Fear

My first official post for my healing blog! I cannot believe it, what to write about?! I could start out by writing about my condition, or about my healing, but I think I will start by telling you about how big of a deal this launch really is.

I remember when asked by Eileen Laird of Phoenix Helix to do a phone interview about my healing journey, I was honored but lacking confidence to actually do it. It was now 2015, only about a year into my new lifestyle of trying to reverse my Autoimmune conditions. I lost sleep over this. When the day came, I had so many notes and pages set out in front of me at the table (where I would do the interview). I successfully made it through the interview and hardly even looked at my notes. In future posts, I will tell you more about those wonderful people who contacted me after that interview. If you are interested in listening to my interview with Eileen Laird of Phoenix Helix, here is the link.

My first official search on how to heal naturally began back in December of 2013 with a Ted Talk by Dr. Terry Wahls. I was hooked and began hours of research. Phoenix Helix, Terry Wahls, Sarah Ballantyne, Amy Myers, Dr Peter Osborne, Medical Medium, Danielle Walker and Mickey Trescott are just a few blogs that were a wonderful resource at the time. At that time, I would of never guessed I would launch a blog of my own, let alone come this far on my healing, in natural ways. It was very frightening to have Autoimmune disease let alone do something that my “specialist” was very against. When I first saw my “specialist”, I remember her being very intimidating and when I tried to talk to her about diet and my disease, she cut me off and said “nutrition has nothing to do with how you got this disease or why you are doing so well”. Talk about putting more fear in my new way of healing.

After doing so well for several months, I, along with my very reluctant Dr. made the decision to try and go medication free. (At a later date I will fill you in on my medications.) After 7-8 months of being off my immunosuppressive drug, my CPK (creatine phosphokinase) started to climb back up to a level that was not good. More fear crept in…I had been working so hard to get off my meds through diet and I felt like I had failed.

The summer of 2017 Eileen contacted me again, and asked me to write a short piece for a blog she was doing. Her blog was about when diet alone is not enough, and medication is needed. Well, like my confidence in speaking skills I was not confident in my writing skills either. Cue in more fear! Luckily, with the help of my son-in-law and Eileen, I was able to write a piece. Read the full article here.

Fast forward to March 2018. I was doing very well but I seemed to be at a stand still with my healing. I was home on a cold Saturday in Wisconsin (which was unusual because I now spend most of the Winter in Florida). I was just not feeling well, I knew something was just not right. My restrictive eating and the drug I was taking just did not put me over the line where I wanted to be. I came across a Facebook page by a Dr Maggie Yu. After filling out a short form, I signed up for a phone call. Something I wrote must have helped with what happened next…Dr Maggie called me. (Much more about this phone call in future posts) I ended up signing up for her 8-week program. The program was pretty pricey for me but my husband was also on the call and he encouraged me to go ahead with it. It required blood work, food intolerance testing and hormone testing, along with 4-6 hours per week of live conference videos with a group of other autoimmune sufferers and Dr Maggie and her nutritionist Frankie! In the end, I did so well on this program Dr Maggie wanted to do a LIVE interview with me. What? Me? Are you kidding? I am not the most photogenic person let alone talk on a live video?! The plan was for her to ask me questions and I had to answer them live, no prerecorded script, nothing. And just like all of the rest of my interviews and guest writing pieces, I did it!  Now, over 6,000 views later, Dr Maggie and 3 others, we did a follow up interview!

One day I started writing “My story”, and a thought popped up about writing a book. Then a friend suggested I start a closed group Facebook page for others who are struggling with health. I focus on information in this group and try go answer questions as best I can on a healthier lifestyle and diet. So, I did, and we now have a whopping 34 members. After that, I thought of maybe writing a blog. This was something I never dreamed I could actually do. I started reading and listening to some great books and following some incredible people such as…Lara Casey, Rachel Hollis, Shauna Niequist, Annie F. Downs, Steven Furtick, Shemane Nugent, April O’Leary and Emily from Morning Motivated Mom. I was on her blog one night and she was giving info on how to start a blog. I immediately signed up and here I am, just a few months later, my blog is going live to share my story with the world!

I started to write and learn to launch this new adventure in my life. I really want to make a difference in the lives of others suffering with autoimmune conditions. Thank goodness I have 3 incredible smart children who married incredibly smart spouses. Also, I have a niece by marriage who is the sweetest woman on earth! She is helping me set it up and help with editing.

Do I still have fear after dealing with all of these conditions the past 10 years? YES, but I am getting so comfortable with who I am, what I am doing and the path God has me on. I will try to fulfill this pipe dream and hopefully help others along the way. I pray this blog will show love, caring and helpful ideas for Healing with faith, food and support.

I have not mentioned many others (naturopathic Dr’s, Integrative Dr’s and massage therapist) who have been a major factor in my learning and healing but with time, I will get to everything and everyone.