Dr. Sannelli was convinced she had an undiagnosed thyroid condition many years ago while training at the Institute for Functional Medicine. She was cold all the time, had severely dry skin, high cholesterol, depression, hair loss and sleep disturbance. Dr. Sannelli did not test positive for the two baseline thyroid markers, but eventually went to an endocrinologist to ask for more testing. She had an ultrasound done of her thyroid, and it showed a nodule with blood vessels going to it. Dr. Sannelli knew that was not a good sign, and requested a biopsy. The endocrinologist insisted a biopsy was not necessary, but Dr. Sannelli trusted her intuition, and got the biopsy which revealed that the nodule was cancerous. She needed a total thyroidectomy.  Thanks to her training, faith in God and gut instinct, Dr. Sannelli is alive and has never felt better!

The lesson she learned as both a patient and doctor is that if someone has most of the signs and symptoms of a condition, regardless of "normal" baseline markers, dig deeper to find the root cause. Don't give up until you have answers and solutions. It can save your life!