Joshua’s Story

“My son Joshua was an honors student who entered college with big dreams, but over the course of a year, he began to feel unwell. His appetite and sleep patterns became worse and worse while his mood fluctuated from irritated to deeply depressed. It all became too much and he dropped out of college. We were at a loss as to what was happening to him during this steady decline.

We did research and found that his symptoms could be caused by brain injury. He had several mild concussions growing up while playing sports as well as a traumatic birth. We took Joshua for a brain SPECT imaging and indeed found that he had Traumatic Brain Injury. We found out why he was feeling so poorly, but the medicine to help him feel better was harder to find.

We tried nutrition and supplements which helped a little bit, but Joshua was dropping into deep lows and not believing that there was any real help. He began self-medicating with alcohol. It was painful to see how the only time he had a smile on his face was after he had drank too much. He even stated that alcohol was the only reason he was alive.

Joshua was given three prescriptions to try and stabilize his mood, sleep patterns and focus. These helped a little, but he would still fall into a deep black hole of depression. The potential side effects and warnings for those prescriptions were scary and they were just not helping him enough. We were contemplating hospitalization, but then his doctor suggested using ketamine infusions.

I searched and found Advanced Wellness and Pain Center and sent them an urgent e-mail. They responded with a phone call the very next morning. They gave me information on the ketamine treatments and I was very encouraged that this could truly help my son. With the first treatment, my son was pulled out of his deep depression. By his third treatment, he realized he truly had a purpose in life and that things could change for the better! We are on his fifth treatment as I’m writing this and I am very happy to report that my sweet son is back! He engages in conversations at home, has a lightness to his steps, smiles, tells funny jokes and most importantly is making plans for his future!

The doctors at Advanced Wellness and Pain are a phenomenal team! They each spent time with Joshua, whether it was talking about the stresses and challenges he had gone through or what the ketamine could do for his depression. They were very reassuring and directed the process every step of the way. Their counseling, treatment and support apps are amazing! I truly believe that Joshua received more counseling and help in these five appointments than he received in over a year of counseling because the nature of the treatment is quick in succession and intensity. The ketamine administered in this fashion, truly gives relief from depression while healing the brain! Thank you Doctors Leathem, Wong, and Sharma! Your desire to help has brought a new innovation to healing and I am so happy that we found your team – you have given my son the ability to heal and start anew!”