Inspiring Conversations with Regan Tilley of WHOLEhealth MHK

Today we’d like to introduce you to Regan Tilley.

Hi Regan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In the midst of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the world was shutting down and uncertainty reigned supreme, I was preparing to leave my established medical practice as an employed physician in lieu of the uncertainty of self-employment as a Functional Family Medicine Direct Primary Care owner. I was 43, recently divorced, and tired of mainstream medicine continuing to fail the masses. I believed then and still believe now that the way I practice is the future of successful and wholistic healthcare.

Let’s go back a few years. Okay, a couple of decades…I’ve known I wanted to be a doctor since I was six when an ER doctor became my hero. I was ill, in the hospital with an infection my mother either overlooked or did not pay attention to. My father took me to the hospital and they said I needed admitted, but my mother did not really believe in medicine, more than prayer was the only way for me to get better. They were divorced, and it turned into an argument. In the darkened room, the doctor came in and leaned against the gurney I was finally resting in after some medication had been given to me. He whispered to me that he would protect me and that he would not allow her to take me out of the hospital. I had begged them not to let me leave. I knew at that age how sick I was.

Fast-forward to my senior year in high school. I had taken all the hard science classes, math classes, had exemplary ACTs, grades and had many medical experiences. The school counselor continued to suggest nursing school instead, as it was an honorable career for a woman. The women in my family inferred that the only jobs suitable for a woman if they were not stay at home moms included teaching or nursing. My passion waned that year and I was despondent. I ended up with a full-ride scholarship to a university in Nebraska for graphic design (I was a pretty good artist and part of National Art Honors Society). At registration, they asked me to declare my major and as I opened my mouth, “nursing” came out as if there were a hidden ventriloquist in the room. I actually looked around to see if someone else had said that. I was not at a school that even offered a nursing program. When I found that out, I turned in the scholarship packet and headed back to Kansas, taking the hard road. That decision set me up for struggle and hardship that I have only recently turned around. Over the next ten years, I graduated from nursing school with my ADN (associate’s degree in nursing), was accepted to the KUMC School of nursing for the BSN-MSN program, thinking I could become a nurse practitioner…almost a doctor. No disrespect to those who are called to that profession, it was just not my path. When it was time to apply for the NP program acceptance, my then sister in law suggested I apply to medical school if I had an inkling of desire still. She had been an RN, NP and was in medical school at that time. She was well placed in my life to offer advice and I took it.

I applied to four schools total and interviewed at two…Ask the Med student in your life what is the average number of schools they applied to. I had it in my head that I had to get into one of the local Med Schools. I was married and a mother and our entire support system was in Kansas City.

I am a very non-traditional student and was accepted into the KCUMB College of Biosciences, into a program that had automatic matriculation into Medical School if my grades were 3.2 GPA or higher. I made it and then some. This program was designed for the alternative student to prove their ability to handle the rigors of Medical School. It was during this phase of life that my health had started to deteriorate.

I started the Master’s Program after a significant surgery, and as I was preparing my Master’s Thesis at the end of the school year, I suffered a debilitating back injury, I ruptured a disc that caused paralysis. I was so worried about completing my coursework that I was not allowing my body to heal. One of my physician mentors reassured me and they made accommodations to complete it on a delayed schedule. Again, this was an example of a doctor being my protector. I started Medical School on a walker with a PIC line after spinal surgery followed by a wound infection and complications. The spine surgeon told me I had a 50-50 chance of full recovery. This was when it started to become apparent to me that it was up to me that I could use my mindset to affect my ability to recover. I did not believe in the alternative to full recovery. That first semester of Medical School, I had a total of four surgeries, spent about six weeks all said in the hospital and kept straight As. At this point, the school had suggested I take a year to heal. I said, “No way!” I had promised myself I would start Med School by the time I was 30, and I was 30. I was also a mother of three sons. I had been in healthcare in some capacity since 1997 and it was 2008.

I was fortunate to attend an Osteopathic Medical School and was taught by the systems approach, including alternative treatment options for the ailments we learned about. With my ten years of experience, I was often consulted by my fellow students for advice and wisdom (I was also older than most of them). Nursing prepared me in ways hard to describe. I was not afraid to talk to people, touching a person, sitting in the hard moments of life and death. There’s a lot to be said about life experience. During this phase of my learning, I was introduced to Integrative and Functional Medicine. During a four weeks clerkship rotation at the Integrative Medicine program hosted at KUMC, I was profoundly impacted by the possibilities. I was able to stop ten medications I was on after just this month.

When it came time for Residency applications, I again only interviewed locally in the KC area. I was absolutely divinely placed at Research Family Medicine. I was able to complete the three years Family Medicine Residency with a certificate in Integrative Medicine, spending time in the traditional family medicine clinic and a couple of days a month in the Integrative Medicine clinic.

I was on fire for Functional Medicine. When I got my first job, it was not what or where I had envisioned working. I wanted to stay in a clinic near my home in Louisburg, KS, but that did not go in the direction I wanted. I began interviewing at clinics within an hour commute of home…not ideal, but I did not want to move my family. However, I received a call from a Topeka group, and after driving through a few small towns and weighing the options, I decided to take the plunge and move my family to Manhappiness! This was not the most popular decision with my oldest son, who was going into his Junior year of HS. I had only been through there on two previous occasions and trusted in the divine once more.

Within the first year of employed practice, I knew I would not renew my contract. I started planning how to set up practice on my own, so I could offer personalized. Root-cause medicine to as many people as I could. After the help of a couple of people who flowed into my life then flowed out, I was able to learn how to trust myself to become an entrepreneur and business owner, knowing that what I have to offer is needed, far and wide.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The journey to where I am currently has not always been easy.

During my journey to where I am now, I gave birth to three amazing sons, with a loss between the first and second. I worked full time and went to school part to full time.

I had six surgeries during medical school and my first year in practice. In the middle during residency, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroid disease with a hypoactive thyroid and started having severe joint pain. My weight was topping 280-300 lbs. I was putting in 70-80 hour weeks in residency, trying to be a mother and a wife in a struggling marriage.

I started my first physician job, within the first month had another emergent surgery, a year later was diagnosed with lupus and started to develop reactions to vaccines. In 2017, I had a rare reaction to the flu shot I had faithfully taken for 15 years. It created paralysis and pain. I was trying to figure out how to be a doctor from a wheelchair. I was taken out of work for a month. It allowed me to have time to re-evaluate my life. In those moments, I decided I was not going down without a fight. I started to implement the functional medicine knowledge I had learned on myself. I promised myself that I would get healthy and work to make my work-life balance work for me because if I was not healthy, how could I help others find their wellness?

The last hurdle to healing ME was completing the body-mind-spirit connections. I discovered my inner strength, found my value and worth, and went to counseling, ultimately ending in a divorce the year before my contract was up where I worked as an employed physician.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about WHOLEhealth MHK?
WHOLEhealth MHK is an independently owned Direct Primary Care, Functional Family Medicine practice.

Direct Primary Care is a membership-based arrangement where the fees are paid directly from the patient to the provider, eliminating Big Insurance from mandating the way health CARE is provided. It is a transparent fee structure with a monthly payment for full access to their provider, lower-cost medications, labs, imaging and visits.

Functional Family Medicine is an approach to prevention of dis-ease, a root-cause approach to finding the cause of illness, and often is the cure for many chronic states of dis-ease. We use a body-mind-spirit approach, recognizing the WHOLE person must be taken into consideration. The roots include genetics, nutrition, the gut microbiome, the socio-biome, supplements/medications. This is based on millennia old knowledge from Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, as well as cutting-edge evidence-based double-blind, randomized research studies.

We serve all ages, with about 30% of the practice being children under 18. We are one of the only practices around who believe in educated parental decisions on vaccines for their children. We do not mandate them to enroll in our practice, as I believe all children deserve access to excellent care regardless of vaccine status.

Our clients usually find us through word of mouth. When they realize their first visit with the doctor is two hours long, with a follow up generally scheduled in three weeks, they are taken aback. Follow up appointments are usually an hour if needed. We offer primary care services for acute illnesses, provide minor skin procedures and offer after hours visits in an urgent situations. They can call the doctor directly.

Where we shine is in how we approach those who have not found the answers for their chronic conditions with traditional medicine. Often they have been told or it was insinuated that the illness was in their head or not real. They were told the “labs are normal, maybe you need an antidepressant”. Their hours of research are eye-rolled away as seeking answers from Dr. Google. They are told they are just getting older.

Well, here at WHMHK, we HEAR you, we listen. We hold you in our container of caring while showing you the map for your journey to wellness. We utilize specialized labs, focus on hormonal health (thyroid, adrenal, sex hormones) and optimizing the levels as it relates to how you feel. We instruct on proper food plans, body movement, mental health, energy work, mindfulness practices, and relationships. This sets us apart from other practices where the focus is on compliance, uniformity and how to move the most bodies through to maximize income from insurance.

I am proud that my practice is held with respect among its community members, that we regularly are told that we are prayed for, held in gratitude for, and have been instrumental in finding the root cause of a chronic illness. We are open to all spiritual traditions, lifestyle traditions and believe in personal autonomy for health decisions.

We partner with Biote for bio-identical hormone replacement, which is pellet-based BHRT. This allows for more steady hormone levels and optimized health.

We offer IV Hydration and Nutrition services for wellness and health optimization, from B vitamins, Vit C and fluids to IV Glutathione.

We are also introducing Infrared Sauna therapy with vibroaccoustic and chromotherapy. Sound, color, heat, all the waves that affect the energy in our bodies.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
We are a local business in Manhattan, KS, but are able to offer telehealth services throughout the state. We have clients who travel from other states to be seen. In the practice, we have Dr. Regan Tilley, Amy Gallagher NP and Kathleen Hupe RN. We are actively growing and seeing new patients.

Pricing:

• Functional Medicine $190/mo
• Primary Care $99/mo
• Biote consult $50 (applied to first pellet treatment)
• Infrared sauna $35/hour

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.wholehealthmhk.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.reganwhmhk/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrReganTilley/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/regantilley
• Youtube: https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCpC19qmFF9c7LIcDZmnrAkg