I am a 45-year-old woman and a mother of two boys. I had been having neck and back pain off and on for about year and my menstrual cycle had been irregular for a few years. I thought it was time to become an active participant in my own health. I wanted more energy, exercise without pain, and ease into my middle years and my menopause gracefully. It was a relief to go to the Center and see doctors who care so much about who I am as a whole person rather than a “quick fix”. Instead of dreading my mid-life and all that it includes as a woman, I look forward to enjoying each day in good health.

The direction, genuine concern and skilled support I received from Dr. Stram and his staff at the Center helped me through the very difficult time I was having during the initial months of my cancer diagnosis and treatment.  And when traditional drugs failed, the weekly acupuncture sessions with Rebecca Rice helped reduce the severe nausea I was experiencing during my chemotherapy. They also helped me feel better in general, making it easier to cope.

This incredible team! Devoted heart and soul to working with patients.

If I could, and maybe someday I will, I’d write a whole book thanking the doctors at the Stram Center for Integrative Medicine for the superbly sensitive and wonderfully compassionate medical care that they are providing me and my family.

When I discovered Dr. Stram in July 2005, I was feeling rather desperate. I had lymphoma in 2002, and at the time, I sought treatment from a highly respected doctor at a major cancer center in New York City. Over the next year, this doctor traumatized me with his careless and ultimately, highly irresponsible attitude toward my body and health. I finally left his care when he demonstrated in no uncertain terms that he cared far more about his research project than he did about me.

In 2003, I began seeing a local physician to coordinate my follow-up care. But every time I would see him, he would conclude the visit with the same awful words: “You are disgustingly healthy.” He chuckled when I told him I did yoga.

Finally, I decided I had to find a doctor who supported my approach to staying healthy. I searched the internet, but then, a good friend in Delmar told me about The Stram Center, right in the Capital District. She had heard about the center, and suggested I make an appointment to see Dr. Stram.

Can I say miracle? Can I say rainbow? Can I say that I came out of an hour and a half visit with these fabulous doctors in tears of joy and gratitude? I am a big believer in prayer, and I believe God answered my prayers when I found this incredible team, devoted heart and soul to working with patients to heal body and soul. I have since brought my husband and both daughters to see the doctors. The Center is on the forefront of a new era of medicine, one combining West and the East. One that recognizes a wide array of healing techniques to treat not just the body, but the spirit as well.

The doctors at the Center have given me the support I need to begin to recover from the deep trauma I suffered at the hands of clueless and uncaring physicians. I thank Dr. Stram for opening an office HERE! And for doing all they do to promote good health. Bless you!

 The most amazing thing (to me, anyway) is I have not experienced acid reflux since you (Ron Stram) got rid of the hiatal hernia with positional release therapy. Now why don't other health providers do that little maneuver [prt] instead of plying us with medicine? I haven't taken a 'Pepcid Complete' since....I' m loving that!

"Thank you to the Center for their careful work."

I came to The Stram Center because I was looking for a practice which would bridge the gap between my allopathic doctor and some of the alternative practitioners. I thought maybe a naturopath could help. I was dealing with health problems which had become alarming, felt lousy, and was trying to avoid surgery.

I have consulted with Ron, and also Rebecca for acupuncture. I am impressed by the patience, kindness and attention I have been shown. While I am not yet completely healed, my blood test is much improved, and I believe I am now on the way to better health.

The benefits of a slow and natural recovery have included having to learn to slow down, teaching myself to eat well and live more joyfully, and creating a a routine of regular prayer. These changes will help me age gracefully - and I plan to live a long time! Thank you to the Center for their careful work.

My experience at the Stram Center for Integrative Medicine has been nothing short of wonderful. I am so grateful to the practitioners for the care and compassion they have shown me. I've been receiving weekly acupuncture from Rebecca over the summer, and the inroads to real, radiant well being have just been astonishing. It is so good to have found someone who can help me work through the years of blocks and deficiencies, really overhauling myself into health. Aided by the herbs and dietary changes she recommended, I've felt such a difference.

I am so glad to have finally found real health care, not just symptomatic cover-up care. The Center is a great place to go when you decide that it's finally time to seek help and really heal.

For the first time in years, I sat with a physician who really listened to me.

While experiencing a recurrent gastrointestinal bacterial infection which traditional Western medicine was not able to overcome, I learned about the Stram Center for Integrative Medicine. For the first time in years, I sat with a physician, Dr. Ronald Stram, who really listened to me and who incorporated my questions, comments and concerns in the treatment plan he developed. I immediately began to experience healing and one year later I am completely free of the bacterial infection, have lost 38 pounds and am planning a trip to Europe. I am eternally grateful to Dr. Stram not only for his sound medical advice but for his warmth and high level of concern and compassion.

Upon finding out, over three years ago, that I have cancer, something I was not ready to hear, I went to an oncologist to see what I could do for this disease. 

I was informed that the type of cancer I have is not curable at this time but, that it could be put into remission for a short period of time. I then asked how much time, they said eighteen months to three years.

At this point I opted to go on to chemotherapy since there wasn’t any other option; the physicians said that without chemotherapy I would only live six months. After months of chemotherapy I was in remission but, at what cost? My body felt used up like I had nothing left to give. So I asked the doctor if I had any other options. He told me that I could get a second opinion, which I did; I then went to the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. They read the reports from my previous doctor and without any other testing said the same thing, I would have up to three years and to make the best of it. Feeling let down I went home to think about things. After getting over the shock and the remembrance of watching my mother waste away and die from this disease, I decided to go back to my doctor to see if there was any other type of treatment I could get. After a couple of weeks of badgering him, he finally recommended a consultation with Dr. Ronald Stram.

I made an appointment with Dr. Stram where we discussed my options; I began regular intravenous Vitamin C treatments with him. From that point on, I started feeling better than I had in a year. They then discussed with me a treatment that is used in Europe called Iscador and asked if I was interested in trying it. After educating myself about Iscador, I decided I would. After taking this for a few weeks I felt a hundred percent better and started to feel some fight back in my body.

I would recommend this treatment to anyone with this disease; also, to use this treatment along with chemotherapy in order to help eradicate the disease.

I cannot thank Dr. Stram  enough for this treatment. I will also let everyone know in the future how things are going.

PS. I do hope in the future insurance companies will realize that Integrative medicine offers help and hope to those who have run out of options.

When I was 16 years old, in the fall of my junior year of high school, I started getting very fatigued. I even had to stop running track. We went to many doctors, including 5 specialists yet no one could give me an answer. We made an appointment with Dr. Stram, however, I was convinced before I got there that no one would ever find the answers. I was wrong.

 As soon as I got there, I knew this appointment would be different. Dr. Stram took the time to listen to my symptoms and not just look solely at my lab work. I could just tell that he was there because he cared; he looked at me as a person and not just someone who needed fixing. That made all the difference. He ended up diagnosing me with hypothyroidism, which happens to run in my family. After that appointment, I was feeling better than I had in months and really felt that this was the turning point. Dr. Stram was right, I started the medicine and within a week, there was already a marked difference. He gave me my life back.
UPDATE: I just finished my sophomore year of college and have continued to feel well!

I firmly believe the reason that my IVF cycle was successful this time was because of my acupuncture treatments with Rebecca. Every step of my IVF cycle I responded more positively, and was much more relaxed throughout the whole process. I am now expecting triplets and continue to see Rebecca once a week.