My Family
We hear it all too often, with increasing frequency, that someone you know or love has cancer or another debilitating lifelong diagnosis. This tragedy is close to my heart and family. I too felt this trauma when our son was born with a rare genetic syndrome. The doctors told us that he may not survive through the first year of his precious life. If he did live past his first year he may never walk, talk, or eat independently. We persevered and with the knowledge we knew at the time, provided the best life we could for our son. Shortly after my son’s diagnosis, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. Determined as a family, we did our best to care for our disabled son and battle the cancer together; but ultimately my husband succumbed to the cancer’s overall destructive effects and to the damage inflicted on him from the very treatments intended to heal him. My beautiful little family was brought to our knees that day.
Grief has a way of fueling evaluations and adjustments for growth in your life. When a family member has a chronic illness, your choices may feel limited. Losing my husband forced me to challenge myself and face my son’s challenges. This fueled my post graduate studies in infant early childhood development with an emphasis in mental health. That training helped my family and my son face many daily social, emotional, and physical challenges.
“My losses and tragedies, in their own way, have become my strongest motivations to help others”
About Tammy
My love to help children and their families inspired me to become a lifelong researcher. I have been blessed to positively contribute to the lives of children with behavioral challenges in specialized learning environments. I had the pleasure of helping families in multiple research settings with children diagnosed with ADHD and related disorders. One of my most rewarding experiences was working alongside families in a research based Childhood Weight Control Program.
Researching whole food plant based living alongside commitments to good health and wellness was a natural transition forward. Without a strong healthy foundation; it’s hard for an individual to sustain the kind of attention, focus, and regulated state they need to get through the day. This includes having a supporting environment and complete nutrition. My son was not expected to live through his first year but he has survived and even thrived, and now in his late teenage years. His success is largely due to his supporting family environment and getting proper nutrition.
“My mission is to help others maximize healthy environments in their homes and their bodies while promoting a long happy, healthy, and fulfilling life.”
My Way Forward
Working through our losses over several difficult and challenging years, our path led my little family to a loving and caring stepfather and husband. We began to expand and strengthen our family again through our shared common interests and desire for a long, healthy, happy life, we established our foundation as a nutritarian family. Working together with my husband, he came off his blood pressure and cholesterol medications. This occurred under close supervision from a doctor supporting whole foods plant based living, with frequent communications on health updates.
My greatest inspiration for my personal and family’s health is from the vast research by several leading experts in their multi-disciplinary fields, coming together to care for clients holistically. In particular, Nancy Young supported my family’s lifestyle changes by applying Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s decades of research, helping us attain the healthy lifestyle we desired. Our whole foods plant based family doctor, Dr. Jay Benson with Aspen Health, has closely monitored our progress and ensured our safety and good health through a holistic lens while we made these dietary changes.
The Food Revolution Network has played an integral part in achieving my training in whole foods plant based living certification. It is these experiences that has fueled my passion to support others on a similar path toward a healthier and happier lifestyle.
“May all be fed, may all be healed, may all be loved”
–John Robbins, Food Revolution Network.
And may all be given the foundation they need to do so!
Let’s get curious about these things together!
