This is the 4th part of my health story. If you need to catch up on the previous parts find them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. This is where the goodness comes into my story. This is where healing begin. This is where hope starts. This is why I do what I do. I hope you enjoy!
This is the part in the story where my healing begins. This is the time where hope was breathed into me, which my battered and bruised spirit needed badly. I went to a seminar by a chiropractor and naturopath who specializes in advanced healing through muscle testing and supplementation. I was so excited to go because I knew I’d love to learn more about how supplements and lab testing can heal the body. I didn’t know what to expect but I sat in this little log cabin type chair in his office and absorbed every bit of information that I could from that weekend. I was taking notes feverishly and I knew deep in my spirit that this is what I wanted to do with my chiropractic degree. I didn’t know any of the details of how I’d get there, but what I did know was that sometime and someday I could help others with this information. There were a couple other things I remember about this weekend. Number one was how I felt. I remember sitting in the chair being captivated by this information but I could barely keep my eyes open. I was so tired and I was having a hard time focusing although I was loving all I was learning. I also remember feeling so bloated and gassy that sitting there was deeply uncomfortable for my stomach. The second thing I remember was a light bulb went off in my head. I realized that I was not healthy. I realized that I needed healing myself and I had to figure out what was wrong with me. The way I’d been feeling for the last 5 years was anything but normal. Little did I know at this time what was in store for me. The word I will use here is journey and I use it often on the blog and with clients. This weekend started my healing journey.
That next week I went into my first set of appointments with this doctor. When I sat down in front of him he said “I didn’t know if you liked my program or if you were paying attention. I thought you were falling asleep”. That opened my eyes to how I looked to someone who could recognize sickness. I told him I loved the information and I was actually (under all of the fatigue) excited for all I learned and all I was going to continue to learn. He did some bloodwork on me and found two major things. The first thing was I had a parasite. I knew at that instant I had gotten that parasite in Mexico on the mission trip when I was 18. That is when my health changed. That is when my digestive issues started. Those little parasites made me so sick for years. The other thing he found that was despite my weight still being in a normal range for my height I was 36% body fat. When he told me I could tell he was a little hesitant and he prefaced it with saying these results may be a little shocking. When I heard 36% I actually felt a sense of relief. I knew I felt “fat”, I felt heavy, I felt like I didn’t have a healthy body composition. I got confirmation of how I felt. And it was actually extremely freeing. I knew I’d be on a healing plan from here and these numbers and results could and would change.
This is one of the reasons I believe so strongly in our need to hire a health coach. We are too emotional in our own health and are often times have a skewed perspective or get stuck on knowing what to do. I know this to be true for me. I was in chiropractic school to be a doctor, I was learning tons of information and I still couldn’t help myself.
I was so incredibly blessed by the doctor I was training with. He saw me for no charge because I was going through his training program. I look back on that blessing and I almost can’t believe it. I had very little money and was living off of loans. I took his care extremely seriously and was 110% committed. I applied everything he told me to and got on any supplement I was tested for. Within 30 days I started to feel like I could function again. It was amazing. I look back at that now and almost laugh. I was still so sick, but to see a 10% improvement meant everything to me. And it breathed more hope into me and allowed me to continue on this healing process.
I’m not going to go into all of my individual protocols because they were all customized to my body, symptoms and lab tests. I did work on my stomach, gallbladder and whole digestive system. I worked to kill off the parasite, support my adrenal glands, nourish my brain and rebuild my depleted body. I started lifting weights and getting more intentional with my nutrition. It was a whole body overhaul. It started with a parasite and a lot of stress, but because I was sick for 5 years and went through the stress of chiropractic school I had to work on healing a lot of other areas of my body too that got sick and stressed over the years. At this point it was beyond only working on my gut.
During this time was when I met my husband and got married. I don’t think he knew a fraction of what he was getting himself into. And if you ask him he’d say the same thing. First and foremost I’m one of those crazy nutrition-loving chiropractors and I was also getting dangerous with my knowledge of digestive healing. Let’s just say that Phil has overhauled his diet and lifestyle and has done many cleansing and detoxification protocols his body needed. He loves it and I love him even more because of it.
By the way, on my wedding day I felt AMAZING. 100% the best I could have imagined or prayed for. God gave me a huge gift that day and I’m so thankful.
One thing he probably didn’t want to sign up for was a sick wife. For better or worse, sickness and health, right?I am so thankful for all of his support during my seasons of healing, I know I wouldn’t have gotten healthy without him. Having someone to lean on is crucial. Before Phil it was my parents (and I owe them so much too), but they couldn’t do as many practical day to day things because they live a couple of hours away. Phil was there to pick up a lot of the pieces I was dropping, like getting a meal on the table or doing the dishes or laundry. He’s great at laundry and has very successfully systematized it so he still does the laundry to this day. Enough bragging about my hubby and back to my story. Having friends or family to help support you physically, emotionally and spiritually is an important piece of healing that is often overlooked.
After about 1.5 years that practitioner I went on go get some more training specifically on the digestive system and the microbiome. (Read more here). I still had digestive symptoms, was still tired and still stressed. I was about 50% better, which was amazing. One of the most amazing parts of my healing was sugar cravings were almost gone. I didn’t have all of those critters (aka parasites) in my gut I was feeding with the sugar. They were a big part of all of those cravings. I knew there was more information out there I needed to know for my healing and for others too. I dug deep into the microbiome and how to support digestive health through a grain free diet, fasting, fermenting and the use of probiotics. I also learned about finding the source, or root problem of health problems and how to support the body at a cellular level. During this time I hired two more health coaches for myself, who I am extremely thankful for for so many reasons. They have become some dear mentors to me and I continue to learn from them to this day.
Time. It’s a 4 letter word in healing, but it’s necessary to achieve full healing and abundant health. It took me years to get sick and I was sick for 5 years before I started healing my body. The last couple of years have had their ups and downs with my health, but they are nothing like they used to be and with each month I have gotten healthier and healthier.
As I sit here typing up my health story my tummy feels good. I can actually think this whole time (my brain is on). I can get up consistently in the morning and I don’t dread mornings like I used to. I don’t experience debilitating fatigue everyday. I have no sugar and grain cravings. I am more productive and more social. Really, I have started to find joy in living my life again. My health isn’t perfect, my stomach isn’t always 100% and it never will be all the time. But I will never go back to how bad I felt. I will never have to walk that journey again. My goal/ job now is to put one foot in front of the other and continue to honor by body by feeding it good food, getting adjusted, exercising, de-stressing, getting good sleep and continuing to learn more about keeping a body and gut healthy long term.
I am also sitting here with my last 11 years fresh in my mind and it’s a hard place for me to be. I am starting to forget some of the details of how I felt because I haven’t felt that way for so long. It’s a good thing, but I never want to lose those memories. It may sound weird to say that, but it shaped who I am and it’s the story that God had for me. It is also the reason that I’ve launched this website, my health coaching business and everything you are seeing on this website today (and so much more in the weeks to come).
My biggest prayer and goal for telling my health story is that I could touch one persons life. Have one piece of my story be relatable to you. And to help as many of you as I can.
If you missed the previous parts, read here:
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