You Don’t Just Wake Up Sick— Catch It Early in Your Labs or Pay the Price Later
“Your Labs Are Normal”—The Lie That Almost Killed Me
I remember sitting in my doctor’s office, staring at the lab results on my iPhone while my physician scanned through them. “Everything looks okay,” he said with a reassuring smile.
I should have been relieved. I should have walked out feeling secure in my health. But I didn’t…because I felt like garbage. I was exhausted no matter how much I slept. My body ached. My digestion was a mess. My moods were all over the place. But my labs were “fine,” so I convinced myself it was in my head.
A few years later, I was diagnosed with stage III cancer.
…and I was pissed.
Not just because of the diagnosis—but because my body had been screaming for help long before then, and the signs were there… hiding in plain sight in the lab work, but no one was looking for them. And at that time I had no idea, because I didn’t know -what- to look for either.
What Conventional Medicine Gets Right—And Where It Falls Short
Let me be clear: I am incredibly grateful for conventional medicine. If I break a bone, need surgery, or get an infection, I want trained doctors by my side and have been blessed to have WONDERFUL physicians. They are doing exactly what they were trained to do—diagnose and treat disease.
But health isn’t just about avoiding disease—it’s about feeling your best. And that’s where conventional medicine can fall short, and why YOU need to be informed.
Doctors are trained to look at labs like a highway patrol officer scanning for a totaled car. If your numbers are way out of range, then yes, they’ll intervene. But if your body is swerving, the check engine light is on, and the tires are bald—they’re most likely not pulling you over.
The problem? Those small imbalances are the warning signs before a breakdown.
Functional Medicine: A Proactive Approach to Health
Conventional lab ranges are based on the average of the population. But c’mon—the average person today is dealing with chronic fatigue, inflammation, blood sugar issues, and metabolic dysfunction.
Functional medicine isn’t about averages—it’s about optimization. Instead of waiting until disease is diagnosed, it looks at early imbalances and corrects them before they turn into bigger problems.
Here are just a few things I wish I had known about lab work before cancer crept up:
•ALT & AST (Liver Enzymes): My liver was under stress years before my diagnosis—but because my numbers weren’t “technically high” by conventional standards, no concerns were raised. Functional medicine says AST and ALT should be under 26 for women—not the up to 40 IU/L that most doctors accept. This is a standard test that you will get yearly.
•Vitamin D: My levels were 16 ng/mL at one point. SIX-freaking-TEEN! Conventional doctors generally won’t flag it unless it drops below 20, but functional medicine knows optimal is 60-80. Low Vitamin D isn’t just about bones—it’s a major red flag for immune dysfunction, hormone imbalances, and even cancer risk. This is not a standard test that most physicians will order.
•hsCRP (Inflammation Marker): Chronic inflammation is the root cause of most diseases, but it’s often ignored. A doctor may not blink unless your hsCRP is over 3.0—but functional medicine says anything over 1.0 is already a sign of inflammation. Mine had never even been tested before cancer and even then I had to ask for it.
•GGT (Liver Function & Toxin Load): Most people don’t even know to check this. It’s one of the earliest indicators of oxidative stress, toxin overload, and metabolic disease—long before traditional liver markers show a problem. It is not a standard test ordered by most systems.
Take the Wheel
Here’s what most people don’t realize: You don’t need your doctor’s permission to get blood work.
Many healthcare systems now offer direct-to-consumer lab testing, allowing you to order your own labs without waiting for a doctor’s approval (most are cash pay which is actually much less expensive than insurance). If your health system doesn’t offer that, there are independent labs like Quest Diagnostics, LabCorp, and Access Medical Labs where you can order your own tests.
This means you don’t have to be a passenger in your health journey—you can be the driver. You can track your own markers, look for trends, and make informed decisions about your health before problems arise. I have an Excel spreadsheet to track all my markers and it has been invaluable.
The best thing I ever did? I stopped assuming my doctor was the expert on my body.
.
Master Your Metabolic Health
💡 Here’s how I can help:
✔ I’ll teach you how to read your lab work & help you determine what tests you may want to order.
✔ I’ll help you identify early warning signs of dysfunction using optimal lab ranges
✔ I’ll educate you about what diet, supplements, and lifestyle shifts will bring your body back into balance.
My oncologist is fantastic and I am grateful for his intelligent and compassionate care.
I remember telling my husband that because he sees so many very sick people I bet a great success rate would be keeping “80 out of 100 cars on the road” (or 80% of his patients alive and in remission). I also remember telling my husband that MY only job is to keep MY car on the road and that is what I intended to do.
Why This Matters
It wasn’t until cancer forced me to fight for my life that I realized: my body had been trying to warn me all along. I never want you to be in that position.
You have two choices: wait for symptoms to become disease or get ahead of it now.
You can choose to know what your HDL/Triglyceride ratio is telling you about your heart. You can choose to track your hsCRP before inflammation turns into chronic illness. You can choose to make sure your liver enzymes and GGT aren’t silently signaling a SOS while you go about your day, thinking everything is “fine.”
Your doctor’s job is to treat you once disease has already shown up. Your job is to make sure it never gets that far.
And the best way to do that? Know your numbers. Master your markers. Take control.
I can help you decode your labs, identify early imbalances, and create a clear, actionable plan to optimize your health—before problems start. Already have issues? I can help with that too.
📍 Book your session now and start taking charge today because if you don’t…who will?
