Ripe for Change
At the ripe, old age of 30, my husband and I had the discussion that no couple wants to have, “If I don’t make it, this is the kind of woman I want you to marry.” At this point, I could barely walk, was in constant, excruciating pain (even with prescription pain meds), I had tender points all over my body, I was using my bedpost as an IV pole because my body no longer absorbed nutrients, and I really couldn’t see how I had any kind of future. The grinding fatigue, brain fog, and deep mental exhaustion made working, caring for our young kids, and even daily life activities almost impossible.
Every night, I would lay on the couch (no longer able to sleep next to my husband because it hurt too much). I would cry and ask God to take me! “But…” I prayed, “If you don’t take me, then use me. Use this experience! Don’t waste my suffering.”
We decided to take new action. My husband, a traditionally trained physician, decided he couldn’t just watch me die. We’d tried all of the traditional approaches and couldn’t get a solid diagnosis, let alone a treatment plan. So he turned to integrative medicine. In fact, he was so committed, he went back to a fellowship in functional medicine.
Through much trial and error, we began to find a path of healing– but it was far from an easy, straight path. We tried, we failed, we tried again. I would get well, just to have another symptom pop up. But slowly, over time, my health and my life started to turn around! We began wondering if we could have a beautiful, fulfilling, joy-filled life instead of the life-sentence without parole that is often the journey of chronic illness.
Bandages work great for their intended purpose, but they are disastrous if they are the only tool in the toolkit. How absurd would it be to have an ambulance pull up and stick a small bandage on the chest of a man having a heart attack or on a woman’s belly who has an abdominal tumor or a child’s pancreas who has diabetes? No one would do that, right?
Yet all too often, the “traditional” approach to “fix” the symptoms is just like a little, sticky bandage on an amputation- too little too late and simply not appropriate!
But… if we believe that’s the only option, we just keep trying, just keep hoping, just keep praying that this time, the band-aid will “stick”.
The Choice
There is another toolkit out there. One that works and makes lasting, permanent change. It’s one that deals not only with “symptoms” but also the deeper root of what causes them.
What I realized when dealing with Fibro & Chronic Fatigue for well over two decades (as well as five other serious & sometimes life-threatening chronic health conditions including advanced-stage neurologic Lyme Disease) is that there is hope.
The catch is… you have to be willing to try something different.
Not another drug. Not another round of PT/OT etc.. Not another “work up” or round of testing. Not anything that can be “prescribed”.
The distinction is that we must change the entire way we go about life. Our habits, our patterns, our thoughts, our self-talk. Our diet, our movement, the way we plan, our approach to stress… the list goes on. The only true path to freedom is having a successful strategy!
It took well over 15 years for us to master how to take the Overwhelming Pain of my chronic fatigue, Fibro, and other health conditions and turn it into Overcoming Power.
To go from a life of :
- simply surviving… to one of thriving.
- begging God to take me… to waking up with a smile each day.
- wondering in fear what my future held… to doing & becoming exactly what I want to be.
- holding back in my career & relationships… to full steam ahead.
Today I want to encourage you, if you’ve been looking for answers outside of the traditional “bandages” keep seeking! Be your own advocate. Take intelligent action. Keep asking questions!
Now it’s MY MISSION in life to help those struggling like I was, to find hope, and not just the “feeling” of hope, but real, practical applications that can help transform a life from suffering.
Why am I so passionate about this?
Simple.
Because when I prayed that prayer, I meant it! I don’t want my suffering to be wasted, and I don’t want anyone to have to spend a decade (or more) of their lives trying to figure this out- after all TIME is the ultimate commodity!
So if you’re struggling today with all of the band-aids you’ve been given, I want to encourage you that THERE IS HOPE! By taking a few intelligent actions, you too can begin living again instead of just surviving.
If you are someone who is serious about changing their trajectory, and someone who is sick and tired of being sick and tired, I’d like to help.
I have time set aside to talk with you. In this 45 minute discussion, we’ll talk about what’s working in your life, what’s not, and what kind of future would make you excited to get out of bed each day. There will be NO BANDAGES on this call, simply practical discussion about getting from where you are to where you want to be much faster than if you tried to figure it out on your own.
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