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
