Dr. Hope's name is apropos of her work -- she most definitely gave me hope when I was at the very end of my rope.
I flew across the country to see Dr. Hope when so many other avenues -- including some of the most prestigious medical institutions in the country -- failed to be able to address my environmental illness. She was amazing. Incredibly patient and compassionate. I was so scared and overwhelmed, and she understood that and was kind on top of being incredibly competent. She explained to me the science of what was going on, which no one else could really do. Plus, her treatment was systematic and scientifically logic -- there are a lot of other doctors out there doing some weird treatments that morph and seem to be unethical human experimentation. A few months after I started seeing her, a friend of mine who is a molecular biologist physician trained at NIH to treat unusual illnesses reviewed her protocol and agreed with all of the aspects of her treatment, confirming I was in good hands.
I found her office to be clean and hygienic and her practice professional. Yes, it is quite small and has a lot of equipment in a small amount of space, but that's how traditional family doctors work -- I certainly wouldn't skip over her expertise because she runs an intimate practice. I saw some doctors in mighty fancy offices who had nowhere near the level of expertise and understanding she had.
The treatment was rigorous and very difficult, but she was incredibly supportive. She went out of her way to research and recommended some other avenues that were instrumental in my healing.
She was extremely considerate of my *considerable* financial limitations and sympathetic to the fact that my environmental illness also meant that a lot of my finances were going into replacing most of the things I had to throw out because of the environmental contamination. She helped me sort out which tests and treatments were the priorities, and which would have less impact and were lower priority.
When I came to Dr. Hope I was so ill I was barely functioning. Having an environmental illness fundamentally changes everything about your life. I'll never go back to the person I was before I got sick. But Dr. Hope gave me a chance at a quality of life that I never thought I'd be able to have. read more