Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Vasile.
Lisa, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started my career as an Army Nurse serving at the 1st Echelon in Landstuhl, Germany during Desert Storm. I served in Hawaii and Alaska and came home to Massachusetts after 5.5 years. I have to say, that although I only served in the military for 5.5 years, it has served me for my entire professional career.
The respect, the prioritization, the see one/do one/teach one focus as well as being tossed in as head nurse of a 30-bed unit and 14 staff members at 22yrs old was strength and confidence building. After the Army, for the next 7 years, I used my RN in roles in Labor and Delivery and in an Ob/Gyn office (at the same time having 3 kids).
It was clear to me that I wanted to do more with my nursing so I went to grad school (when my kids were 5, 2 and 2- yes twins!). After graduating and passing my boards, I worked as a Nurse Practitioner in the same Ob/Gyn office. I adored my patients and loved my job… but there were a few things I didn’t love:
– I didn’t love not having control over my days off or hours so I was missing a lot of the kids’ school shows and games.
– I didn’t love not having control over schedule as far as the number of patients I would have to see and/or how long I would be able to spend with them. I remember having to tell patients “what are your top 2 concerns because I really don’t have time for more” – this felt horrible.
– I didn’t love the insurance companies telling me what I could/could not order testing wise (imaging, blood work, medications).
– I didn’t love not having any control over my paycheck – I made what they said I would make unless I wanted to drive long distances with a lot of travel (and I really loved my patients and the people I worked with!)
– I especially didn’t love the fact that the only option for helping my patients was to offer a “pill for the ill”
– in other words: they have xyz symptom – they get xzy pill. If that doesn’t work we try another – if that doesn’t work maybe they see a surgeon to take the annoying organ out.
Patients would come to me year after year – more and more medications – feeling worse and worse. But I was a self-learner and I had started to really dive into nutrition – food – supplements and how they support (and/or hurt) the body. So I started using some of this information with those patients who were open to it and found I LOVED doing it and the patients who followed the recommendations and followed up were feeling much better within months.
At the same time, I had one of my funniest, most endearing patients come in for a routine exam and ask me “you probably make a ton of money as an NP- right?” (I didn’t) and then she asked my thoughts on chemicals in skin care. I told her it was “a grave concern for me and I was sure this was a piece of the hormonal puzzle that increased women’s risk for autoimmunity”.
She shared a network marketing company that had nontoxic products that could add potential extra money – although it took a bit more time from my ‘spare time’ – it was the door that opened my entrepreneurial journey. Although always essentially “healthy”, during this time I had many little nuisance health issues that were ‘fixed’ with over the counter medications. It was not unusual for me to take Advil, Pepcid, iron, Metamucil, Immodium, lots of caffeine.
Much to our joy of finally figuring “it” out, my sister and I were diagnosed with Celiac. It was – and still is 13 years later- mind-blowing that removing one food group essentially eradicated 99% of the ‘nuisances’ in less than a month. As I was sharing the chemical (and gluten) truths about products in our health and beauty aids; I was more and more enlightened about things like cleaning products, cookware, and ingredients in our food supply/packaged foods.
So this inspired me to go back to school for an Integrative health certification focusing on nutrition through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. During this time my Mom and Dad both became very ill. I was driving back and forth to the Cape to help them, fitting in audio classes in the car and doing the required work while they were getting treatments or while they were sleeping.
I was working 3d/week as a NP (with the ‘don’t loves), driving to the cape 1-2d/week while taking care of my family as well as I could. I knew something had to shift. This opened my mind to the possibility of my venturing off on my own! So on my days off from my NP and cape rides I started putting it out to people that I was ‘health coaching’ to help them guide their health goals.
I started “4 Better Health” because we can always have better health.
“4” also comes from a few things in my life and the belief systems that resonated with me. It was the 4th decade of my life, strength comes from the 4 legs of a table or chair and the 4 strengths in health require optimal Detoxification, minimizing Inflammation, optimizing Nutrients and Energy – so I coined the term “DINE 4 Better Health”. (I also grew up one of 4 children and am forever grateful for this solid family strength).
After my mom passed away (of aggressive dementia) I started to have trouble with word finding, remembering things that came very easily before, forgetting where I parked and forgetting meetings or kids’ appts. Of course, this freaked me out thinking I had the early stages of dementia. I spoke to my PCP and it was dismissed as ‘grieving, busy, and getting older’. I just didn’t want to accept that.
I had heard about Functional Medicine and decided to make an appointment. Functional Medicine treats the body as a whole, interactive being and looks for WHY the body is out of balance, not just reducing the symptom. I had many blood tests done revealing I was severely nutrient deficient, highly sensitive to more than just gluten and had a very high mercury level in my blood and urine.
After experiencing the benefits (and clarity!) of Functional Medicine, it was clear I had found my “home” and the next piece of my professional journey. I dove into classes in Functional Medicine and started my first job working in both primary care and Functional Medicine 3 days a week while continuing to grow my 4 Better Health business and utilizing all the new knowledge with my clients.
The commute was not fun. The schedule wasn’t super fun. The pay was erratic. I was loving what I was doing and the people I worked with but in a position of “not loving” again… but as a NP in Massachusetts, I can only function as “health coach” without a collaborating physician. I was unable to order labs, diagnose or prescribe. Completely hand tied to keep both jobs. About a year later the practice I worked in hit financial hardships.
I dribbled the idea of building 4 Better Health as a Functional Medicine practice to a physician colleague. We talked and talked and talked and knew it would be amazing. We would be our own bosses. We would set our schedules. We would have control over who we see and the conditions we treat to allow us to be the best practitioners to our patients.
In September of 2015, Dr. Patricia Zub joined my vision and my business as a full partner and we opened the doors to 4 Better Health, Inc – Metrowest Functional Medicine Experts.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No. It has not always been smooth, easy or lucrative.
When I started out working on ‘the side’ I had a lot of clients dismiss my business as ‘real’ and would try to finagle pricing, bounced checks, missed appointments and there was a lack of follow through. This was frustrating given I was missing out on my family and had cut down on my ‘paying’ job.
There were unexpected costs, taxes, time-consuming (and often failed) marketing attempts, as well as lots of time on the computer learning social media, blogging, newsletters, etc.
The learning curve for owning and running a business on my own was STEEP.
Once I felt like I had (kind of) figured this out, I was then faced with opening my own Medical practice!
That was a whole different level of “yikes -what the hell am I doing – why is there no checkbox or rulebook for this”. There was rebranding, new website, new social media, bank accounts, working with insurance companies, testing kits and companies, supplies, rent, etc…. the list is far too long.
The pressure of opening and running a medical practice, hiring staff (and finding they won’t work out so had to let them go) along with low patient numbers as we grew the first few months was a definitely tough financially and at times worrisome… but I just knew it would grow.
And it did.
Please tell us about 4 Better Health, Inc.
As I said, we are a Functional Medicine practice. We ask not just about the one condition they are coming in for but about their sleep, diet, stress, bowel movements, relationships, exercise, passions, family and personal histories.
We are looking for all the pieces to that unique patient’s ‘puzzle’ and empowering them to shift their body back to wellness. we optimize the deficiencies that are preventing that shift and we teach them how to remove the stressors (lifestyle-wise or diet or inflammation) that is adding to their symptoms.
We see patients 13 and up for any GastroIntestinal condition (IBS, heartburn, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, burping, pain), Thyroid, Autoimmunity, Brain fog, hormonal dysfunction and reversing chronic conditions such as insulin resistance (pre-diabetes or diabetes), high cholesterol, high blood pressure.
We also have at least one patient a week who comes to us with few to no symptoms but they want to know what they might need to work on nutritionally or to prevent a dreaded family condition. These are great patients -the true definition of preventative health care – not reversing sick care.
We are proud of the growth of our business. But we are most proud of our ‘success’ stories.
I had a 27-year-old newly married woman who couldn’t walk in agony who is not only walking but has a new baby. I have an MS patient who is symptom-free.
I have a patient who had 20 years of severe GI issues who saw over 20 practitioners – who is now symptom-free. I have a man who was so fatigued he had trouble getting through the work day -when we worked him up he was diabetic with high cholesterol and severely nutrient deficient who has since lost 35# and all his numbers are normal.
I have women who suffered from migraines for 25 years and has not had a headache in 2 years.
There are so many other stories of giving the patient inspiration and empowerment and then seeing them smile when they tell me they didn’t have to miss a vacation or grandchild’s birthday party from their symptoms.
The way we approach the patient, symptoms, and workup sets up apart from most all traditional medical practices. But I think the biggest thing that sets us apart from other Functional Medicine practices in MA is our lower pricing and our intimate office/staff.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Probably hire someone for all the social media … that can be time-consuming to keep up with and respond back. We still do this ourselves and know we let things fall through the cracks a bit. Like newsletters and blogs, etc can be tough to keep up with. YES- a health media type person would then and now be super helpful.
Pricing:
- $320 per hour (prorated to time at $80/15 minutes)
Contact Info:
- Address: 85 Main St Hopkinton, MA 01748
- Website: http://www.4betterhealthmedicine.com/
- Phone: 508-625-1807
- Email: info@4Betterhealthmedicine.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/4bhfunctionalmedicine/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/4BetterHealth/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/4BetrHealth
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7wM5OlaDrS5-QV9EobnfxA
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