Functional Medicine Reality Podcast

This is a deeply personal and meaningful episode.

In this conversation, I’m joined by Mary Jo Anderson, who courageously shares her health journey for the first time publicly. This episode marks the beginning of a longer, unfolding story and a new chapter for both Mary Jo and this podcast.

Mary Jo’s story is not just about chronic illness or Lyme disease. It is about what it feels like to slowly lose your health, to feel unseen and unheard, and to keep going even when answers are not coming.

What This Episode Is Really About

At its core, this episode explores:

• What it feels like to slowly stop feeling well when life once felt full and vibrant
• How chronic symptoms can be dismissed or minimized within the healthcare system
• The emotional and relational toll of prolonged, unexplained illness
• The loneliness that can exist even when you are surrounded by people who love you
• The breaking point that forces many patients to seek a different path
• The power of listening to your intuition when something does not feel right
• Why resilience is often built through suffering, not before it
• How vulnerability can open doors for healing and connection

Mary Jo shares honestly about pain, fear, self doubt, and the moments when she questioned whether she would survive. She also shares about faith, perseverance, and the quiet strength it takes to keep searching for answers.

A Story Many Will Recognize

If you have ever:

• Been told your labs are normal while your body says otherwise
• Felt dismissed, minimized, or labeled without explanation
• Wondered if your symptoms were “all in your head”
• Felt like you were carrying your illness alone
• Had to fight for answers while caring for others

This story will resonate deeply.

Why This Episode Matters

Mary Jo’s journey reflects the lived experience of countless patients navigating chronic illness. It highlights the limitations of a system that often lacks time, depth, or tools to fully see complex cases.

It also reminds us that healing is rarely instant, rarely linear, and often begins with being truly heard.

This episode focuses on the beginning of her story, including the years before diagnosis and the emotional reality of being undiagnosed. In future episodes, we will explore her diagnosis, treatment journey, and ongoing healing in greater depth.

Key Takeaway

If something feels wrong in your body, listen.
If you are not being helped, keep looking.
And if you are in a dark place, you are not weak for needing support.

Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is keep going.

Ready to stop guessing and finally get a clear plan?

Join Dr. Su for the Ask Dr. Mark Clinical Q&A Call, a small-group call limited to about five people each month where you can bring your real questions and get real direction.

Book your spot: https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark

Or download the free Lab Results Guide if you have ever been told your labs are normal while still feeling terrible:

 https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/

Connect with Dr. Su: IG | @rootseekhealth

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

Mold is a real issue, but the conversation around it has become increasingly extreme and overwhelming.

In this episode, I’m joined by Mike Schrantz, an indoor environmental professional and long-time colleague, for an honest, grounded discussion about mold, sick buildings, and how environmental health intersects with human health in the real world.

Together, we explore how fear-based, black-and-white thinking has caused unnecessary stress, financial strain, and confusion for many patients. We talk about why mold illness is legitimate, but rarely simple, and why balance matters more than absolutes.

In This Episode, We Discuss

• Why mold-related illness is real, but not always binary
• The difference between what is common and what is truly normal
• Why “mold free” is often an unrealistic goal
• The concept of normal fungal ecology
• How geography, season, and lifestyle affect indoor environments
• Why most homes do not require extreme remediation
• The role of fear, stress, and overwhelm in chronic illness
• How sequencing and realistic expectations support healing
• Why progress matters more than perfection

Key Takeaway

Healing does not require eliminating every possible variable.
It requires thoughtful decisions, realistic expectations, and reducing the most meaningful sources of stress and exposure.

Mold exposure deserves respect, not panic.

About Michael Schrantz, IEP Michael Schrantz is a certified indoor environmental professional (IEP) and the founder of Environmental Analytics. He has worked with thousands of clients navigating mold-related illness and environmentally complex cases, and he hosts the IEP Radio podcast. Michael is a recurring guest on the Functional Medicine Reality Podcast and brings the perspective of both a seasoned environmental professional and someone who has personally walked through chronic illness and come out the other side.

Website: environmentalanalytics.net 

Podcast: IEPradio.com

Ready to stop guessing and finally get a clear plan?

Join Dr. Su for the Ask Dr. Mark Clinical Q&A Call, a small-group call limited to about five people each month where you can bring your real questions and get real direction.

Book your spot: https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark

Or download the free Lab Results Guide if you have ever been told your labs are normal while still feeling terrible:

 https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/

Connect with Dr. Su: IG | @rootseekhealth

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

I’m Dr. Mark Su, a conventionally trained physician, functional medicine practitioner, and lifelong student of the why behind symptoms.

This podcast was born out of real-life questions, real patient stories, and a deep sense that the healthcare conversation needs more honesty, nuance, and humanity. Not perfection. Not dogma. Just reality.

In this kickoff episode, I share three confessions, a few pivotal stories from my clinical journey, and the deeper reason this podcast exists in the first place.

Three Confessions (Right Out of the Gate)

1. I’m not here for the reasons you think I am.
   This podcast isn’t about trends, protocols, or being “anti” anything. It’s about understanding people and physiology more deeply.
2. This podcast is non-compliant.
   Meaning we’re willing to ask uncomfortable questions, challenge oversimplified narratives, and sit in the gray when the truth isn’t black and white.
3. I only practice some of what I preach.
   Because I’m human too. And real healing requires honesty, not a pedestal.

The Question That Changed Everything

Early in my career, I noticed something that didn’t make sense.

Patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia would tell me that when they took antibiotics for unrelated infections, their joint pain and muscle pain improved.

That shouldn’t happen, at least not according to conventional training.

So I had to ask myself:

What am I missing?
And more importantly:

What are we missing as a system?

That question opened the door to functional medicine, chronic infections like Lyme disease, and eventually environmental factors such as mold-related illness.

From Symptoms to Root Causes

In this episode, I walk through:

• How symptom-based diagnoses like fibromyalgia often describe what someone feels but not why
• How functional medicine reframes chronic illness through systems biology and root-cause thinking
• Why some patients heal dramatically when the right missing piece is identified and why others don’t yet

I also share real patient stories. These are individuals who were told their symptoms were due to aging, stress, or “nothing serious,” only to experience profound improvement when the underlying cause was finally addressed.

Why This Podcast Exists

This show is for you if:

• You’ve been dismissed, minimized, or told “your labs are normal”
• You feel overwhelmed by conflicting health information
• You’re tired of binary thinking like all pharma versus no pharma or it’s all in your head versus it’s all physical
• You want clarity, not fear
• You believe healing is possible, even if the path isn’t linear

We’ll talk about inflammation, infections, mold, medications, supplements, environment, mindset, and the lived experience of patients and practitioners alike.

Always with nuance.
Always with compassion.
Never with guarantees.

This podcast is about education and awareness, not diagnosis or prescriptions.
My goal is to help you think more clearly, ask better questions, and feel more confident in your healthcare decisions.

Because when you understand why your body is doing what it’s doing, everything changes.

Thanks for being here at the beginning.
Let’s get real and let’s get results.

Ready to stop guessing and finally get a clear plan?

Join Dr. Su for the Ask Dr. Mark Clinical Q&A Call, a small-group call limited to about five people each month where you can bring your real questions and get real direction.

Book your spot: https://go.rootseekhealth.com/askdrmark

Or download the free Lab Results Guide if you have ever been told your labs are normal while still feeling terrible:

 https://labsoptin.rootseekhealth.com/labs/

Connect with Dr. Su: IG | @rootseekhealth

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.