Hello. My patients call me “Dr. Z”
I am a physician, specialist in Functional Medicine, chiropractic neurologist, and clinical nutritionist practicing in Darien Connecticut. And, I have to tell you, I’m a freak for mechanisms, research, and piecing together the clues that create poor health and disease.
I believe in attention to detail, waking early to start the day—with a cup of coffee, of course—and doing a project the right way. I also believe in facing your demons head on; resolving simmering conflicts; and never letting someone take your power away or extinguish your internal grit.
I also strongly believe the majority of health issues we all suffer from deserves more than a tweet, or a 7‑minute visit with some doctor who minimizes how you feel, then kicks you out the door with a prescription for pills or a procedure. I realize you are not just a box of individual body parts that most myopic “ologists” focus on.
Sadly, you may have been told from ‘specialists’ and ‘ologists’ that your condition is “just because”; you have been dealt a bad hand of cards; it’s genetic, or you’re just going to have to live with it.
My guess is that you are feeling frustrated, ticked off, and stuck with a big folder of tests but no answers to your chronic unresolved health issues. In many cases, you may have the wrong diagnosis. Furthermore, you have no one to act as a quarterback to help you manage these issues and “put it all together” for you.
Personally . . . I get it. I understand what you’ve been through. I’ve been cut up, drugged up, and stitched up during my own journey with disease. I see the pitfalls in the current disease-care model. The pill-for-an-ill method of treating people just isn’t cutting it [no pun intended] anymore.
This is where I come in.
My mission is to help you uncover the reasons behind your unresolved health issues. I then create a personalized plan based on your unique issues and your dysfunctional physiology uncovered by specific testing. Then, you and I together, work you back to excellent health.
Here’s also my commitment to you. If you commit to yourself and the process, I give you 150%.
So, if you are looking for a doctor willing to go to bat for you, dive in and dig deep for you, and include you in your personal rebuild, I’m the doctor for you.
Check out my story
My Mission
I understand the frustrations people experience when navigating the typical nightmare health care system involving the 7-minute visit with a prescription of pills as an end result.
I also understand what people go through emotionally and physically when thrown into the world of drugs, surgery, and any other therapies when receiving a diagnosis.
I am also committed to helping those who are looking for answers.Your victory over your health issues is my vision for you!
I’ve been through it and I’ve rebuilt myself. I can do the same for you.
My Education
- Chiropractic Physician New York Chiropractic College, Seneca Falls, NY, 1992
- Board-Certified Chiropractic Neurologist American Chiropractic Neurology Board, Temple, TX, 2003
- Master’s Degree in Human Nutrition University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT, 2013
- Bachelor of Science Degree University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 1989 Major in Biology/Pre-med
My Story
At one point in my life, I thought I was “living the dream.” My practice was busy. I was renovating a new home and socking away money for retirement. I was also involved in a relationship that was moving in the right direction, or so I thought.
Suddenly, like a clap of thunder, my world began to implode. At the busiest time of my career, I discovered that a trusted employee was stealing from me. In the midst of home renovations, my relationship turned caustic. All of this chaos was happening at the same time! As my relationship ended, and I realized how much money I had dumped into the renovations, I feared that my employee’s theft could threaten my practice (my livelihood).
Like anyone else, that caused me to freak out and constantly worry.
While juggling the stressors, I fell into a pattern of eating crappy foods, and I drank red wine to calm my nerves and sedate myself to sleep. For the most part, that didn’t work, as I lay awake at night with my stomach twisting in knots as I contemplated my personal hell.
About two years after the major crises ended, I began to feel “off.” I developed a progressive fatigue, as if I were fighting an infection.
At the same time, I was losing weight, although my appetite was normal. In addition to the weight loss and fatigue, I developed throbbing headache pain when I bent over. I also developed bed-soaking night sweats. Now I knew something was seriously wrong.
A blood test showed that my level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)—a biomarker measuring tissue destruction—was off the charts. That led me to seek a diagnosis. A few days later, as I was staring x-rays of my chest, the radiologist said “You have a giant tumor in your chest.”
Ugh! We hear stress kills, but here was the disturbing proof.
Left with no choice, I had to have chemo to start destroying the cancer. After 7 months of chemo and 4 weeks of radiation, I pushed a surgeon to crack open my chest to remove the 5-inch tumor consisting of scar tissue and cancer cells—non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
During chemo, I remember hearing “We’re giving you the strongest stuff.” That warmed my heart! It’s such a creepy feeling to watch them inject toxic red fluid into your veins, not knowing what the side effects will be, and if you will survive the treatment.
While going through cancer-treatment hell, I never lost sight of victory. I kept my eye on the finish line—I knew I would live.
The moment I woke up from surgery was a new beginning for me. When my eyes opened, my first thought—it’s time to rebuild.
A little more to read
My victory over a serious disease was achieved by using standard medical treatment with my own critical thinking.
I had pushed the oncologist, surgeon, and nurses to think about me as an individual, to think “outside the box” when devising my treatments. Finally, I had convinced them to do surgery they never would have considered if I had not insisted.
It took a tremendous amount of personal research, initiative, and effort to get them to listen to me, and to try something that was not part of the usual protocol for my diagnosis. Perhaps the reason I finally was able to get through to them is because I am a doctor; I can speak their language.
In a powerful realization, it then hit me how difficult, if not impossible, it must be for someone who isn’t a health professional, or doesn’t have the knowledge to suggest something different, to challenge the current system.
If I hadn’t challenged my cancer team and pushed for the surgery to remove the mass in my chest, I would have followed the “standards of care”; most likely, I wouldn’t be here to tell my story.
My quest for something better than just reactive—something requiring more critical thought and a plan—began after my personal experience. During my cancer care, and certainly after it was finished, I wanted to rebuild myself, not only to prevent a recurrence. I wanted to see if I could take my health and fitness to a new level.
Sadly, there are no standard-of-care guidelines to help you rebuild from and prevent recurrence of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and other chronic ailments. Enter functional medicine.
Functional medicine is a method of uncovering why disease happens and how to reverse conditions while, at the same time, restoring health. Like an archaeologist digs for fossils, a specialist in functional medicine digs for physical clues to understand the origins of your disease.
Using the principles of functional medicine alongside countless days, weeks, and months of research, I mapped out a plan to quickly rebuild my body back to excellent health.
To discover what that plan was, I suggest reading REBUILD.
I promise you will be overwhelmingly glad you did.
My life outside of the clinic . . .
I love comic books! I have been an avid reader and collector of comics since I was a kid. I’m fascinated by the creative stories, and really enjoy the artwork created by the artists who draw the characters. Comics are also a great investment!
Motorcycling is in my blood. This pic was taken at a track in Canaan New Hampshire. A close friend teaches racing skills for those looking to advance their skills on a track which translates to better skills on the roads. Track days are a blast!
On a personal level, my wife and I love all things outdoors. We love hiking, biking, and motorcycling on the beautiful rural roads of Vermont and upstate Connecticut. We also love working out, creating healthful food in the kitchen, and just time relaxing in a coffee shop listening to jazz working on business.
Contact Me
When you’re ready to commit and do what it takes to rebuild your health . . . send me a message. For emergencies call 911 or visit your nearest hospital.