Is this a true story?

Yes. Dr. Traci Potterf is a real person who shared their own story in their own words. Kintsugi Heroes is a not-for-profit that shares first-person stories of overcoming adversity, told with the person's consent.

What organisation produced this?

Kintsugi Heroes, a registered Australian not-for-profit. Every story is shared with the hero's own consent and reviewed under Kintsugi Heroes' trauma-informed content standard before it goes public.

What did Dr. Traci Potterf learn from this experience?

When your body is poisoned at the level of your nervous system, you seem crazy to people around you, fearful, shaking, crying, and what they want to do is push you away instead of help you.

What would Dr. Traci Potterf want listeners to know?

Doctors can help keep you alive and give you diagnostics, but you heal you; the best outcomes come from finding someone who has walked that path before and has the toolbox to help, not just the person you have always known.

What helped Dr. Traci Potterf most along the way?

Healing is not linear; you will have better days and worse days, setbacks and re-exposures, but knowing this is coming means you don't give up when things get worse again.

What would Dr. Traci Potterf tell someone going through something similar?

The real change happened when Dr. Potterf started using basic tools, sleep, earth, water, temperature, rest, instead of forcing her way through, and permission to do nothing became the thing that made healing possible.

What topics does this episode cover?

This conversation includes a weight drops without trying, learning what sickness really comes from, her mother almost dies three times, proving remission is possible, getting sicker while doing everything right and the peeling paint that was poisoning her.

Healing from a Toxic Home Through Functional Medicine

Kintsugi Studio

Healing from a Toxic Home Through Functional Medicine | Kintsugi Heroes Stories

Overview

Dr. Traci Potterf spent nine years unknowingly poisoning herself. Living in a rental with crumbling lead paint and mold, she developed tremors, blurred vision, debilitating headaches, muscle pain that felt like fibromyalgia, and a growing list of symptoms that made no sense. She was meditating two hours a day, eating cleanly, exercising regularly. By every measure she knew, she was doing everything right. Doctors offered blank stares or told her it was just aging. Then one day, a meditation brought sudden clarity: she tested her home and found lead everywhere, in the peeling paint, the kitchen cabinets, the dust she'd been breathing for nine years. The moment she reported it, her landlord gave her three weeks' notice during a housing shortage and the pandemic. For eight months, she couch surfed between friends' homes while severely ill, hitting closed doors whenever she searched for medical help. There was no doctor in Hawaii trained in environmental illness. By the end, suicide felt like the only way out.

What changed was permission to stop fighting. Instead of pushing harder, Dr. Potterf gave herself permission to sleep ten hours a night, to lie on the earth, to rest without guilt. A plunge in a freezing river with friends stopped her tremor and became her first moment of not feeling broken. She discovered that temperature, earth, water, and sleep worked better than anything else. A year and a half later, she hiked twelve hours up a pyramid in Guatemala without pain the next day, something unthinkable when she was bedridden. A recent mold exposure brought some symptoms back, but this time she knew she would solve it. She no longer believed her body was broken.

⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses abuse & exploitation and suicide & self-harm prevention, which some listeners may find distressing.

If you need support, you're not alone. Help is available: • Blue Knot Foundation (complex trauma): 1300 657 380 · blueknot.org.au • 1800RESPECT (family, domestic & sexual violence): 1800 737 732 · 1800respect.org.au • Lifeline (24/7 crisis support): 13 11 14 · lifeline.org.au

Chapters

0:00
A weight drops without trying
Dr. Traci Potterf moves to Spain at 20 and accidentally loses 50 pounds by walking, eating well, and living without restriction.
3:10
Learning what sickness really comes from
She studies medical anthropology and discovers how industrialised societies get the same diseases that ancestral populations never had.
9:33
Her mother almost dies three times
Dr. Potterf's mother faces a colectomy for Crohn's disease and nearly bleeds to death, then nearly dies twice more from the medications meant to help her.
14:30
Proving remission is possible
Using diet, supplements, and research from health food store books, Dr. Potterf helps her mother heal without surgery; her mother stays in remission for 20 years.
19:00
Getting sicker while doing everything right
Despite meditating two hours a day, eating cleanly, and exercising, Dr. Potterf develops tremors, blurred vision, headaches, muscle pain, and a growing list of unexplained symptoms.
21:15
The peeling paint that was poisoning her
After nine years in a rental with crumbling lead paint, a meditation suddenly brings clarity: she tests her home and finds lead everywhere, explaining all her symptoms.
27:31
Evicted with nowhere to go
Once she reports the lead, her landlord gives her three weeks' notice during a housing shortage and the pandemic; she spends eight months couch surfing while severely ill.
32:00
The point where dying felt easier
With nowhere to live, hitting closed doors at every turn, and no doctor trained in environmental illness, Dr. Potterf reaches a point where suicide feels like the only way out.
38:00
Learning what her body actually needed
Instead of pushing harder, Dr. Potterf gives herself permission to sleep 10 hours a night, lie on the earth, and stop treating illness like a problem to force through.
40:30
Ice water and the first moment of not feeling broken
A plunge in a freezing river with friends suddenly stops her tremor; she discovers that temperature, earth, water, and rest work better than anything else.
44:00
Hiking a pyramid a year and a half later
Dr. Potterf goes to Guatemala and hikes for 12 hours in a day, something unthinkable when she was bedridden, and feels no pain the next day.
50:00
Still moving, still learning
A recent mold exposure brings some symptoms back, but Dr. Potterf knows she will solve it because she no longer believes her body is broken.

1 of 7

Learning what sickness really comes from

Traci Potterf (Guest) · 03:10

Well, actually, to give the context of this whole thing, I have to go pretty far back in time. When I was— so this involves a health journey for me, something that happened in a place I call the murder house, to kind of make myself giggle about it, not take it so seriously. But to understand like how it unfolded the way it did, I have to go back to when I was 20. And I did a study abroad program in Spain, in Sevilla, Spain. And I was overweight at the time, about 50 pounds overweight. And weight problems ran in my family. So I thought, I thought it was genetic. I didn't really think there's anything I could do about it. And my family had been on so many diets, and they'd always failed. I tried the low-fat diet, and that was like the heaviest I ever was. And so I moved to Spain. And I just had a good time, ate good food, I was not on a diet. I walked around a lot. I like, I don't know, I had the time of my life. And I didn't even realize it. But my friends did an intervention, my Spanish girlfriends, and they were like, you're wearing baggy pants, you need a haircut, you need new clothes. And what had happened is I'd accidentally lost 50 pounds and didn't even realize it because I wasn't weighing myself. And I lived in Spain 2 years and just gradually lost all this weight. And that's when it dawned on me, like, you know, this whole weight issue we have, this isn't— this is a cultural problem. This isn't like an individual willpower problem. This is a cultural problem. And at the time, I was studying cultural anthropology. Eventually, the next stage in my unfolding was I went to grad school and I studied medical anthropology. And I was in a joint program with UCSF Medical School and UC Berkeley Department of Anthropology. And it was a program called Critical Medical Anthropology. And we were taking a critical look at the politics of, like, how do we come to believe what we believe is true? Where does science come from? Like, you know, how does certain funding— like, if a certain corporation funds a study, how does that you know, how are sometimes those studies manipulated to get the outcomes that are most beneficial to the benefactor, right? I call that science for hire. I started learning that all these different kinds of science— there's science for hire, bought and paid for science, which, you know, can be corrupt. It's tempting, right? And then there's like science that's just kind of like mediocre science where you just kind of, you don't really think outside the box or question things very much. You just kind of replicate what everyone already thinks is true. And you just kind of go do your job and go home. And then there's what I think a lot of people call true science, which where you're you're willing to question anything. And whatever your research reveals, you're willing to accept it, even if it completely overturns your preexisting beliefs about the world, right? And so I had learned a lot about the politics of medicine. I had learned a lot about like the pharmaceutical industry, insurance companies. We studied anywhere from like shamanism and traditional indigenous medicine to biotech insurance companies. Like we study— and my whole world was like opened up. My dad was a doctor. I grew up in the medical field, like around, surrounded the medical field. I grew up that anything natural holistic was a bunch of woo-woo and it wasn't scientific. And, you know, and, and so like, this was just really eye-opening. And one of the things that was fascinating to me was that we were really studying a lot about like, I was fascinated with indigenous populations, people who had a more ancestral lifestyle. And I was seeing how, as they became industrialized, as they started eating processed food or drinking soda or taking pharmaceuticals or taking antibiotics, or, you know, all these, you know, just eating, yeah, being more stressed out, whatever the thing is, they start developing all the same diseases that we had, like they didn't have those diseases. And then they started developing them. I looked at, you know, Weston Price is someone who's known, he was a dentist who was kind of more like an anthropologist, traveled all over the world, look at twins and siblings, where one member of the family would move to a city start eating, you know, this processed food, and then the people who stayed in their traditional diet, he looked at how their teeth changed, their health changed, and it was staggering. And he wasn't the only one. And I just started seeing— I started getting this feeling in my guts that, oh my God, we are so mentally and physically ill, because we're not living in alignment with our evolutionary biology. We did not evolve to eat junk. We did not evolve to never go outside or touch the earth with our feet. We didn't evolve to be under this amount of stress or stimulation. We didn't evolve to go so long without touch or hugs or being held or ritual or, you know, like just all these things that are our most basic human needs that like we didn't mean to deprive ourselves of any of this. We're trying to like create food security. We're trying to have like electricity and warmth. And we're trying— we've created so many wonderful things like this technology where I can be in the United States and you can be Australia and we can like be having this conversation. It's amazing. But we've made a lot of these changes and we've forgotten who we are. We've forgotten what we are. And that we are nature. Like, nature isn't a place we visit. We're manifestations of nature. We are nature. And so I started realizing this, like, oh my gosh, this is why we're so physically and mentally ill. Maybe if we can start changing how we live, sometimes we don't have to go live in a forest and run around in a loincloth, although that could sound fun if you don't get parasites. But, you know, I was just, you know, I thought maybe we could like start healing things. So I got really interested in researching people who had healed themselves and, and started seeing these parallels that this was ringing true. Well, about that time, my mom got Crohn's disease. She almost died once. She almost died from bleeding to death from the disease itself, the damage to her colon, which they said was like— sorry to be gross, but they said it was like her colonoscopy looked like ground meat. And they said her colon had to come out or she would never have a normal life. And I remember thinking, what's normal about not having a colon? So, you know, she was— yeah, so she was told she had to have her colon taken out and she was put on immunosuppressants. She did almost die from bleeding. Then she almost died twice from the medications. Once was an immunosuppressant. They suppressed her immune system to the point just that a cut in her finger almost led to like sepsis where she almost died from a cut in her finger. And her doctor, when she said, "My finger really hurts, there's something wrong," he said, "I don't do fingers, I do colons." Because we carve up humans like a Christmas turkey. Like there's this specialist and this specialist and there's some value in that, but we need more people that can see the connections.

Her mother almost dies three times

Aveline Clark (Host) · 09:33

Right?

Traci Potterf (Guest) · 09:33

And a lot of indigenous medicine does that, Chinese medicine does that, Ayurveda does that, a lot of different practices. Internists are better at it. So I— a lot of holistic practitioners, functional medicine, integrative, naturopathy. So I was just like, wow, I don't do fingers. Okay, she almost died that night. And so then the third time she almost died was when— is a side effect from the Remicade, the medication she was on that was another, you know, autoimmune drug. And that one of the known side effects is it can cause something called interstitial pneumonitis or interstitial lung disease, where basically the, the little air sacs of your lungs start hardening and they, they don't expand and contract anymore, and you gradually suffocate and you die of a heart attack as you struggle to breathe slowly over time. Well, that was at least the prognosis back then. It's really improved a lot for those patients now, so don't freak out if you have that because it doesn't have to be your outcome, because there's a lot you can do for it. But anyway, that's another topic. So anyway, what ended up happening is that like, long story short, because this isn't even the story. This is the precursor to the story I wanted to really share today, which was that this was like in 2003, 2004. I just had such a strong feeling. I found these books in a health food store, not on the internet, because that was before all that. And I found these books by people like Jordan Rubin and this other woman. I wish I could remember her name to give her credit, but there are people who heal themselves with Crohn's disease. And I thought, well, they can do it. My mom can do it. So I read these books. And I just kind of winged a lot of things. And I, I just, I just— it was terrifying to go. We went against everything the doctors told us. We got her off the medication. That was a gradual part. Don't, don't just get off your medication. But like, we gradually— we changed her diet and she gradually healed. Um, we did a few supplements. And long story short, like, she got better and better and better until she was in remission. It wasn't a very, you know, It took some time, but not that long. She got to keep her colon. She has scar tissue in her colon, but she's never had a relapse since 2004. So since 2004, she's been quiescent, meaning like in remission, never had a relapse, not been on any immunosuppressant drugs, steroids, you know, pharmaceuticals for Crohn's or anything like that. And so I was told, you know, back then that this is, you know, it's incurable. Like we don't know what causes it, blah, blah, blah. And that's with a lot of conditions. We don't know what causes it. There is no cure for it. We just blah, blah, blah. We just manage it, right? And I was like, why are we settling? So I'm not a medical doctor, especially back then. I knew so much less than I know now. And I was like, okay, if we're not— we just read a couple books from a health food store and just like changed her, you know, we made these changes that anyone could do. And now she no longer has this disease. She got to keep her colon intact. Like, why isn't the medical system trying harder? Like, you know, like, why? And I knew why. Because as a medical anthropologist, that's why I told you that part. I had learned, you know, it's follow the dollar or the euro or the whatever, whatever the currency is, it's follow the money. And, you know, and not to say that our medical system doesn't have life-saving brilliant people in it, not to say like, I don't wanna discount any of the good part at all because my mom would be dead if it weren't for some of that, for many reasons, a lot of us, a lot of people would. And so I don't wanna discount that, but this whole system is dependent on synthetic molecules, on pharmaceuticals that are made of molecules that we haven't evolved with. That our bodies don't know that are foreign. And it's kind of like Russian roulette in your biology to just put these things in your system and hope it works, you know. And that's why there's more side effects with these things. And not to say our snake is natural, you know, snake venom is natural, you know, not to say there aren't natural poisons, but like I've really, really what I've seen through research and through experience and now professional experience is that things that hug into nature more and that work with the wisdom intelligence of nature tend to yield much better outcomes with way no side effects, just beneficial effects if you, if you know what you're doing, you do it right, you get the right help and all that. So that was the background. So like, that changed the whole course of my career, as I just alluded to. And I basically— it was a whole other meandering, but what ended up happening is I ended up going from an intention to be a research scientist and university professor to working in functional medicine, becoming a functional medicine expert. Now, functional medicine, for those of you who don't know, it's an It's a movement of doctors and scientists who are trying to capture the best of Western medicine, integrative medicine. It's science-based, it's all evidence-based. Like, how can we address the root causes of illness, the underlying cause? So like, if you're standing on a tack, do you take painkillers or do you pull the tack out of your foot, right? So that's like the classic functional medicine example you guys may have heard before if you've heard of functional medicine. So, which makes more sense, right? So that became my path. That became what I did. I ended up having amazing mentors, doing amazing trainings. I've learned so much about the human body, its capacity to heal. I started a company called Inner Genius Health, and the genius is the genius of nature, but it's— we are nature. So it's the genius that resides in all of us, in our cells, our microbes, our DNA. We have this innate intelligence that wants to heal, that wants to come back home to itself when we allow for it, when we, you know, but sometimes our habits, our thoughts, our beliefs, our conceptions really get in the way. Way. And what I find the biggest barrier to so many people's healing isn't what you would think, isn't access to information or money, which can be a big issue. It's, it's thought. It's like, it's too hard, or too expensive, or I'm not worth it, or I don't want to change, I want a magic pill, I don't want to, I don't want to, it's too much effort, I'm not going to enjoy life if I have to give this thing up. These are all false. Like, none of this is real. Because like, when you heal, what it takes to heal yourself is like the most pleasurable thing. It feels so good. It's fun. Like, you have more joy, more fun, more pleasure. So I developed this thing I call healthy hedonism, which is like, Healing yourself using pleasure, using things that feel good, because nature designed us to feel good when we're in alignment with what works with us and to feel bad when, you know, when we're hurting ourselves. Now, some things feel good in the moment, but then they make you feel terrible later, you know. So we got to watch out for those things. Those are the tricky ones. So finding— upgrading your pleasures to things that feel good now but also make you feel good later, not things that feel good now and they make you feel like crap later. So that's another sidebar. So here I am, I'm like, I've got it all figured out. I was like meditating, like back then I was meditating like 2 hours a day, eating really clean, getting lots of sleep, like, you know, like working on myself, healing my trauma, like going to yoga, going to fitness classes, dancing, hiking. I live in Hawaii. I live in Hawaii, like spending all this time outdoors. I was doing all the things, but I'm starting to— I'm like getting sicker and sicker. I'm starting to notice I'm reacting to foods. I'm starting to like just for a while, it was like a few years of all these weird food sensitivities and like, I don't know, just like, I don't know, just feeling weird and having anxiety, but not for really a reason. Although your mind can always think of a reason to justify anxiety. But like, I just, something was wrong. And I started noticing my clients are like, they're getting these amazing results. My clients, I was like, my clients are healthier than I am. And I started having imposter syndrome. I started to feel embarrassed and ashamed. Like, like, what is going on?. And at some point, I kind of became aware of toxic mold through some clients who literally almost died from it. I live in Hawaii, there's a lot of toxic mold. Anywhere near the ocean that's humid, like, that's something to watch out for in your house. So I kind of, you know, did pay some attention to that. But something else was wrong. And I had this gut feeling there's something in my house. And I don't know what it is. It's the EMFs. Is it like, I'm like, what is it? And I feel kind of embarrassed because it was so obvious. I couldn't see it. There was peeling paint all over the house, and I kept asking the landlords, please, could you repaint the house? Could you? And they wouldn't do it. They wouldn't do it. They wouldn't do it. I lived in that house 9 years. It was started peeling. Well, when I got there, it was peeling, and they actually gave me a discount on the rent if I would, like, if we would repaint it. Like, my housemates and I, we repainted, redid some flooring. They didn't tell me to wear— like, I didn't I, I had even signed a lead paint release, didn't read it. I had signed many of those, I didn't read it. So I sanded this stuff and I repainted it and everything. 2 years later it's peeling again, and then it peeled for 7 more years. Finally one day, like, I just was— I was getting sicker and sicker. I kind of wanted to tell you what was happening. Like, I developed a tremor, so I was just like shaking. All the time, like just shaking. And I felt like inside, you know, when you're cold and you're just shivering, like I just felt like that a lot of the time. My eyesight went from having like perfect vision. My eyesight just started getting blurry and I started having trouble like reading things like on supplement bottles and things like that. I had all these gastrointestinal weird things happening, like, you know, kind of like IBS, IBD type stuff. I was getting these horrible debilitating headaches where I couldn't function. For the whole day. I'd have to cancel appointments. I could barely like get through the day. I started developing these muscle pains like all over my body where I just hurt everywhere. I think they— what you would call it fibromyalgia, which I call the F-word diagnosis. It's the crazy lady, like, we don't know what's wrong with you thing that wasn't taken seriously for so long and still often isn't. They just put people on antidepressants and pain meds and whatever. So I didn't want that title thrown on me or that identity thrown on me. There were so many other things like, oh, kidney problems. I started— my kidney markers on my blood work started looking a little off, but because it wasn't kidney failure, my doctor wasn't really that concerned. I was. I was having low back pain. I had bladder pain, like interstitial cystitis. Like, I had pelvic floor pain. I had, like, vaginal pain. I had, like— I just started hurting everywhere, like every body system. I started having orthostatic hypotension, which is where when you bend over, you stand up and you get like you know, really dizzy and lightheaded. But this is where I would have chest pains where I couldn't even breathe. And it was like I felt like I was having a heart attack. And if I hadn't known what it was, I would have gone to the ER thinking I was having a heart attack. I don't know. Oh, I had open sores like all over, like all over my skin, my back. Like I was itching. I was clawing myself at night. I couldn't sleep because of the itching. I had insomnia. I had tinnitus, this loud ringing in my ears, not to mention the anxiety. Did I mention the anxiety? I'd wake up in the morning like, oh, like with this total panic. And I know this is a long list. My lungs burned. I had like respiratory things. Like I just go on and on and on and on. Oh, I had these shooting pains, paresthesia, which is like numbness and tingling in your limbs. I had pins and needles. It felt like someone was just like this, electrocuting me with ice picks in the bottoms of my feet. This stuff is neurological. Something was poisoning my nervous system and it was affecting my internal organs. And not to mention accelerating my aging process, menstrual irregularities, like my skin was drying, I was losing collagen, like, like I was, I felt like I was aging at turbo speed. And then when I would go to doctors and ask for help, they would say, oh, it's just your age, because you're over 45. So it's just your age, you know, that's just you getting old. And I'm like, what? And that was something I'm already like, I have this whole thing about aging, like I call it the myths of aging. I like to give a talk on the myths of aging, this myth that aging is supposed to be the this painful, debilitating, horrible process. It's more or less inflammation, inflamma-aging. I was like, there's— I have inflammation. There's something that's poisoning me. And I don't know why I couldn't see it. It's kind of embarrassing given my profession. But like one day I was meditating and I just like, after my meditation, it just dawned on me, go look up the symptoms of adult lead poisoning.

The peeling paint that was poisoning her

Aveline Clark (Host) · 21:15

So I did.

Traci Potterf (Guest) · 21:16

And it like matched. I ran, I got a lead test kit, came home. Everywhere it was lead. My ceilings were peeling. I realized it's been— this paint has been crumbling into dust, and the dust in my house, I'm breathing lead dust. It was peeling in my cabinets in my kitchen. They hadn't ever updated the cabinets, and so I was drinking and eating off dishes. We all were. And it's interesting because I look back, I had a housemate who developed Parkinson's. He lived there many years. Other people lived there a couple years. Developed other mental health crises and like just all kinds of stuff. There was just some weird stuff. And I remember thinking like, is this house haunted? Like, what's going on? Like, you know, what's happening? You know, that's why I jokingly call it the murder house because like, you know, no one actually has died yet. But like, it was like someone said, it's like your house is trying to kill you, you know? So, but it was really the toxic chemicals. And then I went ahead and tested for mold and there was, were high mold levels, which there kind of are in almost every house in Hawaii, unless you have like dehumidifiers and AC and stuff. So, you know, so, and what I learned is like mold makes you sensitive to lead, lead makes you sensitive, they hypersensitize you. They both are nerve— they, they're both poison your nervous system and damage your immune system. They sensitize you to each other. But it's interesting because I had experienced mold before and I knew what that felt like by itself, but the mold with the lead, that was this whole other level of terrifying. And what happened, not only was my body falling apart, like what does it feel like emotionally when suddenly you can't— it hurts to walk, it hurts to get out of bed, you have no energy, By the way, the fatigue, like just keeping my eyes open, I had severe— like if I wanted Western diagnosis, I'd have IBS, IBD, chronic fatigue, anxiety disorder, depressive disorder. Like they would just carve me up and put all these labels on me that this is what's wrong with you and give me all these like medications. Here's some antidepressants and here's some like, you know, Xanax and here's some, you know, like Asacol for the inflammation in your gut, which is like Tylenol for your gut. And then here's like, you know, they would just thrown a lot of stuff at me. And the thing is, in Hawaii, there's not a— there's a state toxicologist, but she's not a clinician. There's not a single doctor trained in environmental illness in Hawaii, even though there's mold everywhere and there's lead paint everywhere. And now we just had this issue with Red Hill where the military base, like, contaminated the— mean, like, people's water with jet fuel. These people are so sick, and the, the military is just saying, oh, That's not a big deal. We don't anticipate you'll have any serious health problems. Oh, it's not like they're not getting help. These people are just— they're so sick and they're not getting help. And so it made me really aware of this issue. And I have to say, like, like I can tell you, like all the symptoms and whatever, it was terrifying. I felt like I was dying and I kept going to people asking for help and no one— they either— I got the blank stares. Like, I think people wanted to help. They didn't have any tools to help. It wasn't even their fault. In medical training. I have friends and colleagues, I work in them like with doctors and all the time, and they just were like, we don't have any training on this. Like in medical, you get a barely a mention of lead poisoning in your medical training. Like they don't get trained on, you know, on mold toxicity. They don't get trained on nutrition. They don't get trained on any of this stuff. It's not their fault. They pay all this money. They, they kill themselves to get this degree that doesn't give them a toolbox to help people with so many chronic illnesses and immune disorders or whatever. They, they're— it's not fair. They're not given good You know, so, um, so when I finally realized what was wrong, on one hand I was like relieved because I was like, okay, now I have an explanation of like what was wrong. So now I'm gonna fix this. Like, and because I work in functional medicine, I have tools. But you know what, when it's your sickness, trying to be your own case manager, that's hard. It's like being inside a jar trying to read the label. Like It's hard. And I went from person to person just begging for help. And so many people— and what's interesting is when you're in that kind of level of nervous system poisoning, or whatever, you seem crazy. You do. Like, you seem like, oh my god, like, you're fearful, you're scared, you're crying a lot, you're like, you're shaking. And it freaks people out. And so what do they want to do? They want to push you away. They want to treat you like you're crazy, send you to psych, you know, and how that feels, that was awful. That was horrible. Like, to feel so desperate for help. I felt like I was drowning and just saying, someone please help, and no one helped me, you know? And finally, you know, I was able to, you know, find a naturopath who is compassionate and helpful and smart and really abreast of cutting-edge information and like really ahead of the curve and like innovative and helpful and compassionate and who would listen and who would give me a hug even during COVID You know, and she really, you know, helped me like just kind of process like order of operations and things like that. But a lot of my answers also came from within. And I'm a deeply spiritual person. Like, I love meditation. I love— I feel like just my own personal belief is that, you know, there's a consciousness that unites all of existence that we can tap into through meditation. There's like this intelligence that makes the flowers bloom and the bees buzz and, you know, like that makes the miracle of nature, of all the planets spinning in their orbit, you know, and that we are part of that and we can tap into that. And I've gotten so many answers that way. And that's how I thought— you would think it wouldn't have taken me that long to figure out that all this peeling paint could make me sick, because people would say, oh, well, just, just don't pick at it and just don't put it in your mouth. And this is really a problem for babies and toddlers. And I found out, like, I contacted in Hawaii the Department of Health, you know, to ask for help, to make sure that they followed up with my— because my landlords ghosted me. They basically gave me just 3 weeks to move out once I reported the lead. They were angry at me. They gaslit me. They made it sound like I did something wrong by like discovering the lead. They told me I had to move out on 3 weeks notice during a housing shortage during the pandemic, like tens of thousands. Like so many people moved from California and other states to Hawaii during the pandemic. There's a housing shortage. So even if you had money and perfect credit, it was still hard to get a place to live. And so I had nowhere to live for 8 months.

Evicted with nowhere to go

Aveline Clark (Host) · 27:31

So I was sick.

Traci Potterf (Guest) · 27:35

Terrified. And, and like, didn't even have a place to live. I was like living on people's— like, like people would just let me— like, thank God for my friends. Like, in 8 months, I never didn't have a place to sleep because I have such amazing, beautiful friends. And I'd be 2 weeks here, one friend let me live with her. She had like 2 18-year-old sons, her and her husband in a 3-bedroom house. And they let me live there for 6 weeks. Like, I I was constantly looking for a place to live and I went from place to place to place and like I just, you know, and it was exhausting to have to pick up and move and pick up and move and pick up and move. I did get to do some pet sitting though. That was fun. All the little furry critters, they were very healing. So it was, it was a hard, hard, hard time. And I'm going to tell you, like, I got to a point where I felt like I was just shoveling, you know what, against the tide. I was just like, it was exhausting. I felt so bad and I was having to do my own research. And when you have brain poisoning, trying to do your own advanced research, and I would read all this stuff about lead poisoning, about how it affects your brain, how how it gets stored. Your body stores it in your bones. And then they were like, when you go through menopause and have bone loss, then that lead will re-enter your body and it can ruin your kidneys, cause Alzheimer's, cause dementia, da da da. It was terrifying, like all this research I'm reading. And then I'm trying to tell people and no one wanted to take it seriously. They were like, if you don't have high blood lead levels in your blood, then we're not going to take you seriously. But your body's smarter than that. Your body's not going to let lead paint— 9 years of lead paint accumulation, it's in my bones and it's slowly leaching out. It's not— your body's not going to let it be in high levels in your blood. But it doesn't mean it's not causing damage. There's so much research showing that even the tiniest amounts blood caused damage, like amounts that were showing up in my blood. But because it wasn't this like reference or this really high level, my doctor said it was fine, you know. But it wasn't fine. I was so sick.

Aveline Clark (Host) · 29:16

When you were, uh, basically couch surfing for those 8 months, was that during this period of you also trying to find someone to help you?

Traci Potterf (Guest) · 29:31

Yeah, yeah, having—

Aveline Clark (Host) · 29:32

sounds like, yeah, the worst time.

Traci Potterf (Guest) · 29:34

It felt like, it felt like a nightmare. And there was a time, and I'm not being dramatic, but I want to destigmatize. I want people to understand because I've heard people say, like, when they've heard of someone committing suicide, like, why were they so weak? Or why were— you know, the chemicals in your body make everything happen. So when they talk about mental health, they talk about a chemical imbalance, but we're made of chemicals. So diabetes is a chemical imbalance, cardiovascular disease is a chemical. We're made of chemicals, so any disease is a chemical imbalance. But what that term is trying— it's trying to talk about these— they call brain chemicals, but they're really neurotransmitters, which are everywhere you have nerves, not just in your brain, like dopamine, serotonin, GABA, uh, you know, they go on and on and on. There's so many of them. I think we've heard a lot about dopamine and serotonin because dopamine— I call it hopamine— it like, it gives its motivation, the sense of reward, something positive in the future, something to look forward to, like the sense that life is worth living, pleasure-seeking, whatever. And serotonin is more a sense of well-being with what is now, like, you know, perfect sunset or hug from someone, like a sense of well-being in the moment. Dopamine is like that pursuit. I feel like I didn't have either one of those. Like, I mean, I just felt I couldn't have a positive thought. If I think about my nephew I love so much, I would think about what if something happened to him. If I tried to think about like anything, my brain was so poisoned that if I tried to have any thought about the future or anything positive, all I could access was like doom and gloom. Like, it felt horrible. Now, I have an intellectual understanding of biochemistry and of the brain, and one of my niches, like, I work in is helping people with like chronic anxiety and mental health issues and how it's tied to chronic illness or whatever. Since actually, that's kind of a spoiler, but that's kind of where this went. But I know that we see the world, our perception of reality is through this like lens of belief of biochemistry, right? So I knew I was looking through a lens of a suicidal person. I wanted to— I just felt like I was dying. It felt hopeless. I kept turning closed door, closed door. I found this guy who specialized in lead poisoning and he had this bone scan he could do. And I thought maybe— oh, by the way, this ruined me financially. It cost me so much money, like all that out-of-pocket medical stuff because I had to do everything. But everything was out of pocket. I also had to get rid of stuff, buy new stuff. But when I eventually got a house, like, I've a place to live, you know, got, you know, I, it, it was so expensive, you know. Um, not all— it was because of having to get rid of my possessions and, you know, buy new things. And like, anyway, it was, it was very complicated having to travel for care because I couldn't get care there and all this stuff. So, you know, it was, it was a horrendous financial impact. It also impacted my ability to make money. Like, I couldn't work when I was that sick. I could barely see clients. I had a very light client load because I couldn't work, so I lost tons of income. And, um, you know, blah blah blah. So I ended up just like— I just felt like everywhere I turned I hit a door. Like, oh, I found this guy in New York, and, you know, and he, you know, at a research university, and, and he was like— he was really sweet, and he actually acknowledged that what was going on. But then he has this bone scan technology where they can look for the amount of— they can measure the lead in your, your bones. And but because it was COVID, they shut down the lab and he didn't know when it would reopen. So again, everywhere I turned, I hit a closed door, I hit a closed door, I hit a closed door, I hit a closed door, I hit a closed door, I hit a closed door. And when you're that sick, you have nowhere to live. You keep hitting closed doors. People look at like you're crazy. No one wants to deal with it except for your close, amazing friends and your mom. Then it's like it just felt like it would be easier to die. Like, and also I'm losing my ability to see. I'm losing my ability to like— oh, I couldn't exercise. I had exercise intolerance. If I would do just a gentle yoga class, I would have so much pain the next day. That I couldn't get out. I couldn't move. Like, I could barely walk. So over the tiniest amount of effort, I could go on a gentle stroll and just know I'd be very sore the next day. I felt like I'd done some, like, CrossFit workout, you know? So I just, like, yeah, I reached rock bottom. I just felt like, just in terms of my neurotransmitters, the chemicals in my brain, like, I couldn't see hope. I couldn't see a way out. Like, it just felt like the world was closing in on me. And it just— and I remember, I'm not actually going to say this because I don't want to spread the idea, but there was a certain, like, gentle way I thought I could do it to, like, just leave my body and like, whatever. And, but then I thought of my mom, and I was like, it would kill her. Like, it's— I made a deal with myself that as long as my mom's alive, I'm not allowed to even think about that. And so, but I— but it gave me comfort to feel like I could do something to get out of the situation, right? So I developed a huge compassion for people who feel suicidal, and who shame it. And I was scared to even tell people, I thought I'd lose credibility, like, you know, so I really— I started— I told my mom first, that was really a hard conversation, but she was so cool about it. And And then I started telling my closest friends, and they were so beautiful. Like, they were such good friends, like, so beautiful. And, you know, and told my therapist. I think everyone needs a therapist. Um, so yeah, so I didn't do anything, but like, I just— that's how bad it was. And so then I guess slowly, you know, healing isn't a linear process.. It's not like I did this and then I got better and it was perfect. It's like up, down, up, over, over here. Da da da. It's an up, down, upward trend with a lot of zigzagging. And over time you get better, but it's not linear. And a lot of people start to get better and then they get worse and wanna give up. But I knew this from my experience working with people like over the last 20 years. I knew that it was gonna be nonlinear, you know, and I'd have better days and then worse days and be set, have setbacks. I got re-exposed to mold at one point along the way where, you know, it got me sicker again. But so I did work, I did use a lot of functional medicine tools. I love functional medicine. It's just a lifesaver for so many millions of people who are open to it. But I also really, really rooted into my meditation practice and asking my body, what do you need? As much as I thought I was listening to my body, I realized how much I wasn't. And my body was like, I just want to sleep, I want to rest. And So I instituted something I self-named Operation Radical Rest, which was I got to stay in bed for 10 hours every night and forget my laundry, forget my to-do list, my business, money, survival fear. This flew in the face of everything. You know, I was raised by a father who was like, grew up poor, you know, came up out of drudgery into becoming a physician. Like he came from nothing and was a self-made man and all this stuff. And he still always had this, this isn't a hotel, there's work to be done. And I got that burned into me. I've been trying to overcome that my whole life. I've gotten better and better at it, but I realized like something in me, this whole culture of productivity, we have this false notion of what productive even means. Like we're gonna kill ourselves to be productive and for what, you know? And so I was like, okay, this flies in the face of our culture, of my upbringing, of everything to let myself, let productivity, work, money, all that go fall by the wayside and just sleep a lot. And cuz when I asked my body, what do you want to do? What do you need? It said, I want you to go lay on the ground at the beach under a tree and put your feet on the earth and just lay on a blanket and breathe. So I did.. And it made me feel better, like literally to just go lie on the ground. And there's an electron exchange between the soles of our feet and our bodies that reduces inflammation. Like just being near trees, like we evolved from like simians, like, like being near trees is soothing. It creates safety. Like there's so much in our neurology that wants to be near trees, hearing the sound of the ocean, the negative ions, all that stuff. So I did it. I gave myself that and started becoming more and more aware of where I was withholding nurture from myself. And, you know, because I was still eating well and all that other stuff. But like, I just slept a lot. I used functional medicine tools. And then I went to— I visited some friends. I didn't have a place to live, so I figured might as well go visit some friends. So I visited a former business partner I love dearly, brilliant man, and he and his boyfriend had moved to California. And so we went and we got in this ice-cold river. And when I was climbing to the river, I was shaking and, you know, had all the symptoms, and I felt awkward. I was afraid I was going to fall. I felt weak. We get in this ice-cold water of this river, and it was just so delightful. Like, even though I've historically hated cold, like do not make me be cold. Like, I do not want to be cold. I'll be hot all day. I'll sweat. Just do not make me be cold. But something was there. Like, I get in this ice cold water, I got out of the water and suddenly no tremor. I felt strong. I felt agile climbing back up the rocks. Like, I was just like, oh my God, that was my first sample of not feeling broken. Just getting in ice cold water and what it did to my neurology. And so then I went to hot springs and I did hot, cold, hot, cold contrast hydrotherapy that moves lymph, that detoxes. It does all these amazing things. So I started using just temperature. I started going back to really basic things like the earth, water, sleep, temperature, in addition to eating really well, which I already did. And I did take natural supplements, and I did, but the real change happened when I started using these tools. I got a, I got a sleeping bag sauna. Don't have room for a sauna in my house in Hawaii. I started doing sweat sauna. I did red light therapy. I bought my own lamp. It was expensive, but I did it anyway. I just decided I'm gonna do whatever it takes. It's like heal or die. Like, that's it. Like, so, and it just was slow and arduous and it took a long time. And, you know, and I would say like, you know, I was able to get to like, you know, there's a little couple of little things I, you know, can see getting better. And I really feel like they will. It hasn't been that long. This just happened. Like I had to move out of my house summer before last. So it's been like a year and a half since like, you know, the epicenter of this whole thing. So, um, yeah. And so like as of August, um, or at the end of November now, and as of August, I went to Guatemala, which I— the thought that I could even go to another country, like, you know, like especially the way I like to eat and whatever, like it was very intimidating. But I— something told me like, you need to go have another experience. You need to break out of this whole patient role or whatever and go on an adventure and have fun. So go to Guatemala. I ate really good food. It was actually surprisingly easy to eat really good food. And it was just so beautiful and such a healing experience. I kept finding these moments. I just want to cry tears of joy, like, oh my God, I've come so far. And I just, just wanted to go back to past Tracy who wanted to die, who didn't think she would ever get well and say, see, look where you are, look what you did. And there's this moment I was in the ruins of Tikal and I was like up on a pyramid And I had like, I signed up for 3 tours in one day because I thought they were like 2 hours each, but they were 4 hours each. I hiked for 12 hours in one day, going from not being able to get out of bed to hiking 12 hours and not being ruined the next day. I was actually fine the next day and the next day. I didn't even forget. I was waiting for the soreness. It never even came. And this moment of like being on these pyramids and looking around me and being like, oh my God, I did it. Look where I am, you know? And so I just want people to understand that, like, healing is not a linear process. You sometimes— you people, like, whether they want to help, the people probably do want to help you. They may not have the tools to help you. It's messy and you have to get out of your comfort zone. And I have like 3— I don't know if there's anything else you want to ask, but like, I have like 3 takeaways that I would like to share with people. One is you have to be unwilling to settle for less than the best possible outcome. So someone says, oh, you are now a diabetic, this is your identity. No, you're not a diabetic, you're a human being, and your body needs nurture. You know, don't settle for less than the optimal outcome. And I tell you, the best possible outcome is always better than what the mainstream tells you is possible, because they're going off the average person who's thinking the mainstream thoughts. They're not going off of the infinite possibilities of the genius of nature, of like the intelligence of all of existence. So hold a vision of the life you want and not what you're afraid will happen. It's okay to visit what I'm afraid will happen, but keep holding on to the reality you want to create. I did that in my meditations a lot. I just did mental rehearsals of the reality I wanted to live. Secondly, be willing to do your part. So don't think doctors can't heal you. You heal you. Like, doctors can help keep you alive. They can give you diagnostics. They can help support you, whether they're holistic or mainstream or whatever. And you can— I help people navigate that. But like, you know, but it's your job. Like, your body, your cells want to heal. But that means you have to think outside the box. That means you need to get support from people who know what they're doing and have, like, walked that path before, people who have training in this. And it may not be your wonderful, intelligent, well-meaning family doctor. That you've known forever. That may not be the person with the best toolbox. There are people who work— like, I work internationally, I work long distance. Like, there are people all over the world that have been through things like this who've garnered these tool sets where they can help you. Get help from someone who can get you exceptional outcomes, not just like lackluster, run-of-the-mill, settling-for-less outcomes. And take total personal responsibility. Don't be a victim. Like, I felt like such a victim. I'm— I still have anger. I'm gonna be honest, I'm still angry at the people who neglected me in that house and then kicked me out and then ghosted me and took no responsibility, didn't offer to help, didn't check on me, didn't experience— they were so worried about litigation that they didn't, you know, they didn't— they— after 9 years of being their tenant, I was just dead to them. That wasn't fair. That wasn't right. What they did wasn't right. But I still had to heal myself. I had to pull myself out of that financial and biological mess and emotional mess. So You know, when we take radical personal responsibility for a situation, that means we have to reprogram our limiting beliefs, we have to reprogram our, our habits, we have to make changes. And a lot of people are scared to make changes because it's overwhelming. That's why you— it's good to have guides and support. That's why that's so important. I feel even more committed than ever to what I do for a living because going through that, like, not that I didn't have empathy for my clients before, not that I hadn't had health struggles before, because I had, but my gosh, my level of empathy and ability to relate to my clients and help them and emotionally support them has like exploded. The level of complexity of cases I can handle has exploded. I've learned so much because I did learn a lot of science. I did learn how to like really complex ways to detoxify. I learned about how to modulate the immune system and the immune system response and like things that are gonna help people with autoimmunity, things that are gonna help people with mental illness, things that are gonna help people with environmental poisoning. Like I learned so much, like just more levels of how to heal the gut. Like, so But when we take personal responsibility, and instead of just wanting a magic pill, we're willing to make changes and think outside the box, then it's actually a fun process. Not to say what I went through was always fun, but like, like eating really nurturing food is delicious and it feels good. Like, like doing things like laying, laying at the beach and like putting your feet on the earth, that actually feels good. Like learning to breathe ways that bring pleasure and feel good. Like there's so many things you can heal yourself that actually bring pleasure. And they're often the pleasures hiding around hidden corners. Like not places we would think to look. So it can feel good and be a quite exhilarating process. Also, there's an exhilaration to overcoming and to being empowered and to learning that you're so— you're not limited the way we're taught we are. We're not limited. It's all in here. And most importantly, we have to live in a way that works with, not against, the intelligence of nature, because that is what we are. It's where we come from, and it's what rules all of existence. So like, you have a genius, you have an intelligence in you. And maybe you're only opening a few of the doors in this house inside of you, like, like, and sometimes illness is an excuse to blow open all the doors in the walls and really expand and really discover what's inside of you that you didn't even know was in you that you didn't know you were capable of. And so in that way, I see these horrible illnesses, they— it's horrible. It's horrible. And it's not fair. And it's, it's painful. And I'm so sorry for all of you who've been through stuff like this yourselves. I'm so sorry for your pain. But man, there is such potential for beauty and growth and magic. And I haven't even told you all the internal magic, like all the shifts that have happened inside of me, like the things I've been experiencing in my life that make me feel like— I love that album title, Magical Mystery Tour. Like, I feel like life has become like— there are challenges and I have bad days and I'm not perfect and I do things that I'm like, oh, that wasn't a great idea. Like, I'm not trying to be like, I'm so perfect and I know everything. Because no, I'm a real human like all of us, right? But like, just what, like what the deepening of my meditation, my connection to all of existence, my ability to see how much power I have over my own life and to help and support others. It's exhilarating and it's beautiful. So if you're going through some kind of like health challenge or life challenge or growth, whatever it is, like, just know there's more possibility and reach out. Out, ask for help, and like just know you're capable of more than you think.

Hiking a pyramid a year and a half later

Aveline Clark (Host) · 46:48

That's beautiful, Tracy. Um, you answered the question that I was going to ask at the end so perfectly, actually. So it's so completely— and I— there's only one thing— well, there's a couple little things I just want to ask you, if that's okay. Absolutely. Do you, do you see that you're still on the healing journey, or do you feel like you've reached the— you've climbed that mountain to get over that lead poisoning?

Traci Potterf (Guest) · 47:14

So that's such a good question. Okay, so I felt like I had overcome the mountain, literally from the top of a pyramid. And then I went to visit my mother, and she had gotten mold in her HVAC system in her house. So I got reexposed to mold very recently. And so some of the symptoms have come back. But what's different this time is I probably won't get out of it exactly the same way I did last time, because it's kind of moving target, but I know I will. Like, I mean, I don't have a tremor anymore. My vision's way better. I don't have like, I almost never get like a headache unless my neck gets out or something like a neck headache or whatever. Like there, I was, as I was going through the symptoms, I was like, that's gone. That's gone. I almost, I rarely get any tinnitus. I don't get the pins and needles in my legs, you know, whatever. So you know, my brain is clear, I have energy, you know. I still have some GI issues and, um, and like muscle pain that came back like after the mold exposure, and that was very frustrating. I don't like it, but I'm gonna get over it.

Aveline Clark (Host) · 48:15

It's—

Traci Potterf (Guest) · 48:16

yeah, I'm gonna solve this, so it'll be fine.

Aveline Clark (Host) · 48:19

I have no doubt. Absolutely. Thank you. The other question I have is around your mom, because you've mentioned her right from the beginning, you know, such a such an interesting story and the way that you were able to give her her life back through healing her Crohn's disease. What does she say to you now? What does she think about the journey that you've been on?

Traci Potterf (Guest) · 48:40

I love my mom so much. Um, I'm actually— right now we just moved her to a senior community that's a really loving, beautiful, supportive place. It's like living at a resort, basically. And, um, so I've been spending a lot of time with her, like they let me use a room in the building for this interview. And she, she keeps saying I saved her life. She says she wouldn't be here if it weren't for me. She says she believes in me. She, she supports anything I do. Like, she's so— anytime I feel afraid or limited or like I— because I feel such— I feel like I'm a woman on a mission to change how we look at mental health and physical health and the connection and how our minds and bodies aren't separate. And And I get scared and intimidated sometimes because I'm just one little person or whatever in this whole world. And she's just like, get out there and do it. I'll do anything I have to do to support you. Like, I believe in you. And like, so she's, she's so supportive. And she, like, I'm like, I know my whole family loves me, but she's the one who gets what I do.

Aveline Clark (Host) · 49:42

Yeah.

Traci Potterf (Guest) · 49:42

You know, and so she is just unwaveringly supportive of me and what I do. Roots for my clients. She doesn't know them or whatever. I don't share their personal information with her, but like, she's just rooting for everybody. And she has her own struggles too. I mean, she's 82 now, you know, so she's been through some other challenges. But she's, you know, she's, she's a trooper, man. Like, she's, she's amazing. I love this woman so much. I don't even know if I answered your question. I just get emotional about my mom. I just love her. She's like, I think we're so close. Okay.

Still moving, still learning

Aveline Clark (Host) · 50:14

It's— I'm so happy to hear that. It's so happy that you've got her and not just anyone, but it's your mom in your camp. And just the way you speak about her, it comes across as how important she is.

Traci Potterf (Guest) · 50:28

And my dad, he was a doctor, but he died young because he thought I was crazy. He thought this whole eating organic food and exercising and whatever, dealing with your emotions or whatever, he thought it was nuts. And he died at the age of 72 almost a decade ago. And he was a doctor and he knew everything. He had an MD and a PhD, right? And, you know, but you couldn't— but he had a lot of trauma. He had horrible trauma. And he just never— he ran from it. And it killed him. And he self-soothed with the most destructive— not like, you know, with sugar and processed food, basically. And you know what, and my mom, like, she's struggling to exercise. Like, that's something she's never wanted to do. And I want to tell you guys, especially as we age, if you move it or lose it, like, you know what I mean? You will literally lose your mind, like dementia, Alzheimer's, all that stuff stuff. Like, there are people who have reversed dementia and like even Alzheimer's and cognitive decline, but you have to move and you have to rest. You have to nourish and nurture yourself. Sorry, you didn't ask any of that, but I thought I'd put that plug in.

Aveline Clark (Host) · 51:29

Good on you. Thank you. What an amazing story. What a journey. I, I'm— yeah, that was really fascinating, heart-wrenching, and, uh, I love the way that you expressed yourself as well. Like, I, I really felt that we were there with you, um, as you were going through that.

Traci Potterf (Guest) · 51:45

Um, and I hope you all feel right now if you went through the bad part. I hope you feel good about it.

Aveline Clark (Host) · 51:51

You know, the challenges happen to us, and, and one of the themes I, I think in some of these conversations that I have been hearing is the injustice, you know. And some of the comments are like, life's not fair, this— it's just part of life. It's— life is not not sunshine and daisies and roses every day.

Traci Potterf (Guest) · 52:12

Yeah, I remember someone telling me no one gets away with anything because it's like, I feel like when you do things that are completely negligent and hurtful to other people because you're trying to save your own skin, I feel like it's going to catch up with you. Like, it does. You can't just do those things and live with yourself in the same way. It feels so— when you're integrity and you really care, You know, we all are imperfect. We're all perfectly imperfect. But when you like are integrity and you care and you look out for the well-being of not just yourself, but the whole planet, because we're all connected, we really are. It's not a cliché. We're all connected biologically, energetically, psychologically, emotionally. Like, so when you don't look out for the whole, like, not that you're responsible for the whole, but like when, when I make a decision that I'm voting on the world I want to create and like I want to make a better life, I buy a product that paid the employees well and was sustainable and regenerative and didn't hurt the planet. But it's also going to help me. What I've, what I've really one of my overarching takeaways from everything I've learned and watching people heal over the last 20 years. I mean, I watch people who are supposed to— like, there's a woman, she's supposed to have a heart transplant, didn't need it anymore. Like, had a person who was, you know, had a bowel resection after cancer, and she was told she'd have diarrhea the rest of her life and never be able to work again. And within a week, she was pooping solid after 5 or 6 years of diarrhea and wearing a diaper. You know, like, I mean, it's just over. And people in remission from autoimmune diseases, people who've had severe debilitating mental illness like anxiety, panic attacks, that are fine, they don't have them anymore, and they're not on medications. Like, this kind of thing, that's normal to me. That's my reality. That's what's possible. And we have to understand that what we need to do to heal ourselves is what's going to heal the Earth and our culture. And what we do to heal the Earth and our culture will heal us individually.

Aveline Clark (Host) · 53:57

I love all of that, Tracy. And I know we could keep talking, but we're going to wrap up because we've got to wrap it up. I just want to thank you so much for being so transparent and open and giving your story because it's going to help so many people. I know there are so many people suffering from different ailments, health issues, unexplained things. But I think what, what I've got from your story is this sense of empowerment, and that's what you're giving as a gift, you know, letting people know that they can heal no matter what, no matter how bad it is.

Traci Potterf (Guest) · 54:29

Yeah. And you will feel powerless, you will feel powerless at points, and it's okay. It's not permanent. It'll change again. Yeah, and thanks. I'm happy to support anyone who needs help.

Aveline Clark (Host) · 54:39

So yes, yes, and your details will be here, will be below in the, in the show notes as well when this is live. Thank you, Tracy, it's been an absolute pleasure.

Traci Potterf (Guest) · 54:50

All right, thank you.

Aveline Clark (Host) · 54:54

We hope you've enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes. Please like and share the show to your friends so we we can get this out to even more people. If you have a story you'd like to share with us, please reach out using the contact details below. Join us next week for our next hero story. Until then, keep being you, and remember that we are all heroes in our own unique way.

Healing from a Toxic Home Through Functional Medicine

Overview

Chapters

A weight drops without trying

Learning what sickness really comes from

Her mother almost dies three times

Proving remission is possible

Getting sicker while doing everything right

The peeling paint that was poisoning her

Evicted with nowhere to go

The point where dying felt easier

Learning what her body actually needed

Ice water and the first moment of not feeling broken

Hiking a pyramid a year and a half later

Still moving, still learning

In Dr. Traci Potterf's words

Dr. Traci Potterf, today

Common questions

Is this a true story?

What organisation produced this?

What did Dr. Traci Potterf learn from this experience?

What would Dr. Traci Potterf want listeners to know?

What helped Dr. Traci Potterf most along the way?

What would Dr. Traci Potterf tell someone going through something similar?

Transcript

A weight drops without trying

Support

The Girl in the Bathroom: How a Chihuahua Saved My Life

A Life of Resilience, Rhythm and Recovery with Bob Eden

A Life of Love and Business After a Traumatic Childhood with Judy Van Niekerk

What topics does this episode cover?

Learning what sickness really comes from

Her mother almost dies three times

The peeling paint that was poisoning her

Evicted with nowhere to go

Hiking a pyramid a year and a half later

Still moving, still learning