Why I Walked Away to Heal (and Why I'm Back)
A year ago, I walked away from almost everything. I sold my clinic, stopped the podcast, and stepped back from Instagram. I wasn't quitting. I was healing. You can't heal a nervous system that never gets to rest, and mine had been paddling in the deep end for almost ten years.
Now I'm back. Here's what happened, what changed, and what's coming next.
Key takeaways
- Living out of alignment with your values is a real, physical stressor.
- I sold Provo Health to Dr. Josh Redd so I could be a mom first and heal second.
- Provo Health is now Red River Orem, a CIRS clinic that looks at autoimmunity, anemia, and everything else too.
- There are two kinds of CIRS patients, and one protocol doesn't fit both.
- You're not unhealable. There's an order to healing.
🎧 Listen to the full episode: Why Juanique Walked Away to Heal and Why She's Back
Why I stepped away
My husband Tristan was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2016. That's when it all started. It didn't end when he died. It got worse. I was running the clinic alone, and then I got really sick: long COVID, Epstein-Barr, CIRS.
I kept making the same New Year's promise: this is the year I heal my nervous system. And every year, I was too busy.
Then I overheard my daughter tell her friend, "That's my mom. She's always on the phone taking business meetings."
That cut me to my core. It wasn't the first time I'd heard it.
Can being out of alignment make you sick?
I believe it can. When you act out of congruence with your truth, everything feels hard. Decisions that should work don't. You feel drained and uninspired.
Every moment I spent away from my kids was a moment of incongruence. And you can't heal when you're constantly stressed and your mind is running a million miles an hour.
So one morning I texted Dr. Josh Redd: You're not interested in buying Provo Health, are you?
He replied: Very interested.
Selling Provo Health
Two hours in the clinic, and I told him the whole story. I built that clinic to help sick people like me. I didn't realize I'd built the clinic I needed. But now it was getting in the way of my next level of healing.
He said something I'll never forget: I want you to be a mom first and heal second. But would you stay on to do what you love, which is educating?
The sale took about two weeks. When you're in alignment, the universe says yes.
Why I took a year off
I was bone tired. I needed space, the same way we sometimes need space from our spouses, our kids, our best friends.
So I put everything down. Then I picked each piece back up and asked: Does this still light me up?
- Instagram? Parts of it, no. I don't love the algorithm or how it pushes inflammatory content to keep us hooked.
- The podcast? A resounding hell yes.
Every time I thought I was done, someone would stop me at the store or message me to say the podcast changed their life. I can't teach you a complex health concept in 60 seconds. But I can here.
What's changing
My kids come first. I come second. This comes third. I'm fully in my mom era.
My kids went through something incredibly traumatic when they were little, and it's still coming out of their nervous systems. I couldn't hold space for that while I was so sick. Now I can.
That means I can't live in my DMs anymore. Please still message me. But for complex health questions, there's going to be a better place.
Is Provo Health still open?
Provo Health is now Red River Orem. It's become the CIRS clinic in Dr. Redd's network. The other Red River locations send their CIRS patients there.
It's led by Dr. Stadler, Dr. Redd's head physician (the one who trains all the other doctors). He's one of the few people I sometimes ask to "explain it like I'm five." You'll be hearing a lot from him this season.
Two kinds of CIRS patients
I've said this a lot on Instagram, and I'll keep saying it:
- People who got sick from a moldy building. For them, a protocol like Shoemaker can make a lot of sense.
- People who got CIRS markers another way. Through autoimmunity, stress, viral triggers like Epstein-Barr, root canal infections, or breast implants their immune system is rejecting.
If you have CIRS plus an autoimmune disease and you only treat the CIRS, you stay sick. If you have low iron and you're chasing mold, you'll chase mold forever.
You need a plan built around your biochemistry, your exposures, and your history.
Not sure where your body broke down? 👉 Take the free Root Causes Quiz and get your starting point in a few minutes.
If you're at the beginning of your healing journey
I've been there. It's scary and it's lonely. You look fine on the outside, so people may say you're making it up.
I see you. You're not unhealable.
Your body didn't get sick because you were unlucky. Illness doesn't fall out of the sky. Something happened, and you can do things to undo it. Every symptom is a body that's out of balance, and balance can be restored when you know what to do and the order to do it in.
On my worst days, I thought my brain was melting. I thought my kids would have a vegetable for a mother. It took my friend Gina reminding me, over and over, that the person on the other side of this was someone I'd be excited to meet.
She was right. So now I'm that reminder for you.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Gutsy Health Podcast back?
Yes. Season 3 started September 1, 2026, with new episodes on CIRS, autoimmunity, dental health, airway health, and brain rehab.
What happened to Provo Health?
Juanique sold Provo Health to Dr. Josh Redd. It's now Red River Orem, a CIRS-focused clinic led by Dr. Stadler. You can reach them at 801-691-1765.
Is the Shoemaker protocol the only way to heal CIRS?
It can help people whose CIRS came from a moldy building. But many people have CIRS alongside autoimmunity, infections, or anemia, and need a more personalized plan.
Where do you start?
There's an order to healing. I created the Order of Healing™ to help you understand your body and follow a proven path back to the way it's meant to work: 8 steps, from mindset and mitochondria all the way up to the brain.
👉 Download the free Order of Healing™ Guide and see where to start.
🎧 Listen to the full episode on the Gutsy Health Podcast.
This post is for education only and isn't medical advice. Talk with a qualified provider before changing your treatment.
