Dive deep into the importance of integrative and preventive healthcare with Michele, CEO and co-founder of FemGevity. They tackled systematic barriers to women's health and how the healthcare system often overlooks these needs—particularly in perimenopause and menopause care. Learn actionable tips on balancing hormones, comprehensive health testing, and integrative solutions that can help you live your longest, most vibrant life yet. Tune in to take charge of your health today with confidence and clarity.
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In this episode you will learn about:
- The necessity of an integrative approach to women's healthcare.
- FemGevity as an accessible service prioritizing women’s health.
- The importance of comprehensive hormone and microbiome testing.
- Failures of symptom-based treatments, especially in menopause care.
- Systematic barriers and the need for innovative healthcare solutions.
- Why women need community and safe space to discuss vulnerabilities.
Episode References/Links:
- FemGevity Instagram
- FemGevity
- FemGevity TIkTok
- FemGevity LinkedIn
- Eve by Cat Bohannon
Guest Bio:
Michele has expertly crafted her career niche within the healthcare sector, accumulating over 18 years as a strategic healthcare executive. Armed with an MBA in Healthcare Management from Northeastern University, Michele excels in aligning women's healthcare services with contemporary needs and expectations. Her contributions have been nothing short of revolutionary, particularly in introducing innovative women's health testing to New York City's leading physicians. Her focus spans molecular genetics, cancer biomarkers, and PCR Testing, making a significant impact in the medical community. Michele's professional journey has seen her in influential roles within Fortune 500 companies like Labcorp and Quest, but her prowess shines brightest in her role in smaller, specialized laboratories. Notably, she achieved remarkable success in expanding her client portfolio to an impressive $40 million in New York City. Michele's leadership extends beyond diagnostics and into innovation. She spearheaded the implementation of the first saliva-based COVID-19 PCR test in the New York Metro area, demonstrating her pioneering spirit. Her entrepreneurial flair is further evidenced by her role as the co-founder and CEO of FLOW Dental, a thriving multimillion-dollar cosmetic dental practice. This multifaceted career showcases Michele's unique blend of strategic vision and entrepreneurial acumen.
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Episode Transcript:
Michele Wispelwey 0:00
You have three options in mind, you need to either accept it, change it, or leave it. And you need to pick your path. And whatever that situation may be, whether it's a fight with a partner, how you feel about your body, if you're having health issues, you have those three distinct options in life. And be very clear which one you choose, accept it, change it, or leave it. I think you change it.
Lesley Logan 0:29
Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.
Oh my gosh, you guys get ready. This conversation went everywhere, everywhere, ladies, in all the best ways. And to be honest, like, I knew I wanted to have her on the show. But then we got into talking and I was like, oh, we're gonna have a conversation. So we get down and dirty ladies about women's health and holistic health and signs and symptoms that people are getting confused and what doctors are doing and just all about, well just you know how to have ease in existence, right? Like everyone talks about find your purpose, but like sometimes you can know your purpose and it's not easy. And ease of existence can comes from like having really awesome balanced health and wellness. And so Michele Wispelway of FemGevity is our guest today. Get ready, ladies, this is a good one. So here we go.
All right, Be It babe. I'm super excited to finally get this interview going because I was so excited when I met Michele Wispelway, our guest today, to talk about what she's just excited to talk with you about. And then you know my life. We all got a little bit busy. And so what's so fun about it happening today is this is the exact day that you should be hearing it. It's the exact day we should be talking about it. So Michele, will you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at?
Michele Wispelwey 2:22
Yes. Hi, everyone. I am Michele Wispelway. I am CEO and co founder of FemGevity Health. We are a female longevity medicine and focusing on menopause and perimenopause treatments. I'm also a mom. I'm an aunt, I'm also I'm a sister. I'm lots of other things. But you know, my sole purpose here today is that, CEO of FemGevity.
Lesley Logan 2:45
Okay, so that is really cool. Our ears are all perked up at female longevity and all the things. So I guess how did you get into that? Because I don't know, maybe you grew up going I'm going to be in medicine with female longevity, or I don't know, did you stumble upon it? What was the impetus to it?
Michele Wispelwey 3:03
Yeah, so I, my background was always, I guess from if you want to kind of go back to just college years, right? And what I want to do, and I really wanted to be on the science back end of like diagnostics, and I love the innovation in medicine, and being able to work with doctors to collaborate different type of treatment plans on how their patients live healthier. And that was, really quickly, I learned that that just wasn't the reality of our healthcare system. It was driven by a payer system. And and there's very limited on what women are offered opportunity wise, especially if you are not, you know, top of the echelon of the income be able to pay out of pocket. And through my journey of with my lab background, I really got to see and dig in deeper on like, what I wanted for myself, and what I think other women would want for themselves. So that's what really long story short led led me here. And I also have a very personal journey where my mom actually was really gaslit for many years on what, she had symptoms, what she was told that were just menopause really, actually they call it go and you're just going through your changes.
Lesley Logan 4:23
I do recall my grandma was going through her changes.
Michele Wispelwey 4:27
Yeah, isn't that so tacky? You know, it's like when men said oh, she's on the rag. It's like that type of crap.
Lesley Logan 4:34
Yeah, it is that type of crap. It's just like, can we just call it what it is? It has a name.
Michele Wispelwey 4:39
Yeah, yeah. So my mom actually passed away at 51.
Lesley Logan 4:44
Oh, my gosh that's so young.
Michele Wispelwey 4:45
Yeah, yeah. She was misdiagnosed for years. And she had a lot of spotting and what appeared that it was her changes and fibroids and that is exactly where we still are today with a lot of doctors, majority of doctors, you know, 80% of them have no training on hormones and perimenopause and menopause and just how it affects women's longevity, ovarian preservation, metabolic, you know, cancer prevention, things like that. So I have a few, you know, caveats that have brought me to where I am today. And I think as a little girl, I was always very, I guess you would say neurotic, where I was always like, nervous and like health conscious and, and stuff about like germs. You know, like, I peed my pants all the time in kindergarten, because I never wanted to sit on the toilet because I didn't want to get germs and probably I'm probably diving into like psychological issues that we don't need to do right now. But my point is, I was very big into health and staying healthy and looking for ways to go down that route. So I think it's always inherently been in me. And just has driven me to here today,
Lesley Logan 6:00
Okay, this is, okay, thank you for sharing that. Because yes, I'm, right now, like.
Michele Wispelwey 6:04
Just being honest.
Lesley Logan 6:05
I love it. Because I know I can already picture some of our listeners, I won't say their names who are, probably, doing the same thing. I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. I have many female family members who were misdiagnosed or just kinda pushed the wayside until it was too bad until it was too late. People just dismissing the symptoms as being oh, you know, like my grandmother, oh, she's just taking too many of her pain meds and she actually had more pain meds leftover than she should every month. So like, that can't be. That's, that's not how math works. So you know, and I, and I don't know that if, she did die of brain cancer. I don't know that finding out sooner would have done anything different for her type. But like also, I think she would have spent the last few months of her life feeling like she was a crazy person. You know, being you know, (inaudible) like, I do think that there's some interesting things I'm currently, I'm sure you've heard the book, Michele, but I'm currently reading the book Eve, the history.
Michele Wispelwey 7:01
Oh my God, so am I. It's so good. Did you get to the section yet that men have nipples? (Inaudible)
Lesley Logan 7:09
Every man I meet I'm like, you need to read this book, you're gonna learn that you can breastfeed. And so there are no such thing as gender roles, in my opinion. Also like that there has men currently breastfeeding on the planet.
Michele Wispelwey 7:23
There is, there was a wave of Homosapiens that they took turns where the woman would breastfeed or if she would go out to gather and hunt and he would nurse. So, it's amazing. And men, if you're listening, you can lactate stuff. We can, we can help you.
Lesley Logan 7:39
We can help you. And also apparently, if you got rid of your balls, you could live a longer life. Just another.
Michele Wispelwey 7:45
Yes.
Lesley Logan 7:47
The first chapter had me like going, oh my gosh, I was like Brad, you have to, every person we meet, like, you must read it. Every pregnant woman I mean, like, hold on, you need to understand there's a first and very important thing is the first few chapters go listen.
Michele Wispelwey 8:01
It was amazing. It's a great book. I actually bought it for my co-founder Kristin and I sent it to her last week and she's super excited to read it. We were just talking about the nipple thing today.
Lesley Logan 8:09
Yeah, it's so it's so fascinating. If if Cat Bohannon is listening, I would love to have you on the pod. Anyways, I but I loved it because she's doing this like thorough look. And as you mentioned, like you got into this medicine thinking like you could collaborate, and it's just not what happens. Those of you who live in other countries, maybe it's different for you. But if you're currently living in like a system that is like the U.S. it is non-collaborative, you are going to different silo doctors and you're trying to figure out the wrong with you and everyone is kind of trying to give you a pill to cover up symptoms. It is how I feel about it. And I'm not against medicine. I'm not against science, guys, I'm not, so don't put me in that category. But I get really frustrated because I had a massive health issue for 10 years I got exacerbated because no one would actually like work together like no one was actually understand me and like I said, I'm not sleeping very well anymore. And these things it was just terrible. What happened is I had definitely had some stomach issues and I stopped absorbing nutrition. And then I stopped going through sleep cycles, which means I stopped producing stomach acid, which means it's no longer absorbing nutrition and of course you're not sleeping.
Michele Wispelwey 9:21
Did you have H. Pylori?
Lesley Logan 9:23
No. We did have that. I had that for a little bit then I don't know how long ago that was. But I do remember that one. But yeah, I just like literally finally got someone to listen to me to do a full, full test. Just a full one. Of course this is where money, you have to have money to do this. So was a celebrity in the U.S. in LA., I heard what, who, he used to like gain weight to look like he had done like steroids but not take steroids and I was like who are you doing this with? And he told me about this guy, I was like, I'm gonna go to this guy and this guy looked at my blood and he goes hold on. You have no stomach acid, you're like, no, what is going on? I had no testosterone at that point. Yes, I had that. I mean like, just like I had a ton of (inaudible) there is a metal in my system, it was a whole mess. And I was like, this probably didn't start off this way. But it's gotten to this point because I could not get anyone to actually do an actual panel. And he's like, you don't have any vitamin D? Like you, you know, and I was like, I don't know how it's possible. I'm driving around in a jeep with the top off. I don't understand. So, you know, it took someone like that for me to get to someone who's probably similar to you, who helped me like more holistically and with (inaudible), but to look at the whole picture. So if people are feeling a little bit gaslit, or feeling like a little bit like they're going crazy, what should they be looking for in the medical system? Or how do they find someone like you?
Michele Wispelwey 10:40
Yeah, so everything you said is exactly what we do. So what makes us so different is that we take a full integrative approach, we actually take a longevity medicine approach, because a woman's body at a cellular level is all these interconnected systems, the gut talks to your hormone levels, your estrogen affects your cardiovascular system, your gut affects cognitive, your skin, how you absorb nutrients. And I'll tell you a story about me and that situation too. But you need to look for doctors that aren't just spot treating, that aren't treating you just on your symptoms. And that's the problem. And that's the problem with the US health system is that we treat on sick, we don't, we're reactive, we're not preventive. So you need to find a provider, a GYN that is going to, oh you're tired and fatigued, don't just be like oh, well, let's just do a CBC and a thyroid, let's see what else is going on. Because if your gut is going on, you have acid, you have dysbiosis, you're not going to sleep, you're not going to absorb nutrients, you can have like GERD, a lot of different things, you're, a drop in estrogen is going to affect your cholesterol level. So a lot of women end up going to the cardiologist because they're you know, their LDL is through the roof, or they have (inaudible) issues. And that's actually interconnected with your whole hormonal system. It's all a web, it's not this or that it's the whole complex picture together. And if your doctor doesn't do that, then you need to go because this is like, these are the patients that we see everyday that come to us. And like I've seen this doctor, because, you know, I, you know, I've been to my internist. And then she doesn't know what to do. I've been to my GYN and he said, oh, you just have to wait this out. I've been to my cardiologist because I thought I was having, you know, a heart attack because I had a stiff shoulder. But that's one of the menopause symptoms. So, and that's what we do. We test, we do a full comprehensive hormone (inaudible), we do your gut microbiome, your micronutrient level, and even your food allergy levels to see what type of inflammatory markers your body's reactive to with foods. Because if you're fixing your gut, you kind of need to fix what's causing your inflammation from your food first, before you go in and fix your gut. Because that's just gonna cause your gut to just inflame even more or just fire up or not absorb the nutrients and things like that.
Lesley Logan 13:00
Yeah, I definitely, I definitely learned that with the stomach, like if you just start to like, take different things for the stomach. The way that the stomach microbiome works, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, it's like what you're eating, you kind of start to crave more of, because that's what your microbiome is actually eating off of. And so if you're used to eating inflammatory foods, you've got a microbiome that's dealing with all of that, and you just go and put medicine on that if you can change the food intake, you get more organisms down there that can help with the situation. Is that right?
Michele Wispelwey 13:28
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's, that's definitely along the lines. And you definitely want you know, things like oregano oil, and a lot of probiotics, Akkermensia, we, I do a lot of things, things like that. But the thing is, and that's the thing with like, personalized medicine is what we are at FemGevity's, I can say, oh, yeah, you should take that. But you shouldn't be taking anything until you have testing to see what your body needs, right? So I could be like, take this oregano oil and take this probiotic and take Akkermensia. Yeah. But if, your your body may not need it, right, you know, you go to your internist and they'll say, take your vitamin D and a multivitamin and omega, well, how do you know what I should be taking? You know, like, you don't know what I'm missing.
Lesley Logan 14:13
Right. And also, if your stomach isn't absorbing nutrition, is it getting (inaudible)?
Michele Wispelwey 14:20
Flushing it out. You know what's interesting, I was at the pediatrician with my daughter yesterday, she had (inaudible) and she had this like this whatever a gland or not, whatever it is, we're following it and I because I have access to this testing. So my daughter's like, you know, very tired and kind of cranky and stuff like that. So I did a full micronutrient panel on her and she's gonna be a lab bench. Her CoQ10 is low, her vitamin C is low, her zinc is low, and her omega is low. And I'm like, this is why my child is cranky and she's tired and her stomach hurts. But and I just tested the pediatrician yesterday. I said, oh, what do you think we, she's really tired. What do you think we should do? What do you think? She's like well, her CBC and thyroid were fine last year. And she's, she's hormonal, so she's okay. And I'm like, that's exactly why you need a full integrative doctor because I'm listening to her, my child is gonna still continue on this this endless route of feeling worse.
Lesley Logan 15:22
Yeah. Also a year ago, my dentist won't let me go more than a year without checking my teeth with an X-ray. Do you know what I mean? I'm like, is this really necessary? Like, well, it's been a year, and I'm like, okay, like, it's my teeth. Like your blood tests, especially on a young child. I think it's amazing that you, I mean good for you. and also like your daughter, so lucky. But it's so interesting, because now it makes me think like, a lot of our people who are listening are parents and like, your child might be cranky, not because they haven't slept enough, but maybe like something is off.
Michele Wispelwey 15:54
It's vitamin and she, actually I, then I also did a one step further, I did a gut microbiome and tested her poop. And she had H. Pylori. And that's why her stomach was hurting. So that's why it's like you can't, you know, I have my own theories on uncertain things. But that's why I always need to take it that way, five steps further.
Lesley Logan 16:15
When I lived in LA, it felt like so accessible to find someone like you. And now I live in Las Vegas, and I'm sure it exists. I haven't looked because luckily, I can just go to L.A. and see my person but like, but like, but also, can people access someone like you and live in a different part of the country? Like is what you do accessible in a mail order sort of thing? Like, yeah.
Michele Wispelwey 16:42
Yeah. Which is great. And I should have mentioned that we are virtual healthcare. Totally telemedicine, convenience of your home. And that's how we're able to keep the costs down. And because we're not a brick-and-mortar, we don't have all this crazy overhead. And we're able to offer this type of concierge care and precision medicine to women all over the country.
Lesley Logan 17:02
That's so cool. That is, okay, so that's amazing. So you can telemedicine, people all over the country can access you. And so let's say they do have someone that they trust, or they they want to test their own doctors, like they're not, they're not ready for telemedicine are they testing the doctors to just because I had a doctor that I totally tested. And I got really mad at her. And then I got an email or letter that said she's out of network now, I'm like, thanks, I didn't want to see her anyways. She, I was like, I want to get these things tested on my hormones. And she said, oh, you can't test those they change all day long. And I was (inaudible) and I was like, I'm, these test exists for a reason means you can and if you know how to read them based on where I'm at my cycle, and I do know where I am my cycle, you should know. And she was like, well, I could order it. But it's it's not gonna say anything. And I was like, it's not your money. And I don't want you to have the results. So no, but like, what should people be asking their doctors to see if the doctor they have is someone that they can trust or work with? Who is going to do the whole thing?
Michele Wispelwey 18:06
Yeah, so a couple things, I would get all your hormones, progesterone, estrogen, make sure they're looking at your cortisol, your insulin levels, make sure they're looking at your lipids, make sure you look into your DHEA ,your HMH because you want to actually check your ovarian aging levels. If they have access to it, I would order a lot of like heavy metals. See the magnesium, mercury, you do a lot of amino acids and antioxidant testing. Glutathione testing is really good. We're big advocates of testing for that. If gut microbiome testing and make sure they're doing H. Pylori, if you really have to test from the stool, doing bloods is just, for H. Pylori purposes, it's just not because it lives in your intestinal tract and stuff like that. Food allergy testing, but just there's specific labs that do PCR DNA sequencing, too. So you also have to ask them, like, what labs are you using? What's the methodology and I know that's like, not something everyone wants to go into. But at the very least, have them do a very full comprehensive hormone asset, your thyroid your FSH, your LH, prolactin, estradiol, do it all.
Lesley Logan 19:16
Wow. Okay, so everyone, don't worry, the show is transcribed, it's on the blog, and you can copy and paste.
Michele Wispelwey 19:23
We have a lot of information on our website and blogs. My co-founder does a ton of like, videos where she talks about things a lot hormonal-wise because she does a lot of our medical protocols. And you know, yeah, so that you could find that all there not to be wary but and also women in their 30s, you should be getting your levels tested because you want a baseline, you want to know what you are now. So when you're like in your 40s and your levels are this you could compare them to what they were because even if you're like feeling am I feeling good, am I feeling not? You know you're like able to guide yourself very closely and almost like preventing yourself from symptoms and being able to live symptom-free before it hits.
Lesley Logan 20:07
Yeah. And I actually want to chat about that because like one of my girlfriends, you know, she, she's going through the changes. Oh my God, I was going to say, no, so she's you know, she's 10 years older than me and she, you know, was assuming she is premenopausal and was just all these different things were happening. And she was also slowly over time and I was like, I think you might want to just talk with your doctor about like, really, truly like looking into why are you so tired all the time? Why are you having these aches and pains? Why is your hip bothering you? Like you have this? It's, you're, it's not because you're 50. It's not just because you're 50. Right? Like, if you're gonna live to 80, this is early, it's too early to go through all these pain points. So she finally, like really sought something out, like went for it. And then they gave her some hormones because her hormones were off. And she's like, holy moly, Lesley. I was so, like, I feel like I am unstoppable. And I was like, for years, she's been slowly over time managing it, in air quotes, managing it. And I think that we are trained from, I don't know, just society that like, it's, we'll just manage it, we'll just figure it out. We'll just do it later. And like, it's actually okay to demand that you feel really good all the time, especially if you're doing all the things if you're moving your body, if you're trying to sleep, if you're, if you're like trying to drink the clean water, like all the things like you should ideally feel good.
Michele Wispelwey 21:34
Yeah, it's been very just highly accepted and overrated, that you just have to kind of deal with it. And it's a part of aging, and you're supposed to be tired, or you're supposed to have an ache or pain. That is not supposed to be how you're supposed to feel. I'm 43 and I feel better now than when I felt in my 30s. And, you know, I actually have more energy, because you're just more aware of how you're supposed to take care of yourself. So, you know, imagine if, like, younger women start understanding how they're supposed to feel and start feeling even more energetic in their 30s. And as you build up and progress, you're just gonna keep feeling better. And, you know, be able to get up from the floor when you're 75 and play with your grandkids.
Lesley Logan 22:18
Yeah, and have the energy too, it's not just the strength too, but also all of the things that go with it. Okay, you mentioned something that like piqued my interest. You said someone had a shoulder issue and they were there so and it was perimenopausal, not a heart attack, or whatever. Are there any other symptoms like that that we should be aware of that like we may be perimenopausal but we might think are something else because I or maybe I've just opened up a can of worms because I feel like a like perimenopause. Unfortunately, menopause has not been studied nearly enough. I got really pissed off, did you hear this? There was a daily episode, probably six months ago, where this one scientist was trying to get research money for menopause. And the way he was able to get actual funding from people for his testing that he wanted to do was just to turn the title to like, well, if women stopped turning into men, then their husbands would want them longer. So if we can keep them women longer, and that's how he got the funding, and I was so irritated that that's how money, I was like, (inaudible) you should have been studying this already. So disgusting. So infuriating. He got money for it. And so yay. But also like, unfortunately, we haven't studied this long enough. And so we don't know enough everything I've ever been told that you just have hot flashes, and that you gain weight. But like you just mentioned a (inaudible) I've never heard of before. So like, what are some of those things that might people might be putting off that could actually have to do with like a hormone change happening?
Michele Wispelwey 23:49
Yeah, so stiff shoulder like frozen shoulder, itchy ears, a ringing in the ear. Some women become like, like kind of like vertigo, off balanced. There's, I mean, there's 100 plus symptoms (inaudible).
Lesley Logan 24:03
That's crazy. Just the ones you listed are like I was like, oh, I trip a lot.
Michele Wispelwey 24:09
Yeah. You know, you're and you're like, do I have a brain tumors? You know, like there's some very serious symptoms. You know, women have like weird just like pains that you know, you start pulling things easier just because you have a higher likelihood for bone fractures and osteoporosis. So there's much easier breakage and there's a lot of a lot of women end up like having like a slipped disc or like, you know, like a joint pain or pull like a something in their shoulder. And you hear if you list start paying attention and listening like more women in the 40s 50s and 60s will be like, oh, I went to the chiropractor or the acupuncture, my back's acting up again and you ask them well, what did you do through perimenopause, especially if it's a woman who was in her 60s, I bet you she didn't do anything when she was going through perimenopause and menopause, and now it's catching up to her big time.
Lesley Logan 25:03
Oh, okay, so this is interesting, okay, so (inaudible).
Michele Wispelwey 25:05
Especially (inaudible) and testosterone is like maintaining your levels of testosterone is huge for women, your body composition is made up of much more testosterone than it is of any other hormone. We just have a smaller formula of it in our body, formula, composition of it.
Lesley Logan 25:23
Yeah, that's what, that's the one that like, I'm really, really honest with everyone listening, I have been trying for years to maintain that level. I mean, I lift the heavy weights, I'm now, I'd take a CJC, which is not really for testosterone, but like, it's supposed to help me just feel good. But like, I cannot keep that level up to a number that is anything better than below average. And I'm like, do I just need to actually take testosterone and I'm like, Oh, my God, my grandmother had a beard. So like, I haven't gone down that rabbit hole. (inaudible)
Michele Wispelwey 25:53
I mean, unless you're like rubbing it on your, on your, on your (inaudible) and you want a beard, then, you now, hell go for it, whatever, it's 2024. But, you know, you know, I, listen, I'm not the medical provider and the clinician, but there's could be a lot of things for you. Like, who knows what your progesterone level is? I don't know if you're on a Mirena IUD that's causing progestin, and you're getting over an estrogen dominance and and stripping your testosterone so there's like a lot of different things. I think you're probably younger than me. So these are all these factors that are like fully integrated and like a lot of physicians don't understand it, and they don't think about it so if you can't maintain your testosterone levels, there's there's a reason why it just does not because just because like you know you yeah, so just like think about those things they're interesting.
Lesley Logan 26:40
I also just I want to just highlight something you're you've done you guys often listen to this every time something has come up she has mentioned that there's more than like, it's not just like this or this. Like there's this and then also there's a few other things that this could be going on. And I think that's so important. You're, anytime we're with a medical provider, they, there needs to be a holistic look at things because otherwise they're putting a bandaid on something or they can make something worse because it's totally off like they could be training you for a heart attack. And (inaudible) did you (inaudible) did you read Halle Berry's doctor mistook her perimenopause for like gonorrhea like a bad case of gonorrhea? (inaudible)
Michele Wispelwey 27:25
Imagine, I mean, the poor woman, she probably has such vaginal dryness and like, you know, God only knows what's cool because there's a lot of stuff goes on down there. You know, you lose your atrophy and your collagen in there and it starts thinning out and then you know why? You know why she probably thought that? Because she probably had persistent UTIs because women when they're they start losing their testosterone, they got a lot of vaginal dryness and a lot of reoccurring. UTIs. So he she probably he'd probably get them tested for STDs. And if only he would have given her some bioidentical estrogen, your vagina would have felt a lot better. And the poor thing wouldn't have been accused of gonorrhea. I'm from like, the the lab world, right? So like, doctor's order, you know, urine cultures constantly. Any woman's like, you know, oh, I have a pain or have an itch or something. They're like, oh, do you have a UTI? Or is it (inaudible)? You know, they don't think that like, oh, maybe you have some hormonal thing going on. They don't even test your hormones. Like at your annuals, they don't look at anything. It's not even a part of like the health insurance. You have to do. It's preventative codes. The only thing is preventative is a PAP, not even HPV. That's like considered diagnostics. It's like, it's absurd.
Lesley Logan 28:37
(Inaudible) I know, I am too. I'm really excited that this conversation like so okay, because this will just like horrify you. So when I had been (inaudible) on birth control in high school, I went on the patch because I was like, yeah, I'll put this on because I don't have to do a pill at the same time every day. (Inaudible) a badge, it was like you can put it on your arm or on your hip or whatever. Of course, you guys, you guys. I can't wear a BandAid, okay, not longer than a day, I just switched the BandAid out. So of course, like, every time I took this patch off, I had like a red square, super sexy, like everybody wants to be near that. And so I gotta keep moving the patch around. Anyways, I guess like it was but I was like, no, I don't want to be on the pill because I'm gonna have to remember to take anything and we're supposed like low hormone, the whole thing like you won't get a blood clot because it's like, it's like, easy the way that all the things I was told, right? So fast forward two years and I'm in a car accident. I'm on bed rest for a week. I get off bedrest and my leg is super swollen and it's getting hot. And I am it's I'm at work and it's now throbbing. And so I go to an urgent care and I was like, I think I have a blood clot. And he's like, no one was like, I can't sleep because I'm in so much pain. And I watched an infomercial on a blood clot. I think I have one. I have all the symptoms and the guy's like you're too young for blood clot. Kid you're not too young for blood clots, ice and elevate your leg. You were in a car accident a week ago. It's swollen from that. I was like this person doesn't, is not listening to me. And the worst thing I can do is elevate this leg. So I went to work because I had to go back and I, you know, unfortunately, had to pay my own bills. So go to work and it's now getting bigger you guys, like my leg was like twice the size (inaudible). It was I felt maybe it wasn't that big, but it felt that big. So I then went to the emergency room. And I walk in, and I'm like, well limping in because I can barely walk my like, and the nurse goes, oh my god, I think you have a blood clot. And I was like, thank you. I think so too. So sure enough I have a blood clot, (inaudible) and the hospital, I was pulled off of birth control, not by my gynecologist from then, but from a different one who looked at my history and just like, oh, she's like, I think you might be susceptible to clotting based on your family's history. You should not be on these hormones. And so I got on the copper IUD, which of course made my periods the worst thing in the world forever, for fucking ever. So, but anyways, I don't have children. And at the time, I was single. So here we are. So have this copper IUD. And aside from the bad periods, no problems whatsoever, it was pretty easy. Everything was like on time, go to get it removed. And I'd moved. And no one could find it. And they saw I'm at Planned Parenthood, they can't find it. They're like, I'm like, well, it's in there. I'm telling you right now it's there, I know, it's there. I can feel it's there. Right? So you got to like so sure enough, I got my insurance to cover a visit with a gynecologist. And she finds it with what an ultrasound a sonogram, whichever the one is. And it's like in the, I guess it's like in the uterus, and it was like off to the side and turned around. So this, this, the strings were facing the wrong way. So they had to go in with a camera. And this is, will piss you off, even though she could find it that day, my insurance would not let her remove it that day. I had to come back for another visit, to have it removed. And I was and she was like I would do it. But I'm like, can't you just like say I came back another day. Like, I'll just, I'll sign I swear. So anyways, I had that removed, it's now been out for almost two years, best thing I ever did is like have nothing. It's like I'm I'm so cyclical, it's I'm on time, all the time. It's amazing. But it's just the comedy of errors. Like what I would, it's a lot. So you know, I share all that with you. Because like, ladies, if you're listening, it's you're not the only one, even if you are advocating for yourself. And even if you're trying to educate yourself, it can be really difficult to navigate the medical system to get help for yourself.
Michele Wispelwey 32:41
It really is, especially the payer system. And it's more difficult now, because a lot of independent physicians are being bought by hospital systems and peer networks because they can't afford to stay in business because, you know, the inflation, right, it's the cost to operate. But the reimbursements are going down. And there's only so many, you know, insurances that you can go to network with. So you're just being it just intertwined or being more caught up in the system. And that's why, you know, we're so adamant on, you know, doing what we do, and so passionate about it, because, you know, being in the lab industry, and Kristin had her own practice for many, many, many years. We know what the payer system is and prevents from women living longer, healthier lives, it just doesn't allow it. So there needs to be companies like FemGevity and, and others to be able to provide these opportunities to live longer and healthier and vibrant and build like an ecosystem and community support where women could be like, vulnerable and talk to each other about these things. Because it's embarrassing, you know, not everyone like where's everything on their sleeve? You know, so.
Lesley Logan 33:48
Yeah, I have some girl friends who are like, they're like, I know, I talked about perimenopause all the time, like you should. I don't know anything about it. No one in my life talked about it. So they talked about it after it's over. So I would like I think it's important that we hear these things. I want to go into something so before because like, you've given us so much, but I feel like you are providing something to be unique and to be this different. And to get into the world. You're trying to get through all around all the different obstacles, and there's just all these different things that would probably keep FemGevity from working. How do you have that kind of resilience? How do you stay in line with your purpose? Like, what is it that you practice every day? Because it's, it can't be easy to have this vision and this idea and know what you can do to change women's lives and also know how hard it is for them to get to you.
Michele Wispelwey 34:29
Yeah, so, you know, I think the biggest part of me is, you know, I've been through a lot and I'm not afraid of failure and you can't take risks and you can't grow as a person if you're afraid to fail. And, and that's, you know, failure really brings success and it brings it brings a system and you know a person who has been like kind of knocked out of phase his resilience is really like the strongest factor that contributes to a survive level of a system and possibility to really reach your full potential. And I think what's helped me is to really live by like a system right and because it's like a structure and life is a bunch of like interconnected systems like we say with FemGevity right with finding healthcare and, and once you see that it's when harmony and energy truly evolve, and you get closer to your goals. And you really get to this like perpetual state where you get to this like paradox world of having deeper clarity of what you want and to achieve. And I just feel that you know, it, the purpose of it is to like, live with high energy, effortless existence, because at the end, end of the day, you have limited amount of capacity. And it drains, you know, drains you because it's like decision-making, stress, what you're eating, how you're sleeping, and having like an optimized system on how you go about life, the more you're going to get out of it. And there's going to be like, there's going to be dysfunction in life in general. And, like believing that, you know, just because you have dysfunction means it's not possible to be happy. And it just helps you to drive to like more essentialism and making it your own ecosystem. And like a better quality of life.
Lesley Logan 36:24
Yeah, before we hit record you were talking about effortless existence, I will say like life can be so hard. And then as we've talked about all the different things that we could control with our health. If everything was imbalanced, I think it'd be so much easier to show up as an effort in effortless existence. I mean, I feel like if you have all these different hormones, but all your you know, happy hormones that are like actually leveled out, like, you probably it'd be probably be easier to show up and, and be in the world.
Michele Wispelwey 36:51
Yeah, it's, you know, it's effortless. It's easier to deal with, like the obstacles because you get out of bed and you're hit with your kids or your work and an email and, and just like constant things that can really just like, just set you over the edge over the cliff, you know, where you want to, like, have a nervous breakdown. But if you're balancing your health, that's what's going to keep you on a straight, narrow road, where you're not going to be having huge spikes where it's going to make you want to drop down too far.
Lesley Logan 37:19
Yeah, I can totally see how that works out. Because I do have a lot of people who are like, Lesley, I'm doing all the things, I've my dream schedule designed. And I'm like, I've got you know, I'm doing all the things for my business but like these things happen, and I just want to quit, I just want to give up and it's like, well, first of all, there's, as you mentioned, like, gotta get over, gotta get over the failure, can't be afraid of failure, you've got to do that. And I think especially when you're feeling exhausted and tired, you so a failure feels really hard.
Michele Wispelwey 37:46
It is, I mean, it really isn't granted, like, you know, running a startup, there's a lot of failures. And you're like, oh my gosh, do I suck at life? Or is it just a bad day? But I'm like, no, I'm going to use this as an opportunity to learn and not make that decision again, you know, and, and it's hard to get in that mindset, especially when you're like, yeah, having a bad day.
Lesley Logan 38:11
Yeah. So okay, I do, I may think being okay with failure is what resilience really is. It's like, how did you get good at? How did you get okay with failure? Is it because you practice medicine and medicine is really a practice? Or is it like, were you raised that way? Like, because I feel like so many people, our listeners are super perfectionist, it means, no failure is ever allowed. So how did you get good at being okay with failure?
Michele Wispelwey 38:36
I think I once I learned to have confidence in myself, and to trust my own decisions. And, and I think I also started to become more balanced with being intentional and trusting my instincts. And I think once I grew into that, and you know, throughout my, like professional career, it was, it was hard, you had to, you know, grinding it out. It was a very male-dominated industry. And I second-guessed myself a lot. And a lot of those second guesses that I had, where I didn't listen to my gut, I made bad decisions. So I think I know that sounds ridiculous, but I got there from making my mistakes and getting back up. And I just kind of like no mercy I think is also like the way my my dad brought me up. He was very tough. He was, you know, like, if you was in the military and stuff like that. So I think it's the way I grew up and just grown up with like divorced parents and things like that. You're just mentally tough, you know, biking blood.
Lesley Logan 39:45
But I think that like thanks for sharing that because I do think that so many people can see maybe they grew up with divorced parents like you or they had all the tough parents or all these things and they don't realize that they have this like superpower of resilience that they can be taking with them into things like you know.
Michele Wispelwey 40:00
You know what, that's what it is. You have to find your superpower. And my superpower is resilience and to work under fire. And if you embrace your superpower, and your superpower can be like lying compulsively, who cares? That's your superpower and own it but find to use it in a good way not to like, you know, hurt people. But you know, like Superman.
Lesley Logan 40:26
Yeah. Okay. I love that. Michelle, this has been so good, you are amazing. We're to take a brief break and we can find out where people can find you, work with you in FemGevity.
All right, Michele, where can people find you and work with you?
Michele Wispelwey 40:40
They could find us on femgevityhealth.com our social handle is @femgevity. We are on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn. And we have live text and chat on our website, too, if ladies have any questions.
Lesley Logan 40:59
So good. Okay, you guys. Go check it out. I'm, I'm going to, I'm gonna get down. We're gonna figure out this testosterone thing.
Michele Wispelwey 41:08
We're gonna figure it out. We're gonna figure it out for you.
Lesley Logan 41:10
This is the year, this is the year I'm doing it. Okay (inaudible), but could you, could you, can you, can you understand why, why I've delayed it? Right? So long. I'm like, oh, I don't know, my grandmother had like a beard.
Michele Wispelwey 41:23
We won't give you a beard. We'll just give you chest hair.
Lesley Logan 41:28
Oh, my God. My grandmother was up there going are you, have you lost your mind? Anyways, okay, so you've given us so much already bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it, what do you have for us?
Michele Wispelwey 41:44
Okay, you have three options in mind, you need to either accept it, change it, or leave it. And you need to pick your path. And whatever that situation may be, whether it's a fight with a partner, how you feel about your body. If you're having health issues, you have those three distinct options in life. And be very clear which one you choose, accept it, change it, or leave it? I think you change it.
Lesley Logan 42:14
Yeah, oh, I love these because that can be everything that's coming up. And also, you can also say, I'm gonna leave it on until this date, and then I'm gonna change it.
Michele Wispelwey 42:25
Yeah, those are like your, your rocks, you know, where we actually have company rocks where we set what, each quarter in the beginning of the quarter, we set our goals, personal and professional. And then we go back three, four months later and go and reevaluate them. So you can you can leave it now and change it in three months. But don't ever accept it. Like, your health and what doctors are telling you. Because there's always a way maybe no for now, but not no for later.
Lesley Logan 42:58
Yeah. I love that. I love that. No accepting it when it comes to your health you guys. You guys can now reach out to Michelle and FemGevity because what you created for women is so cool. The fact that it can be telemedicine. I'm just so I'm so excited for everyone listening. All right, y'all. How are you going to use these tips in your life? Make sure you tag Michele, make sure you tag the Be It Pod, share this, okay, so here's my action plan for you. The only way women actually can get the help that they want is if they know what they need to ask for. Okay, so if doctors were hearing questions from their patients who actually were like I did the research here are the tests I want, the only way we can get them to change, or at least for you to know that that's not the doctor you need for it. We can I think that women are so powerful that if we rose up together and demanded that professionals take care of us holistically, it's the only way it's gonna change things until then, you can go see Michele. But so share this with your, with a friend who needs to hear it because you're not crazy. There's nothing. It's not, nothing wrong with you. They just haven't figured it out yet. And it's because you (inaudible) holistic look at it. So thank you all so much, Michelle, thank you so much for what you've done here.
Michele Wispelwey 44:05
Thank you. It's been so amazing.
Lesley Logan 44:06
Yeah, so awesome. All right, loves, until next time, Be It Till You See It.
That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day.
Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.
Brad Crowell 44:54
It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.
Lesley Logan 44:58
It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.
Brad Crowell 45:03
Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.
Lesley Logan 45:10
Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.
Brad Crowell 45:13
Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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