do that? And that's where we need coaches because your answer, Michelle, is very different than my answer, and my answer is very different than my client's answer. Wow, okay. Right? Because for some people that means buying pre-prepped veggies, for some people it means having a chef come to their house and prepare it. And for other people, it means getting deliveries, right? It's different for everybody. And that's what we do as coaches, right? Our favorite thing is we meet our clients where they are. Where they are, exactly. And you have to remember that. We really try to meet you where you are today, we don't go backwards, we're going where you are today. And that's the difference between therapy, it's like high-edge way, and coaching. They're different animals. Yeah, we're today forward focusing. Go to your therapist to figure out how we got here, but I'll help you figure out where we're going, right? Perfect, that was said so well. That was really said so well. People really don't get it. They do not. I'm not punishing people, like I'm not saying this. Right, no. It's just, it is easier said than done, right? It is, and I think an important message in all chronic conditions is that it's not all or nothing. And there's a huge realm out there, right? So I meet my clients where they are. For some people, that means moving away from a standard American diet, adjust like a basic Mediterranean plan, and really supporting foundational health. But I also have clients who are extraordinarily motivated and disciplined and find this stuff easy and enjoyable. And so we're going in like almost full keto, right? To really see if we can impact that brain. How far can we go? Not everybody's right for that. And so I just say any chronic condition is gonna be the same way. Like you don't have to go full therapeutic nutrition to get something out of changing your diet. You don't have to see the personal trainer at the gym five days a week to get benefits from exercising once or twice, right? There's so much room for improvement. And I think most people would be shocked at how just a little bit of diet and lifestyle adjustment improves their condition. And if not their condition, at least their outlook on it. Right, I agree with you. I think that that's a big part of it. People don't understand that a little goes a long way. For real, and you need to look at also, what are you trying to achieve with some of these changes? So with my clients, when most people think of Parkinson's disease, they think of tremors, right? I think that's the picture people have in their brain. If you have PD or someone who shakes and has tremors. I mean, a subset of people have tremors, but not everybody and shocker, the people who do say that's one of their least concerning symptoms, like whatever. So they have tremors, they've learned to get over them. But things like chronic constipation, anxiety, fatigue, apathy, sleep issues, brain fog. These are the things that are really troubling people. And those are what we can get at with diet and lifestyle. But then some of the other things, right? Physical therapy, occupational therapy. A big one is speech therapy that people don't realize. Really? Do you think that's because the, yeah, how does that, yeah, how does that play out? Because I'm thinking of the nervous system and how it controls the esophagus. And you think I hate to use him, but I'm going to. Michael J. Fox has that tremor, but he also, when he speaks, I know he's working on how to speak differently than he did before. Or he just has to speak differently. How to use his vocal cords differently than he did before. Does that make sense? It does, and there's going to be multiple reasons why some of that might be happening. So at its base level, Parkinson's can be called a neuromuscular condition. So anything where your brain is controlling muscles could potentially be affected. That could be your esophagus, or your vocal cords. So people see speech pathologists with PD for two primary reasons. One is swallowing difficulties. So those muscles aren't working appropriately. So you need to work on strengthening them so that you're not aspirating and things like that. The other though is that for certain people, their voice gets really soft, or there could be like tremors in their vocal cords and so there's a specific therapy called LOUD, which is to help people with PD project. So UD, is that using, is it initials for something? It is, and I'm not sure what they are. We'll talk about that later, but I love that there's these subtle things that we as coaches make sure we understand so that when we're coaching someone, when we're teaching someone, about ways to improve their quality of life, we can say, look, you could look into this and let them go and search and point them towards directions but let them do the work. Yeah. Right? And sometimes, right, you'd be surprised at how these things tie together because I've had more than one client with malnourishment issues, and I've had a lot of people who have had malnourishment issues dropping weight that they couldn't explain, and it really was because they needed to see a speech pathologist to work on their swallowing. Oh, wow. And once we strengthened their, one had an issue in his tongue from being intubated, but once the speech pathologist was able to really strengthen all those muscles, diet didn't become nearly as much of a concern other than quality instead of quantity and bounced right back. So in Parkinson's, in that landscape, there's a lot of research you have to do on your own. And going back to the, if you have met one person with Parkinson's, you've met one person with Parkinson's, it gets tiring and frustrating because what's working for one person may or may not work for you. So there's a lot of trial and error, which does help if you can find somebody like you who specializes in PD, who can maybe help you navigate some of that and explain why we think certain things might work over others instead of just people going online and trying anything and everything. And that's important, and that's why when I have coaches come on and nutritionists come on, everybody's gonna, everybody, B-O-D-Y, is gonna be different. Yeah. I mean, it's just, I hate to say that, but everybody's going to be a little different. And it's okay. It's just, that's actually a good thing because when you're working with a coach and when you work with a nutritionist, they can help you hone in on those skills, right? Yes, absolutely. And you know, I think it's interesting because they say practicing medicine, and we joke about it, but it's not really a good thing. They're like, "Oh, I'm gonna take this in." And we joke about that sometimes, but I joke with my clients all the time that I make everything an experiment because when you take away the foreverness of a change, it's not nearly as threatening. You know, what if we try this for one month becomes, "Oh, we can do anything for a month versus what if we did this for the next five years?" Right? I totally agree. I laugh, everything's an experiment, even supplements. I see what happens, and if you feel better, we're gonna keep doing it. If you don't, we're not. That's what your doctors are doing too. They're just not calling it that. But you're going in and with PD, one of their diagnostic criteria is, here, we're gonna put you on some dopamine. If your symptoms go away, that means you have Parkinson's. If that is an experiment, I don't know what is. They're just not calling it that. So people are used to being experimented on on a daily basis. It's just the wording is a little different. Isn't that interesting? I agree with you. I think that we all have to remember that each illness, each chronic condition has its own stuff, you know? And does all things fit all illnesses? No, but there are overlaps. Nutrition is an overlap. Handling stress is an overlap. Finding a physical activity that supports your best quality of life, absolutely. But for each person underneath those three, just those three categories, we have to explore with that person what works for them, what they can manage, what they can attain. I don't ever want a person to give up because it's too much on their plate. I want them to be able to say, I can do this. I think what you said about, let's do it for a month. I did that with my weight loss patients. So if I say to you, listen, I know, and I'm gonna say this loudly, okay? And I don't normally say this, but I'm gonna be truthful. A doctor can say, I want you, and this is the rule. This is the norm, and that's why doctors say this. You should exercise 20 minutes, five days, six days a week. Or 30 minutes, five days a week. To most people, that is overwhelming if they weigh 400 pounds. If you weigh 400 pounds, oh my frigging God, you just told this patient, and I understand the doctor's intention, but what have I said to the patient? Okay, I understand why Dr. Jones said that. Ms. Smith, can you, for the next month, just the next 30 days until we speak again, because sometimes I'm hired by a doctor to work with their patients once a month to check in with me while they're going through something. Can you give me five days, five minutes, when you walk in your apartment, when you walk in your apartment, you said to me, you have a Bowflex machine, okay? And I know that you're in law, and you walk in, and you know, like the idea of exercising just is overwhelming, because you're exhausted from the day, okay? You're also 400 pounds, so you're more exhausted from the day. What if you just give me five minutes? So when I ask that question, the end of the 30 days, and we talk, and the person's, and I say, so how do you feel? And they'll go, oh, I'm fine. I say, no, no, how do you feel? Did you have an opportunity to try just five minutes during the weekday, not the week end, because it's your week end, did you feel any better? And I love when people actually pause, and stop and go, yeah, actually, I kinda did. So then I ask them to just move, so let's try this for the next 30 days. How about 10 minutes? Let's see if it's 10 minutes. I don't care if you get three out of five days, 10 minutes, but just see what you can do, you can do. Not what I can do, not what Dr. Jones can do. What can Ms. Smith do? Yeah, because little pieces add up to a big piece, right? Always, little shifts, or little changes, small changes, I'm gonna say, how do I usually say it? Small changes equal big shifts over time, and it is true. Like you just need to do a little bit. Michelle, I use that with myself all the time. With, I don't really think it has to be someone who's struggling with weight loss. Anybody can have motivation issues like that, and it doesn't even have to be weight loss. Here's a wonderful example of how I have to do this over and over with myself. So doing meditation. I will do it, do it, do it, and I'll be up to over 30 minutes a day, I'm feeling great, and then something happens, and I slip, and I don't do it for a while. And then I notice I'm feeling bad, but when I think about it, I'm like, oh, 30 minutes, and I'm like, that just, all of a sudden 30 minutes seems insurmountable again, even though I was just doing it a few weeks ago. So once again, I have to start with two minutes. Meditate for two minutes, then five minutes, then 10 minutes, then 12 minutes, then 15 minutes, right? And yeah, it stinks to have to start over at the beginning sometimes, but you do, and it's okay. Exercise for five minutes. Add one serving of vegetables. Yeah. That's all you, just one serving, at any time during the day. And what that says to me is, bite off a little bit. What you can chew, you don't have to choke on it. You can do a little bit which will make big changes in the long run. Just take it by little amounts, no matter what chronic condition you're struggling with. With Parkinson's, it is looking at, I always thought it was a lot of nutrition. Now, physical activity, most patients would think, well no, why would it be? Well, think about shaking. So if your body is shaking, if you worked on your physical motion, it would help you with that body that is out of whack, that is getting messages neurologically, that is causing you to have falls, that is causing you to have imbalance, is causing you to shake when you are moving. So rethink things and work with someone who, that's why I love coaching and the idea of coaching and integrating nutrition merged together. Because you're looking at things going, what can I handle that's about my body that I can do? And I think that you're, that's why I love coming back to you to talk about this because you're very sane. Right? I can say about you. Yeah, try to be. You try to be. But the audience should know, you're looking for a coach that matches with you. You're looking for an advocate that matches with you, that can meet you where you are today, so that going forward, you can accomplish what you would like to accomplish for your best quality of life. Yeah, I love it. And just remember, it's a, like with PD, it's a marathon, not a sprint. You will live with Parkinson's for the rest of your life. And so you don't have to do it all right now. One, you know, like you said, small bites, small bites. And it's the same, those of you who are dealing with diabetes, it's the same with diabetes. Changing your diet and changing your fitness and changing your stress makes a difference because you will have diabetes type one forever. Some people will have diabetes type two forever. But it's not the kiss of death. It's looking at your life and going, what do I have to do to support me going forward? Right, a diagnosis is a wake up call. Thank you. A wake up call. Oh my gosh, thank you so much. Everybody should really hear that. A diagnosis is a wake up call. What an opportunity for all of us, coaching, working with people, being a caregiver for somebody who has something that they are now faced with. It's not a death sentence, it's a wake up call. And it says, pay attention to this, to live better. Because I may be around for a long time and it's the same thing in regards to having MS. We don't have a cause nor a cure at this point in time. But for 25 years for me, I've worked on stress, I've worked on nutrition, I've worked on physical activity. Those are things that we can do. That doesn't mean that I don't have symptoms. It means that I'm finding the best way to work with a condition, right? Yes, yes, I love that. I love that. Your positive outlook will get you half the way. Exactly, and so this is why I'm doing Beyond My Diagnosis. Carol Lee, when I send out stuff about you and guys you can find a little bit about our podcast when hers launches on my Substack page. But Carol Lee, how do people reach you if they have someone or are living with Parkinson's? Because coaches can work in different states. We don't have to be married to one state. How do they reach you? Is it an email? Is it a website? What's the best way? My website is the best way, nutritionforpd.com. Perfect, nutritionforpd.com. Carol Lee Horner, here we are out of school, five, six years going on, using our tools to help people live their best life. Yeah. Thank you so much. And I'll see you on the other side. Have a great week and everybody tune in again because I love having people who can help all of us live with and work with and help people living with a chronic condition. Thanks so much, Carol Lee, really appreciate it. Thanks, Michelle. Take care. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Beyond The Diagnosis. If something we talked about today resonated with you, if you're craving deeper understanding, better support, we just wanna know you're not alone on this journey. Make sure to subscribe to my free sub stack at michelleweston.substack.com. M-I-C-H-E-L-E-W-E-S-T-O-N.substack.com. That's where I share personal insights, expert takeaways, and extra resources to help you stay informed, empowered, and one step closer to the clarity you deserve. And if you found this episode helpful, leave a review or share it with someone who needs to hear it. Your voice helps this message go further. Until next time, keep asking questions, keep trusting yourself, and keep going beyond the diagnosis.