Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Has It Really Been almost 2 Years?

I just can't believe how time has flown by!  It's incredible to me that I haven't written a blog post in almost 2 years.  I'm sure you're wondering where I've been...especially because, when I started this blog, I was posting every day.


Let me tell you...My life has taken a turn!  A massive turn for the good...for the amazing.  About 3 years ago I decided that I wasn't going to work with traditional doctors anymore.  I was tired of trying a new prescription medication and landing in the ER.  This happened about 6 times in 8 months.  I learned, not so very quickly, that my body can not handle prescription medications.  I turned to Naturopathic Medicine.  Once my body began to clear of toxins and my organs began to function, regularly again, I began to heal.

Just to go back a bit.  I sought out healthy alternatives, often, to try to find what was best for my body to heal.  There are just so many options out there, it would have taken me a lifetime to whittle down what worked for my body.  I was in bed 18 to 20 hours a day with pain, fatigue and brain fog.  I was losing the use of my legs once or twice a week.  It is humbling to have to have a family member walk me to the bathroom when I my legs were too weak to hold me up.  Taking a shower used up all the energy I had for the day.  I pushed myself to exercise a couple of times a week because of the adrenal rush (fake sense of energy) and because doctors said it would help.  My digestion completely shut down....annndddd...I won't go into detail about that whole 6 month episode.  Long story short, traditional medicine doctors said all they could do is surgery and give me a colostomy bag.  That was the last straw with traditional medicine.  I suffered, my family suffered and friendships suffered.  I was unable to work and landed on disability.

As someone who is a diehard entrepreneur, disability didn't sit well with me.  I just didn't have a choice because sitting, or being in bed was pretty much all I could do.  I would call that rock bottom.  I stopped fighting my way through this illness and began to listen to my body, listen to my Naturopath and be committed to a non-toxic lifestyle.

What exactly is a non-toxic lifestyle?  It is eating all organic, grass-fed and farm raised foods.  For me, it is also, no dairy and no processed foods.  In the beginning, I was boiling up a soup I call, salad soup.  Due to my digestive challenges, I am unable to digest raw vegetables so I cut up organic vegetables and added them to some grass-fed chicken broth and boiled it to death.  A non-toxic lifestyle is also eliminating any health care products that have chemicals in them.  Toothpaste, face cream, moisturizer, deodorant and make-up are some of the products I replaced with non-toxic options.

As long as I am focused and determined to keep the toxins out of my life, I feel great!  It has it's challenges...like the holidays and my sugar addiction.  They don't go well together.  After I 'cheat' I find myself sliding down the slippery slope of fibro flare.  Gladly, I know what sends me down that slope and what brings me back!

I can happily announce that I was once living with a pain level of 7-8 out of 10 on a daily basis and for the last year, I have been living with a pain level of 0-3 consistently.  The fatigue that kept me in bed for 18-20 hours a day has diminished.  I am up and about at 6am and to bed by 10pm.  I've even started working again.  A full-time Realtor!  This is my dream job and I found my way too it...through the muck, but found it anyway!!

I hope that my story can help others find their way to their dreams!  What are your dreams and how can I help you make your way to them?

Thank you for reading, forwarding and following!
Terri