My Story

In 1999 I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I did what any 25 year old would do, I listened to what the doctors told me. I went on disease modifying drugs, I felt very sorry for myself and I tried to live as normal a life as possible. During these years I was very busy getting married, having a baby and starting a business with my husband. When this disease sidelined me, I layed in bed, pumped myself up with IV steroids and waited to feel better. Slowly over time I started to research complimentary ways to take more control over my health. I went for massages, tried yoga, did acupuncture and dove head first into Homeopathy. All of these in combination, gave me a sense of control and helped to better alleviate my symptoms. I will reference Homeopathy a lot, as it has become a force in how I treat my children for acute illness and keeps my family healthy. I conceived and gave birth to my Son David and daughter Avery, with very little complications. I was the mom of 2, feeling well and happy. Health was important to me but I was busy doing other things so I dealt with what came along with having an autoimmune disease and lived. Years passed and it was time to decide if another baby was in our future? We made peace that this was enough to handle and moved on from there. Life was getting busier and more crazy and we were content. Low and behold, a gigantic hiccup happened, and I found out I was pregnant with Lucy.

I planned on doing things so differently this pregnancy. I felt great, had my longest stretch ever without any flares and was really just excited to have the opportunity to have a natural birth. I was going to use so much of what I had learned using a more natural approach. The pregnancy was incredible. I was feeling great, exercising, eating right and getting ready to have this baby!!!  During my 8th month I began having some pain and was diagnosed with a UTI. I was given an antibiotic and felt a bit better but not great. Given that so much was going on inside my body, I thought this was normal and didn’t bother to complain.

This is where my world would start to slowly crumble. I was able to have Lucy naturally but it was a traumatic birth. She was healthy and strong so onwards and upwards we go! Lucy came home and we began to navigate life with 3 kids. It was fun and amazing and exhausting all rolled into one. It was the summer, I didn’t have either of my other kids in warm weather so it was a great experience. As time went by, small things were happening to my body that just didn’t make sense. I had multiple UTI's that didn’t go away or kept coming back. I began to get very dizzy, ringing and discomfort in my ears. My equalibrium was off and pelvic pain started to come and go. No one could figure out what was happening. Several trips to the hospital and many doctors later, all they would say is…this must be complications from MS. At this time I was completely unable to care for my kids, I was having panic attacks, extreme vertigo, and pelvic pain. The pain became so debilitating that I had to move in with my mom so she could care for me, David, Avery and Lucy. My sisters took turns coming in from out of town to help too. There were no breaks in the pain. It was constant and overwhelming and at times I just wanted to disappear. Through all of this I listened to the doctors again and came home with 8 different medications which consisted of narcotics, anti depressants, and others that were just covering up all of my pain.

7 months of laying in bed and losing all control over my life, I threw myself into research. I discovered a Dr. of Chinese Medicine in California. I felt that this was divine intervention, and booked a flight a few weeks later. I was on a new journey and I was on my way to healing!

3 years later I wasn’t any better. I was still living with chronic pain. There's a crazy thing about anything chronic, you learn to live with it, find ways to pretend it isn’t there. Again I was giving all of the power to another Dr. who had taught me an enormous amount about the human body and had helped with many symptoms but wasn’t getting down to the root cause of this pain. a Nothing during this journey was a waste of time. Learning from a healer, navigating different paths, all were avenues bringing me closer to finding answers.

I found myself alone at the drivers seat. That’s a lot of responsibility. I had a husband and family that was completely supportive of all of my decisions. That support was not only with love but also financially. Treating holistically it not an inexpensive venture. Through this roller coaster ride, I met and became friends with beautiful supportive women that were stronger than anyone I had ever met. They would come to understand everything I was going through like no one else. This "tribe" taught me things about health and wellness that I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams was out there. It was through these relationships that I met and ultimately would treat my illness with some of the world's most brilliant practitioners and healers. Pieces of my puzzle were coming together. It was depressing and thought provoking to discover how the human body could be so broken yet look so healthy at the same time. It would become my mission to find the answers!

Where am I now? After 4 years of living with an invisible chronic illness, I am still not healed but I am on my way. Some days are still filled with pain and limitations but my spirit is stronger and my will to find answers is prevailing. If I went to any Western doctor they would give me a few diagnoses. I have MS, Interstitial Cystitis, Lyme Disease, symptoms of Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue and IBS. To me, it is all of the same thing. It is a broken body that needs to be put back into balance. I am working on treating the whole body through nutrition and other holistic means. I have an enormous amount of knowledge that I am going to share. Healing isn’t linear nor is it for the faint of heart. Whether you are sick or looking to live a long healthy life, what I have to say may have value to you. Enjoy my recipes, my ideas & my road to a full, healthy, pain free life.