Recently, my OB wanted me to have my thyroid checked.
Again.
What part of nothing-wrong-with-my-TSH did they not get during my several months of infertility treatments this year?
I made the executive decision to not get my TSH (thyroid-stimulating-hormone) checked.
And then I got invited to work with WellnessFX, where I would receive a full panel of blood tests and a health consultation.
My first thought, “well at least I’ll get my TSH tested for good measures.”
I took to their website to find out how it worked.
If the experience was anything like what the site promised me, I realized that this could be something my #gutsy clients would appreciate as well.
(Full disclosure: FitFluential LLC compensated me for this Campaign. All opinions are my own.)
My Experience with WellnessFX: Step-by-Step
Upon signing up for this service, you are given a questionnaire to fill out. Obviously, with any blood tests and/or health consultations this is standard.
Once you submit your form, you choose the LabCorp location you’ll do the draw from and schedule the time. (Note: do not be carefree like I was and just assume that when you pop in to the LabCorp they will be able to get you in right away. No, I went right when they opened and still had to wait over an hour. Be smart; schedule your time so you don’t waste time.)
This is a fasted draw, meaning that you cannot eat or drink anything (except water) prior to the draw. Certain blood tests require it.
I pulled right up, waited for a million and five hours and then got my blood drawn. Wait, perhaps I was confused for just a second?!
Look ladies, don’t be frightened by a measly blood draw. Many of you have given birth; this will be like sitting down for a piece of gluten-free pie – or just pie in general.
For me, the only thing hard about it was the second that needle went in, my mind reverted to all those prior needles which only lead to one pink line. In a very bizarre way, I may always have a form of post-traumatic stress around this.
Nonetheless, the physical sting of the needle was nothing.
Since I was a psycho and taking pictures of it, I had to watch as 3 viles of blood were filling up.
And just like that, done.
The blood gets sent in for analysis. A few short days later you receive an email with subject:
Your WellnessFX Lab Results Are In!
Seamlessly, they provide a link for you to view your results as well as a link to schedule your 15-minute consult with one of their M.D.’s.
For those of you who have schedules that even your own calendar can’t keep straight, they will send you an email reminder of the consult you scheduled the day before.
If you’re anything like me, getting arbitrary numbers back from your doctor is frustrating. They are meaningless numbers until context is attached to them. WellnessFX provides this with their strong visuals and clear explanations.
Take for instance my triglycerides:
In other news, I’d also like to severely highlight the fact that I eat fat – I eat a lot of fat! In healing my own digestive tract, this was absolutely critical (that doesn’t mean it will be for you, though). And looky, looky, looky -> my triglycerides are uber-low.
Yet another reason we need to stop being a fat-phobe society.
Back to it….you will get beautiful visuals for multiple tests that fall under the categories:
- cardiovascular health
- metabolic
- liver
- kidney
- electrolytes
- bone
- vitamin & minerals
During the 15-minute phone consultation, you’ll go over each and every test and number. If you have questions, ask. My doctor was Shauna Lynch, who is a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. But get this, she is also trained to take a holistic view of the body! <– I honestly think most of them are, which is one primary reason I highly recommend WellnessFX.
Full disclosure: My levels are off on calcium and vitamin D. Neither were surprising to me.
Once the consult is over, your doctor will place any necessary recommendations in your personal “recommendations” tab. I need to supplement Vitamin D3 and Calcium. But I reminded her that if I’m going to take a calcium supplement, I should really take a calcium/magnesium one because:
- magnesium is essential for transporting calcium
- magnesium is good for the digestive system to keep it movin’
(You see I did learn something in school 
)
And that’s it.
You are now armed with intelligent, easy-to-read information to move forward and make any necessary lifestyle changes.
When I begin a health-coaching program with any client, there are several things that make “the beginning” easier. Since I primarily work with women who have irritable bowel syndrome or irritable bowel disease, I always like to understand:
- Are they allergic/intolerant to any known foods?
- Have they been previously diagnosed with a form of IBS or IBD? If so, what and when?
- Have they had any recent blood tests? If so, what was determined?
For just $199, I would strongly recommend any client I work with to get these blood test done. Besides that, WellnessFX believes in prevention vs intervention and this is what we are studying in the #Gutsy Digestive Virtual Book Club currently.
Remember, we can’t navigate where we want to go if we don’t understand where we’ve been.
Question: Would you be interested in getting these blood tests done? And am I the only one, or do you also find it frustrating to receive meaningless test numbers from your doctor without any context?
Let me know if you have any questions about the process or my results. I am more than happy to answer!
Love your guts,
SKH
p.s. I’m not the only one who had a great experience. See: #OptimizeHealth = No More Asthma?